Hip-hop died with 2Pac.

At least, that is, by Hashim Alauddeen's definition of hip-hop.

The music genre is supposed to be a form of resistance, speaking truth against injustice, said Alauddeen, a professor of African Diaspora studies at the Islamic Education Center in Houston.

And the rapper 2Pac, or Tupac Amaru Shakur, represented that resistance — part of the legacy of Malcolm X, Alauddeen said.

Since 2Pac's death in 1996 in Las Vegas, few mainstream hip-hop artists have followed this model, Alauddeen said.

"There are still positive rappers, but they aren't mainstream, and that has to change," he said. "Hip-hop has turned commercial and has lost most of its positivity."

Today, Alauddeen will present an account of U.S. history from 1965 to 1995, using Malcolm X, 2Pac and Islam to describe black resistance to racial injustices.

The speech, at 7:30 p.m. in B104 Wells Hall, is sponsored by the Muslim Students' Association, or MSA.

Alauddeen said he was close to 2Pac and his family, spending time with the rapper in the studio while he recorded his first album with the group Digital Underground in 1990.

He said the Shakur family accepted the ideology of Malcolm X after the civil rights leader was assassinated in 1965.

That ideology was then passed down to 2Pac, Alauddeen said. Malcolm X was Muslim.

Kashim Jafri, an MSA member and physiology freshman, said he is interested in hearing what Alauddeen has to say about the connection between Islam and hip-hop. He has never heard this topic discussed.

"In many senses, when you talk about Islam, it doesn't go along with hip-hop culture," he said. "It is an odd combination in the context of Islam."

Alauddeen said many people have pointed to the Muslim musical group The Last Poets as the founding fathers or pioneers of hip-hop. Like Malcolm X, the group was part of the 1960s black nationalist movement in the United States.

"They were always positive in their music that spoke out about social and political injustices," Alauddeen said.

Mehdi Jafri, another MSA member and physiology senior, described how Muslims view injustice.

"In Islam, one of the core values is enjoining good and forbidding evil," he said. "So when you see injustice, it's your obligation to speak out against it."

The mainstream way to resist injustice is to write an editorial or blog, Mehdi Jafri said. But for some people, music is how they choose to resist.

"Any form of expression … can be used to speak out against injustices," he said.