“As fear propels the 2016 U.S. elections, Amir El Khalifa continues to wrestle with the place that he and other Muslim Americans occupy in a post-9/11 world. On his latest seven-song EP Alwasta, the DC-born, Brooklyn-based rapper/producer better known as Oddisee considers the reality of being the middleman, or colloquially, the plug (“al wasta"). On EP highlight “Lifting Shadows,” he hits punchline”
