When we lose what we love, grief welcomes us to a new reality, a new version of life to learn and adapt to. We don’t always get to choose how we arrive at these new beginnings, but we do get to choose what we make of them. We can contend with them, and struggle to unlock new doors with old keys. Or we can be iconoclasts – and break the old habits, beliefs, and traditions of yesterday to embrace today, and the new reality it may bring.

In that spirit, ICONOCLAST, the new alternative hip-hop album from recording artist / producer JUMA MUSIC, is about breaking down what was, to embrace what is, and build what can be. In ICONOCLAST, JUMA grapples with his own life reconstruction after heavy loss, offering listeners hope and a sense of shared journey from pain to purpose. He said: “I was wholly consumed with grief after losing my father, 3 uncles, grandmother, mother, and my longtime grief therapist between 2012-2017. One morning, after a long night of heavy grieving, it hit me: the only way I’m going to make sense of this and get through it is to turn my losses into someone else’s gain. And I see ICONOCLAST as a step in that direction.”

A native of Boston, MA, JUMA’s story is characterized by overcoming formidable odds. His music draws emotional depth from his personal struggles and triumphs with grief and depression, blending the gravity of Tupac with the lyrical dexterity and sonic flare of influences like A Tribe Called Quest, and Public Enemy. He uses his microphone as a megaphone for truth, exposing the myths in popular culture and raising social awareness – even when the music stops. Offstage, he carries this mission forward as the founding director of the Message, a media literacy education startup. Through the Message, JUMA empowers teens to become empowered adults in a world of social media and hype. He serves middle and high school students in the US and Canada with nontraditional programs that use music and pop culture as vehicles for learning. He said, “I know first-hand, both from my own experience and from the youth that I work with, how the things we see and hear in media can help propel us into our destinies or scramble our compass. So I help young people dismount from the merry-go-round of life, question the world, and get a bigger and brighter vision of who they are.”

His inspired hip-hop has been featured across major media outlets from the likes of VH1, to PBS, to iHeart radio, and more. JUMA’s catalog consists of works produced for other artists and two self-produced full-length albums of his own. His first release, Blast Music, features faith inspired anthems and a guest appearance from Grammy award winning singer, John Legend. His second album, Fall of the Giants, formally united media literacy and hip-hop in audio/visual matrimony with its lead single, Till the DJ’s Gone. ICONOCLAST marks JUMA’s return to the microphone after a 10-year hiatus from music to focus on his personal healing, and building the Message. To the questions of, “Why music and why now?” he says: “Given the state of the world, why not? We’re all negotiating a new normal right now. We’re all finding our way again in one way or another. If I can use my experiences and creative expression to help someone along that journey then it’s worth the effort.”