Eva B’s song Rozi erupts with introspective lyrics, accompanied by tabla, dhol, and electronic beats. The rhythms collide with the relentless pulse of global hip-hop—it’s not just music—it’s a bold declaration that demands of the young girl be heard.

کبھی تو میں بھی نازک سی کلی تھی
کبھی تو میں بھی بابا کی پری تھی
راستوں پہ ڈر ڈر کے ہی تو چلی تھی
دنیا جو کہتی تھی، مانتی میں صحیح تھی
پر قسمت نے جو دیا تھا وہ مقدر میں
اکیلے تھا چلنا زندگی کے سفر میں

Translated into English, her lyrics read: “Once, I too was a delicate little bud / Once, I too was my father’s princess / I walked the paths in fear and hesitation / I believed what the world said to be true / But what fate had given me was written in my destiny / I had to walk the journey of life alone.”

 I first encounter Eva B’s music in 2022, and my initial response was unequivocal: this is so cool. Yet, the impact of Eva’s artistry extends beyond the beats or rhythm—it is fundamentally about her. Representing a young Pakistani girl, barely out of her teenage years, Eva B was attempting to carve a space for herself in a domain where few Muslim women had ventured before. She was not merely rapping; she was actively reconfiguring the narrative of what it means to be a young and Muslim in contemporary Pakistan. This essay examines how Eva B and other Muslim creators use cool, bold artistry and visuals to craft dynamic, self-determined identities, redefining Muslim girlhood and challenging traditional binaries. The creative reclamation of identity is particularly evident in their personal journeys where their work becomes a reflection of their lived experiences and cultural dynamism.

Eva B’s roots trace back to Lyari, Karachi—a neighborhood often overshadowed by its reputation for gang violence and poverty. Long regarded as a symbol of Karachi’s socio-economic inequalities, Lyari is marked by systemic neglect and limited opportunities (Naqvi). However, beyond its challenges, Lyari is also a hub of creativity and resilience, known for its thriving football culture, bold street art, and, in recent years, a dynamic music scene (Viqar 365; Khalil 6). It is within this rich yet turbulent environment that Eva B begins her journey—a 14-year-old girl quietly penning poetry in secret, which she would later transform into rap, giving her words a powerful and expressive voice.

What sets Eva B apart, however, is not just her sound but her visual identity. Her look is a powerful fusion of tradition and modernity. She pairs a niqab with intricately embroidered pashiks—a traditional Balochi dress—embodying a striking blend of cultural reclamation and urban edge. Complementing this with the iconic combat boots associated with hip-hop legends like Jay-Z, she imbues her presence with a bold, street-smart sensibility. This juxtaposition of cultural authenticity and contemporary urban style underscores Eva B’s ability to defy and transcend normative expectations, positioning her as a figure of both defiance and reclamation within the global music scene.

Listening to Eva B, brings to mind Su’ad Abdul Khabeer’s concept of Muslim Cool, articulated in her 2016 book Muslim Cool: Race, Religion, and Hip-Hop in the United States. Khabeer defines Muslim cool as “a way of thinking and a way of being Muslim that resists and reconstitutes U.S. racial hierarchies. This push and pull at the core of Muslim Cool is grounded in its relationship to hip hop. Hip hop, as an artistic form—expressed in DJing, emceeing, dance, and graffiti—and as a form of knowledge and cultural production—from ideas and language to fashion and style—is a site of critical contradiction and contestation. Perceptions of hip hop music and culture range wildly: hip hop is seen variously as deeply mass mediated and commodified and as a quintessential example of an expressive culture of resistance.” (Khabeer 7)

Blackness at the intersection of power and inequality is the contextual backdrop from which Muslim Cool emerges. Muslim Cool is also an articulation of Islam, as religious belief and practice, through social justice. Eva B embodies this concept in a distinctly South Asian context. Her music, much like the hip-hop practices Khabeer examines, is a cultural intervention—a reimagining of what it means to be young, Muslim, and cool. Eva B, in many ways, emerges as a real-life superhero, encouraging other girls to reclaim their voices and narratives through her bold music and cultural authenticity. In doing so, Eva B embodies a new kind of heroism—one rooted in Muslim coolness and desi self-pride.

When I reflect on the emergence of Muslim Cool, as articulated by Su’ad Abdul Khabeer and embodied by figures like Eva B, I am struck by its presence in another genre—the graphic narrative—where the Muslim superheroine similarly embodies a distinct coolness. This leads to the question: What makes graphic narratives an ideal medium for depicting coolness and envisioning new futures for Muslim girls? Graphic narratives, with their vibrant visuals and layered storytelling, uniquely combine the aspirational and relatable, making them particularly suited to portray unique figures. These narratives straddle local and global influences, offering futurist alternatives to reductive stereotypes. As Pramod K. Nayar notes in The Indian Graphic Novel: Nation, History, and Critique that graphic narratives provide a multimodal platform that merges textual and visual elements to produce complex, culturally embedded stories (Nayar 14).

The conversation about graphic narratives centered on Muslim superheroines would be incomplete without acknowledging Ms. Marvel. Introduced in 2013 by writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Adrian Alphona, Ms. Marvel features Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager from Jersey City who becomes Marvel’s first Muslim superhero. Kamala’s powers, which include shape-shifting and enlarging parts of her body, reflect her internal struggles with her identity and the cultural pressures she faces. Wilson, a convert to Islam, created Kamala to provide Muslim readers—especially young girls—with a superhero who shares their experiences of faith, culture, and adolescence.

In 2022, as Eva B’s music was making waves, Ms. Marvel premiered on Disney+, marking another pivotal moment in the portrayal of Muslim girlhood in popular culture. the TV show adaptation, which premiered on Disney+ in 2022, not only explores Kamala's superhero identity but also delves deeper into her cultural roots, with an emphasis on her South Asian background. The show highlights Kamala’s Pakistani family dynamics and her connection to her heritage, offering a visual exploration of her Muslim identity that is more expansive. For example, in the show, Kamala's relationship with her grandmother is given more attention, particularly through the depiction of a family heirloom, a bangle, which connects her to her ancestors and is key to unlocking her powers. This inclusion of Kamala’s heritage adds an extra layer to her journey, drawing more on cultural storytelling and traditions, something the comic touches on but does not fully explore in the same depth.

The release of Ms. Marvel and Eva B’s music share a powerful resonance—both highlight young Muslim women carving out spaces for themselves in domains traditionally dominated by others. Just as Eva B uses her music to challenge stereotypes and redefine what it means to be a Muslim girl in contemporary Pakistan, Ms. Marvel offers a portrayal of Kamala Khan who navigates her dual identity, blending her cultural heritage with global superhero tropes. Kamala's scarf-inspired costume, much like Eva B's fusion of traditional Balochi dress with modern street style, becomes a symbol of self-empowerment and cultural pride.

While Ms. Marvel is perhaps the most well-known example, it is far from the only instance of Muslim women creators using their work to envision new futures for Muslim girls. Other graphic narratives, such as Pakistan’s  (2012) animated series Burka Avenger (created with the support of pioneering animation designer Komal Butt) and Huma Qureshi’s debut novel Zeba (2023) from India, also contribute to this growing movement. Through mediums like music, animation, and comics, these women storytellers are reshaping cultural representations and offering young Muslim girls powerful, resilient, and unapologetically cool visions of themselves.

The sartorial choices of characters such as Jiya in Burka Avenger and Zeba in Zeba are emblematic of the concept of "Muslim cool," a cultural reclamation that reconfigures traditional attire as symbols of empowerment, autonomy, and modernity. "Muslim cool" challenges prevailing stereotypes by transforming garments historically viewed as symbols of oppression into potent expressions of selfhood and agency. Thus the movement seeks to reimagine Muslim women's self-representation by integrating cultural attire with elements of strength, resistance, fashion and individuality, positioning garments not as markers of constraint but as vehicles of personal and political expression. In this context, the sartorial choices of Jiya and Zeba function as visual articulations of this reimagined narrative, offering an alternative, more dynamic portrayal of Muslim femininity.
In Burka Avenger, Jiya's choice to wear a sleek, ninja-like burka exemplifies this idea of "Muslim cool." Traditionally, the burka is seen as a symbol of modesty and restraint, but Jiya reinterprets it as a tool for action and empowerment. Her athletic, form-fitting burka allows her to perform extraordinary feats such as flying and kickboxing, challenging both the physical and symbolic boundaries of the garment. Her decision to wear makeup and nail varnish with her burka further defies expectations, rejecting the voyeuristic male gaze and presenting herself as a self-assured, unapologetically cool superhero. Jiya’s costume not only subverts the restrictive modesty often imposed on Muslim girls but also rejects both hypersexualized portrayals of women and the desexualization typically associated with Muslim women. Instead, she embodies strength, athleticism, and autonomy, capturing the essence of "Muslim cool."

Similarly, Zeba in Zeba reimagines the traditional South Asian burka, fusing it with futuristic elements to create a hybrid costume that merges cultural heritage with modern technology. Zeba’s form-fitting burka, designed with sharp, futuristic lines, symbolizes a blend of tradition and innovation. This sartorial choice allows her to be both agile and functional, enhancing her superhero abilities while rejecting the binary expectations of modesty or sexualization. Zeba’s attire is a powerful representation of "Muslim cool," showing how cultural clothing can be transformed into a symbol of resistance, modernity, and empowerment. Through her hybrid look, Zeba challenges traditional representations of Muslim womanhood, offering a more complex and multifaceted vision that is both rooted in heritage and forward-thinking.

Thus, the Muslim superheroine becomes a figure of possibility, blending aesthetics, cultural authenticity, and contemporary coolness to inspire new visions of agency and empowerment for girls. Whether through Kamala Khan’s shape-shifting powers, Burka Avenger’s educational advocacy, or Zeba’s political rebellion, these heroines challenge conventional gender roles and envision futures where Muslim girls can be both culturally rooted and globally influential.

As a reader and viewer, I see Eva B’s music and the stories of Muslim superheroines as more than entertainment—they are transformative narratives crafted by Muslim women who are actively reclaiming the power to tell their own stories. Listening to Rozi and reflecting on characters like Kamala Khan, Jiya, and Zeba, I am struck by how these creators use their respective mediums to redefine cultural identity, celebrate their individuality, and envision new futures. Through Eva B’s verses and the bold imagery of graphic narratives, Muslim girlhood is now not confined to narrow binaries of tradition and modernity but thrives dynamically at their intersection. Whether through music or visual storytelling, there is a desire to collectively forge a space where Muslim girls can dream, act, and thrive on their own terms—unapologetically cool, undeniably powerful, and firmly in control of their narratives.

Works Cited

Khabeer, Su'ad. Muslim Cool: Race, Religion, and Hip Hop in the United States. New York University Press, 2016.
Burka Avenger (animated series). Created by Aaron Haroon Rashid and Omran Riaz, directed by Aaron Haroon Rashid, 2012.
 Naqvi, Maniza. "Lyari: The Intersection of History, Politics, and Identity." Dawn, 2014.
Nayar, Pramod K. The Indian Graphic Novel: Nation, History and Critique. Routledge, 2016.