This paper explores how hip hop artists use music as a means to challenge the construction of images, specifically the conflation of the image of the terrorist with Arabs and Muslims. The work of the Narcycist, Lowkey, and the Palestinian group DAM will be explored in the paper. Through their songs, they challenge the trajectory that begins with the image of the terrorist and ends with a definition of terrorism. In this construction, a terrorist is an Arab or Muslim and therefore terrorism is an act that is only carried out by these groups. Rather, they reverse the direction by beginning with a definition of terrorism and terror in order to relay an image of the terrorist that is not determined by a specific cultural, ethnic, national, or religious affiliation. One of the central questions addressed by the work of these artists revolves around representation. The work of these hip hop artists decouple the term “terrorist” from the cultural and religious referent through their lyrics and in some cases music videos. The music videos, in particular, present a visual representation of the process of constructing a terrorist and offer a site to reappropriate the term within a framework where numerous acts of violence, including war, can be perceived as a form of terrorism. Each of these artists use hip hop as a means to challenge the rhetorical (and actual) violence that results from the dangerous association of the terrorist and terrorism with particular groups. By doing this, they also address the underlying power dynamics that determine the construction of images. Hip hop and rap have emerged as transnational forces in which artists are part of collaborative projects that articulate sociopolitical grievances. Through this medium, artists like Lowkey, the Narcycist, and DAM reject hegemonic narratives that aim to disregard grievances and silence resistance. Through the example of the image of the terrorist, I will trace how their music recognizes the disparities created by problematic power dynamics and counter narratives that have been constructed for and against Arabs, Muslims, and other marginalized groups.