If you have ever bought an Underground Resistance record, a Red Planet one or been to the old Submerge building on Grand River and looked at the ceiling you know Abdul Qadim Haqq. For over 16 years, Haqq has contributed to the science fictive creeds of the Submerge crew, Juan Atkins, Derrick May and others by making visual worlds that are synonymous with the music. Characters such as The Illuminator or Firekeeper legends all have Haqq’s multimedia infusions. Each time he writes or colorizes one of the riddles to the multi-cultural electronic disbursements of funk the underground resists more junk talk about the mainstream having a chokehold on the world’s sound consciousness.

Haqq, (AKA the Ancient) spent a lot of time with television as a child and got his first ideas about other life from TV space cadets like the Star Trek family, Speed Racer cartoons and all sorts of fantasy. He did not know that he would draw from those days of channel blinking to literally illustrate what the tales of the Little Bighorn looks like remixed into Techno. After completing art school, he met Banks in ’91 and did his first project for him. He recalls having the same feelings about the sound then and now. “It [the music] always sounded like it was from beyond this world.” At the time UR was new but the music had already been living and Haqq knew this from his nights spent dancing at the Music Institute, which is burnt into the city’s history of computer dance jams. One day Derrick May skimmed some of his journal entries on Native American rituals and chose some of Haqq’s notes on the Lakotah for the backsleeve of his magnum opus, Rhythim is Rhythim’s “The Beginning”. That instance was just one of the increasing moments of Haqq’s eye and eye (third and physical) visions that are evenly building optical rapture.
Jacob Lawrence’s urban inspired hues flipped into almost fluorescent space people at a party are one way of describing Haqq’s new Submerge mural. However, the green dreadlocked man called “The Martian” definitely exhibits some Afro sci-fi reality. DJ Rolando’s key to the Aztec Mystic for the “Vibrations” CD contains more text from the Ancient. When asked how he picks and matches the otherworldly sounds to specific cultures, he explains: “The rhythms are tribal and Native Americans as well as African-Americans have healthy tribal histories.” His Islamic practices also inform the work because as he says, “Techno can be about realizing your fullest potential spiritually, the concepts work across the board.” The cover for Scott Groove’s, “Music in the City” is another piece from Haqq that melds his sight of cement verging on the fantastic approaching stuff farther than the stars.

Since ’98 he became the artist for most of UR’s productions. And working for others is one part of his mission as he develops more for art shows. Haqq’s role as the Ancient is a further affirmation of the fact that we do hear and see sound.