Alamikum.
It's your brother Amir Jun Muhadi,
formerly known as Lon from Bad Boy
Records. Right now, I'm chilling with my
brother in faith, Big Ed. That's what I
call him on the Dean show. So, get your
dean right. You heard about feet.
Bismillah. Alhamdulillah. Let me give
you the best of greetings. The greetings
of peace. Peace be unto you. Now, my
name is Eddie and I'm your host of the
Dean Show. And I get a chance to sit
with a lot of wonderful people. People
who have come to acknowledge what the
truth is in life. They joined this
beautiful brotherhood of over 1.5
billion people from all around the
world. The fastest growing way of life
in the world today. And my next guest is
one of those people. Now, he's a unique
individual. He's my brother and your
brother. And we want to know why this
former rapper hip hop phenomenon,
former bad boy, gone good boy who was
with the likes of Shawn P. Diddy Cones
hanging out with all the celebrities and
he left that life to live this good
life, the life that brought him peace.
You're going to find out how he attained
something that money couldn't buy.
I got a chance to sit with him and I'm
very excited to share his story with all
of the viewers of the Dean Show this
week. On the Dean Show, Lon, former bad
boy, gone good boy. Let's find out why.
Enjoy this week's show. Dean
Allah,
there's only one word and is
[music] Allah. [singing]
[chant]
Allah, [singing]
there's only one God and Jesus was his
messenger. Allah,
[music and singing]
I don't know why I did that. Maybe it's
just to break the ice.
Peace be unto you, my brother.
Oh, and also with you, Aki.
Now, what was the greeting that you used
to have before when you used to see some
of the homeboys?
Um, you know, what up, son? What's good?
[laughter]
You know what's going down.
Now you're saying you wishing me peace.
I'm wishing you peace. Something new.
I'm
wishing everybody peace. You know, I
mean, Islam has brought peace into my
life that I couldn't find, you know,
living the lifestyle I was living in the
music business. And it feels good to
wish peace onto others once I found the
peace for myself. Now, we are excited to
hear this story because we get to talk
to people who have come from all walks
of life.
You know, people have this misnotion
that Islam is something just for the
Arabs.
Yeah.
But when they see an American who used
to be a or someone who is an icon,
people are looking up to you. You're
singing with Pete Diddy and the the Bad
Boy crew. Is that what they call?
Yeah. Bad Boy Records, Bad Boy
Entertainment, you know, P Diddy. Sean
Comb, Shawn John, you know, you know, I
ran with an entrepreneur. I ran with an
icon in the music business and I was
exposed to so many things in such a like
short period of time. The success of the
records that I did with Puff, you know,
propelled to be in, you know, audiences
all around the world. Wasn't a country
that I couldn't go to that a person
couldn't identify with who I was or the
songs I created or the records I
partaked in. And you know it was it's
just an overwhelming feeling to be
embraced by such a vast audience. But
you know to become a Muslim Allah
subhana wa ta'ala has definitely
replaced that audience
you know what I'm saying with a whole
different light you know it's a whole
different thing and the transition has
been so beautiful you know Allah is most
kind you know the brothers and sisters
that I used to you know run with in the
music business have embraced my um
conversion to Islam you know my family
has you know embraced my conversion to
Islam and just it's just been smooth
sailing man Allah is most time because
it's something that I really needed, you
know, and I think a lot of entertainers
in that business are searching for the
same piece, you know, may Allah guide
them all. Let's talk a little bit about
the past. We're not going to go into any
details or anything, but for the benefit
of those who are still trying to chase
what you were living, they call it the
American dream.
People see the videos and they see all
the rides and they see the women and the
glamour and the glitz,
but it's not all that. Well, for the
most part, I think that a lot of people,
you know, mainly, you know, preferably
the youth, you know, we all share kind
of the same common desires and
temptations. And I think the music
business kind of breeds these things and
it gives people a onedimensional
perception of, you know, mostly the
perks in the business, so to say. And I
think that, you know, the youth
by being so inspired all around the
world, you know what I'm saying? being
so inspired by this lifestyle. A lot of
them who have been born into certain
faiths, you know what I'm saying? Like
Islam and and things of that nature, you
know, they try to incorporate this
lifestyle into something that's so
beautiful. You know what I'm saying?
Islam is just so beautiful. And I've
been seeing over the years how, you
know, this this business and this
lifestyle has affected so many of the
youth. And myself, I think that
traveling the world and living this
consistent pattern of doing so many
sinful things, you know, that come with
the business, you know, we actually, you
know, have the opportunity to make songs
that might not be so vulgar, might not
be so, you know, you know, negative,
but the reality of it is there's a
lifestyle that comes with it. And that
was the thing that really plagued my
life because what you're propelled in
based on the success, you know, is a
lifestyle that just becomes so
repetitive and so consistent and you
find yourself being removed further and
further away from a truth, further and
further away from peace, further away
from anything that was pure about you
before you entered the business. So,
like I said, you know, on the outside
everything looks good. You see the
$100,000 cars. You see a lot of
diamonds. You see, you know, for men,
for the sake of men, you see a lot of
females and they think that this is, you
know, this is the life. This is this is
like, you know, paradise right here on
earth. But the reality of it is, you
know, I couldn't purchase peace. You
know, I was probably able to buy a car,
buy a house, buy a chain.
Couldn't purchase peace. And the reality
of it is while we're sitting here, while
I'm sitting here constantly paying for
the disease, the cure was free.
Paying for the disease.
The cure is free.
Why are people running away from
something that's free to something
that's expensive? Cuz you got to pay for
the martinis and the I forgot what's
even drunk in the club nowadays. The the
doner and you got to pay for all these
things. And
but you can get some water easy. Like
[laughter] you and that's what I'm
saying. Like I think people treat life
like the flu shot. You think you can
treat the flu with the flu.
Yeah.
It's not like that. You know what I'm
saying? And what happened was, you know,
Allah's guidance is just amazing because
I think sincerely in my heart, Allah
heard me and heard the oppression that
that that's hidden. You know what I'm
saying? From a lot of us entertainers,
you know, we try to forge this image and
we try to forge this character that's,
you know, saying like suitable for the
fan. The fan admires this character.
They're drawn to this character. But the
reality of it is we face tragedies, no
different from norman people. But the
reality of it is we try to go past that
and continue to feed the fan, you know,
this impression that they desire and and
that they gravitate to. But me on the
other hand, you know, it just got to a
point where it was just getting very
overwhelming. It was getting very
overbearing. And I just found myself
searching inside like, man, I need an
answer. I need something that's going to
give me a a a route to just, you know,
alleviate some of these pains. And I
would try all kinds of things. You know,
sometimes you just be like, "Yo, listen.
I'll just go buy me a hot car. Maybe I
feel better. You know, maybe if I go buy
a chain, you know, maybe if I go to the
spa for about 5 hours, go get a seaweed
bath and all the, you know, whole crazy
stuff." But then, you know, you get one
phone call, next thing you know, you got
not seeing back again. Or you drive the
car, you know, all the features in the
car is no fun no more. or you wear the
chain and after a while the chain is
just kind of boring because you know
everything upgrades as you go and I
found myself like I can't find peace
chasing this methodology.
So what happened? I was fortunate to do
a song with an artist from Canada, you
know, a brother named Assari. He was a
um Lebanese artist. And when I did this
song, the song didn't really do good in
the States, but it kind of propelled
into a market that I never knew even
existed.
Mhm.
And it was in the Muslim market, you
know, Islamic market. And what happened
was I I got, you know, called to do
shows in like Muscat, Oman, Dubai, Abu
Dhabi, and things of this nature. Even I
I performed in Kazakhstan. And I
performed in a lot of countries even in
West Africa and I found myself running
to Islam. Keep running into Islam. And
once you get past the whole little
butterflies and things that come with
the um you know the entertainment
aspect, I started to get drawn to other
things that came with my journey. And
that was the like the event being
called. The event being called in the
city like just rang through the whole
city. Everybody would just stop. You
could hear people breathing. This is
like this is a song that I heard that
was more beautiful than any song I've
ever wrote in my life.
That's the Muslim call to prayer.
The Muslim call to prayer, you know. And
then like I said, at some point you find
yourself trying to shop within between
Thor and Assa.
Everyone's taking the sun in that.
You know, I come from New York City.
Everything is 24 hours. I've never seen
anybody shut down in midday.
You know what I'm saying? And all this
is for the sake of Allah. All this is
for the sake of God. And it's like this
was so consistent. You know, every place
I went, I just seen this whole
consistent practice of worshiping the
one true God. And this was something
that I was looking for. This is
something I wanted to be a part of
because there's a lot of inconsistencies
the way people practice and worship, you
know what I'm saying? God. And what I
saw in the Muslim was very consistent.
And I just couldn't, you know, I
couldn't tear myself away from it. After
a while, I started to see and study, ask
questions. I would go to certain
bookstores, buy books, and just found
myself getting more and more drawn to
trying to learn this culture and learn
this lifestyle and learn this religion.
So, while I was in the UAE,
I found myself, you know, pretty much,
you know, at the last leg of this whole
party thing. And you know, I actually
seen the sunrise while I was in Abu
Dhabi and um I was staying at the
Emirates Palace and I watched the
sunrise and I'm looking at the Arabian
Sea and I'm just saying to myself like
this is just beautiful, man. This is
just beautiful. It's like all the
misconceptions that you see in the media
about the Muslim, you know, all of these
things were quickly getting dispelled,
you know, and I start seeing like maybe
the media is only, you know,
establishing 3% of Islam cuz everywhere
I'm going, I'm seeing just the exact
opposite. I'm seeing streets you can eat
off. I'm seeing people who hospitality
is just amazing. Everywhere you go,
someone's offering you tea, someone's
offering you dates, someone offering you
help. you know, people that are are very
less fortunate than the people I used to
hang with. I'm hanging with
multi-millionaires that got yachts, you
know what I'm saying? Mansions, pen
houses, and things of this nature. And
it's hard to even extract a a cold soda
from them,
you know? And then to be around people
who who who really didn't have much were
always willing to give, you know, and
nothing in return,
you know, because they feel that their
blessings come from Allah. And that's a
concept that I I could incorporate in my
life because I was a given person. I was
a person that over asserted myself for
the sake of success, for the sake of
bringing success to other people, for
the sake of helping other people find
success. But the benefit at the time, I
was looking for the return to come from
the people I was helping. But then I
learned that that's not where I'm
supposed to be looking. I'm supposed to
seek refuge in the one that created me.
So I found myself, you know, being
engulfed by this concept and just being
overwhelmed and just man blown away. I
say, you know, I want to be a Muslim.
Now, did you have any exposure to any
other religions? Anything else that you
looked into? Can you talk about this
briefly?
Well, I was born in a Christian
household. You know, my grandmother, she
sung in the United Negro College Fun
Choir for about 40 years. I used to
spend maybe six, seven days a week in
the church. You know, I was heavy
heavily active in, you know, in
Christian activity. You know, saying
Bible studies, I played the piano, I
played the bells, I was a usher, I did
everything that you could possibly do in
the in the infrastructure of, you know,
the Baptist church.
And, you know, I just started to notice
a lot of, you know, inconsistencies.
You know, people who say they're of God
doing things that are not of God. And
it's not that, you know, because even in
Islam, you're not supposed to judge the
Muslim, you know, judge Islam by the
Muslim. Yeah.
So, I'm not saying that I was judging a
Christian by, you know, but the reality
of it was it was so repetitive the
inconsistencies and how things were
practiced and how things were done. And
I really started to ask questions, you
know, cuz you have people that, you
know, believe that Jesus is God. And I
used to ask myself as a child, how is
Jesus God if he prays? Who's he praying
to?
Mhm. And there just certain little
questions that I wanted answers for that
I couldn't find within the
infrastructure.
It's a good question. Who was he praying
to? That's what you're saying.
Yeah. Exactly. Like these are these are
like common sense questions. These are
not something that really take rocket
science.
Yeah.
And you know and even like with Adam and
Eve, I'm like how are we held
accountable
for the sins of two like the first, you
know, man and woman created. Like how am
I like why am I to blame? I never met
Adam. I never met Eve. Why would I be
held accountable? that would make God
unjust, you know, when we know that God
is so merciful and God is the most just.
So these are just little questions that
I kept, you know, wanting answers for
and I couldn't find it within the
infrastructure was always like a brush
off, a shut down. And it's like, you
know, if I can't find the answers, you
know, in in the faith that I'm
practicing, maybe I need to outsource,
you know, and I found myself searching,
not really looking for Islam, but, you
know, I love my family, you know, they
they still, you know, have, you know,
they still definitely practice Christian
faith and it hasn't changed my
relationship with none of the people
that I love. But the reality is I found
something for me and the peace that I
found, I try to share. You know, I'm
very patient with the people I love and
you know, Islam is not something that
you force upon somebody because it
wasn't forced on me. I was fortunate to
find Islam without no da. No one sat
down and talked to me about Islam. So, I
know that I was guided here purely by
Allah, you know, wa ta'ala's will. I
found Islam, you know, and you know,
coming out of the Christian life was
definitely a big transition, but the
reality of it is it wasn't that much of
a transition because there are a lot of
things that will lead you to an
understanding of Islam and back Islam
clarifying a lot of things that I needed
to know about Christianity. So, you
know,
in a nutshell, you just, you know, you
go what gives you more.
Mhm.
And I found more Islam. You found all
the rational, logical evidence.
Everything, your questions were
answered. Clear proof.
Clear.
No ambiguity. Everything is
straightforward.
Everything clear.
What your purpose of life is
clear.
What happens when you die?
Clear.
Where you're going,
clear.
Everything is lucid.
Check.
Check. [laughter]
You know what I'm saying?
Tell tell us now. People want to know
like, okay, you're hanging out with P.
Diddy and some of the other rappers.
Party is over. Lights are on. Did you
ever have one of these conversations
like, you know what, this is getting
played out, man. We had everything.
Very much so.
Talk to us.
Very much so. I would say, you know, you
find yourself and like in my case, you
know, being that I targeted the females
as an audience. And at the time, you
know, I have a lot of women in my
family, so I have a lot of respect for
women. So the most righteous effort that
I found myself trying to achieve was not
glorifying the harsh realities that you
know plague me in my neighborhood born
and raised in Harlem. Like I didn't
elaborate on those things. I chose to to
exercise a more brighter side of myself
and that was like you know talking about
things that revolve around relationships
with females and basically the desires
of most men at the time when I was in my
state of ignorance. you know, trying to
find a girl, trying to find, you know,
companionship and things of this nature
without the whole slander and vulgar
stuff that, you know, are drawn towards
women. So, at the time, that was like my
most righteous attempt. But what
happened is I started to get
women that would submit to my success.
And after a while, I found myself losing
the respect that I had for all the women
in my life and all the women in my
family based on the way how women would
submit themselves. You know, this is
not, you know, someone that's saying you
need to talk to my father first or come
meet the family. These are women
[clears throat] that are just skipping
A, B, and going straight to C. So, I'm
like, wow, is this is this is this what
comes with this? Cuz it was a time I was
really searching for a girl. I really
wanted companionship and what I found
was just an obsession with my success.
Is that where the song came in? I need a
girl.
Well, actually, it it stemmed from, you
know what I'm saying, just having that
experience of searching for a girl. But
at the time, Puff had a serious breakup
with Jennifer Lopez. And it all just
kind of tied in. It was something that
was, you know, happening in his life
currently and something that happened in
my life before. We put our heads
together and we came up with the concept
of, let's just flat out get it off our
chest. We need girls. Now you can sing
something like possibly I need a wife,
you know, for the brothers when get them
married because Islam obviously
encourages this to be with the woman but
the way that is pleasing to the creator
in marriage.
Exactly. And that's what I was trying to
say. I was getting to the point where
it's like
the females you start to realize,
hey, after you know everything is said
and done, you're trying to find the most
polite way to remove this, you know,
sister out of your life.
Mhm. because what's done is done and you
know everything is cool but at that
point you start to realize listen this
is someone's sister
this is someone's daughter this is
someone's mother
so like you said marriage is very
important it's something that alleviates
all these desires it's something that
alleviates all of these actions and then
you can quickly expune some of the
desires of the women that might be you
know you know drawn to you like sister
I'm married
that kills a lot you know what I'm
saying that stops helps a lot and and
and it alleviates the harm for both
parties.
I'm married. I can't condone these type
of things. You know, I'm married. I know
you don't want to deal with a guy that's
married. Cool. What advice do you have?
Because we know a lot of people that
like you said earlier, Islam is clear.
All the evidence is there. But the
desire, the desire of wanting success,
what we supposedly look at success like
the lifestyle that you were living,
people paint that as okay, that's the
ultimate success. And people now will
have those moments that they dig deep
down inside and they know look I'm not
happy but they get caught up with the
cars. They get caught up with the money
and everyone is going through this. How
do you break through that and not submit
to your desires but submit to the world?
Exactly. I would say find success in
Allah cuz the reality of it is Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala has replaced
everything that was in my life that was
haram and gave me things that are halal.
For instance, my phone used to ring a
lot. Nothing but haram. Nothing but
issues that deal with dealt with haram.
Tell us we have a lot of non-Muslims
watching. You you said a couple Arabic
words so they don't so they don't have
to take Arabic class.
Haram prohibited. Prohibited.
Yeah. Meaning no good. You know what I'm
saying? Not allowed
and halal meaning permissible meaning
that it is allowed. So I would get
plenty of phone calls from people who
would want to indulge in things that
were haram.
Now my phone rings, I find myself giving
the brother salams,
that peace that we gave,
that peace, that greeting that we gave
each other.
And not only that, I find myself doing
things that are halal. You know what I'm
saying? Like talking to people who might
be interested in Islam and trying to
guide them to a a better understanding
of what Islam is through my example and
through, you know, what was given to me.
And also just, you know, eating halal,
you know what I'm saying? Eating better.
you know, I don't eat food that's, you
know, not permissible. I eat food that's
allowed, you know, stay away from pork,
stay away from things, you know, and
it's just Allah gave me the audience
that I had before. You know, I still
have the same young brothers and sisters
that was intrigued by my musical career.
Now, all of them has embraced me as a
brother of Islam. I have more siblings
now than I've ever had in my life. You
know what I'm saying? And I've I've I've
been a part been embraced by a
brotherhood that surpasses any like
temporary relationship I might have had
with anybody that was in the business
with me or anybody that I grew up with
in the street, you know. And not to
discredit any of my relationships, but
the reality of it is Allah has removed a
lot of these things that caused me harm
and place me in harm and danger. And now
I just live a very free, peaceful life.
And I wouldn't give this up for nothing
in the world.
No money can buy what you have now.
No money can buy.
Peace and contentment.
Like I said, the cure is free. You
paying for the disease.
Tell us, have you gotten a chance to
interact with some of the people from
Bad Boy Records? Puff Daddy. Have you
gotten Have they said what happened,
brother? Have you got a chance to share
this wonderful story?
I bumped in I bumped into Puff a couple
months ago. Buster Ram who's also a
Muslim. Raycoin who's also a Muslim. It
seemed like a reunion cuz everyone was
there. Jay-Z, Q-Tip, Puff. It was just
seemed like a reunion. But it was so
funny because I stood there for a while.
Nobody noticed me cuz I had grew my
beard out and, you know, I'm just
standing in the cut. But when I met
Puff, you know, we laugh and chuckle. We
have a brotherhood that's still, you
know what I'm saying? We have a
relationship that's still there. You
know what I'm saying? We've done a lot
of things together. And I think he was
very receptive to what I was, you know,
upon. And at the same token, it's always
a pleasure to see him. And there's
always, you know, you know, a benefit to
be around him because, like I said, he's
an icon. He's a major influence on a lot
of people and and when the time is
right, Allah knows best. You know what
I'm saying? I'll be able to,
you know, consult him in an environment
that's suitable and maybe one day,
inshallah, you never know, probably you
might become a Muslim.
What advice, closing comments and
suggestions for those who are trying to
mimic the hip-hop phenomenons and people
who are in your position? What advice so
they don't go ahead and touch the hot
stove? You know how you tell a child,
you know, the stove is hot and they just
got to go and hug and burn. [laughter]
So, so, so they don't have to go and
take a long journey because death can
reach you at any time
and maybe you don't come back to where
you were, you know, to finding that
peace. What advice do you have? My
advice would be, you know, if you're
trying to, you know, incorporate a love
for music,
just be mindful that there's a lifestyle
that comes with the music that kind of
like, you know, destroys the whole
positive effort of trying to just
exercise a love for music. It kind of
cancels out. You can't have one without
the other. You do the music, you're
going to indulge in the lifestyle that
comes with the music. And the lifestyle
itself is definitely something that you
don't want to get involved with because
it gets it draws the guts out you. It
draws everything that's pure inside you
and and it and it's just something that
you know removes the peace of mind that
you might have had before you came into
business. Some people feel like these
desires are going to lead them
somewhere. But the reality of it is,
take my advice, you know,
there's going to be a breaking point.
There's going to be a point where you're
going to find yourself overexerted,
exhausted, overworked, and the benefits
are not going to add up. So, the reality
of it is, you know, don't just take my
advice, but try to take my advice for
real. It's serious.
Brother, thank you very much for being
with us here on the Dean Show,
man. Pleasure being you, man. Eddie,
he's a good man. [laughter]
Thank you. May Allah continue to bless
you as he has
by opening your heart and
to this wonderful way of life. And I'd
like to thank you for being with us on
another episode of the Dean Show. Every
week we're here trying to help you
understand this beautiful way of life.
All the messengers of God. They
submitted to the one God.
Try to strive to live that good,
wholesome life.
Try to give birth what's already inside
of you. That goodness. Bring it out. Ask
for the guidance. It's very simple. Yes.
And the truth shall be made clear.
Hopefully we'll see you next time here
on the Dean Show. Until then,
asalamikum. Peace be unto you.
Let's see what everyone's talking about.
Prove you find one contradiction, it
kept me from God. [singing]
But the rational idea, the rational
explanation is you do your best.
Give up worshiping God as one. I will
never give up spreading this message.
The reality of life usually doesn't sink
in until tragedy comes.
You get a few bad people, the media
grabs a hold of that and spins it the
way they want to.
If you say that you do not believe in
Jesus, you have stepped outside of
Islam. You cannot be a Muslim. It is
attended our faith to
It's cold. It's late. [singing]
Everybody's sleeping.
I arise [singing]
and ask Allah to forgive me.
Oh Allah, you see.
Oh Allah, [singing and music] you know
all the sins I do.
I turn to you to forgive my sins in my
heart. [singing]
I'm your sinful slave. [singing]
You're my loving [music]
Lord.
I'm the one [singing] who runs away.
Oh Allah, guide [music] me. [singing]