rap

Putin digs rap, not rock

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:07:58 +0100

We talked about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's dislike for punk rock back in August. The same can't be said about all types of music however - he spent Friday night at a live hip hop battle.

The event was hosted by Muz TV (a Russian rival to MTV). After Putin watched MCs, rappers and breakdancers doing their stuff, he took to the stage himself to talk (not rap, sadly) to the crowd.

Putin's speech:

"Graffiti is becoming a true art, fine and delicate. And breakdance is something peculiar. This really is propaganda for a healthy lifestyle because it is hard to imagine breakdancing having anything to do with drinking and dope. I must say honestly that those young people who are pursuing these kinds of arts in our country are bringing in their own, Russian charm."

Iranian protester raps his complaints

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:15:47 +0200

Just two days after the results of Iran's presidential election were announced, an Iranian hip hop artist has released a rap in response.

The rap was posted on Monday by exiled rapper Shahin Najafi. Posted on YouTube by "inneb07".

Here's a snippet of the lyrics:

"Rise up, rise up against the Islamic regime
Enough silence
Rise up against religion and the mullah"

Fake rappers: "How do you feel if in London they shoot on civilians?"

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:29:47 +0100

"X-Plain", a fake hip-hop group from Israel, is causing a stir with this rap, which turns Israel's justification for its offensive in Gaza on its head.

The clip was broadcast on Israel's Channel 2 three days after the start of the campaign. It was shown on the popular satire show Eretz Nehederet (Hebrew for "A Wonderful Country").

Subtitled on YouTube. Posted by "SSimfMD". If the subtitles aren't turned on, use the menu button in the bottom right-hand corner. This video was sent to us by one of our Observers for Israel, Roi Ben-Yehuda.

Banned rappers play underground in Tehran

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:59:30 +0100

Rap is banned in Iran, but for the past five years, young rappers have risked using the internet to share their music, which is becoming increasingly popular. Iranian expats tell us why Iran's youth is so taken with the style.

Thinking "Rap is God" out loud could land you in jail in Iran, where the motto is considered blasphemous. That, along with the prohibition of rap, is why the rap scene, increasingly popular over the past few years, has to stay underground. The young musicians, who write about the despair of violence and unemployment, survive on secret concerts and clandestine studio recordings, which are then sold on CD in the back rooms of music shops.

The sad tale of the rapping soldier

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:18:17 +0200

All in good humour, a soldier wrote and recorded a parody of Eminem's "Stan" - this time about daily life in the Russian army. In doing so, he managed to win himself a one-way ticket to Russia's far eastern wastelands.

A story of low wages, high mortgage rates and ramshackle barracks - the rap cover is Lieutenant Vitaly Efremov's complaint to the Russian defence minister, Anatoly Serdyakov, and then post it on RuTube. At the end of the rap, he explains how disappointed he was not to have received a reply from the minister. But not so fast! The response finally arrived: Efremov would be transferred, he was informed, to Ussuriysk, a far-flung town in the eastern wilderness of Russia.

Still, there are no words of condolence in the Russian blogosphere - in fact the majority of bloggers think that an even harsher punishment should have been doled out to the "snivelling cry-baby".

For those who don't know the original song, Eminem takes on the role of one of his fans, Stan, who writes to him about his problems. The idol doesn't write back, and Stan finally commits suicide.

Translated and subtitled by one of our Russian-speaking Observers.

Puff Daddy, troubled victim of petrol prices

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:39:38 +0200

Poor Puff Daddy, the lucrative American rapper also known as Sean Puff Diddy Combs, has posted a diary entry about the woes of increasing gas prices on his blog. He's even made a plea to his Saudi "brothers and sisters" to send some oil for his jet.

Rapper Nas attacks Fox News for "racist propaganda"

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:07:58 +0200

Photo from the ColorOfChange.org

Fox News has been slammed as a "racist propaganda machine" by rapper Nas, who's written an entire song about the channel. He yesterday tried to deliver 620,000 signatures to Fox owners News Corp from webusers who believe the network to be anti-black and unfair to Obama. But the petition was refused.

A string of offensive comments and "slips of the tongue" have landed Fox in trouble since the US presidential campaign kicked off. Last month they called Obama's wife a "baby-mama", and before that had labelled the couple's affectionate fist bump as a "terrorist fist jab". Obama was once "accidentally" called Osama and is regularly called by his full name - Barack Hussein Obama".

Although the Rupert Murdoch owned channel apologised for many of these occasions, an online petition against its "racist and hate-filled smears" managed to attract 620,137 signatures. Organised by activist groups MoveOn.org and ColorofChange.org, Nas went to the New York headquarters on Wednesday to deliver the 20 crates of signed papers, but was refused. He made a speech in front of the building saying that the network "poisons the country with racist propaganda and tries to call it news." They responded that "Fox News believes in all protesters exercising their right to free speech including Nas who has an album to promote".

The first song on the album is about Fox. "Watch what you watchin', Fox keeps feeding us toxins ... I pledge allegiance to the fair and balanced truth, not the biased truth, not the liar's truth," he says.

The rapping policeman from the troubled Paris suburbs

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:08:55 +0200

"Le Brigadier" (the police sergeant) is a French rapper who keeps his identity well hidden. And with good reason - he claims to work as a policeman in the suburbs of Paris. Rapping about police blunders hasn't gone down well with the rest of the force though, leading to an internal enquiry into his identification.

He says to have been patrolling Department 93, a Parisian suburb, for 10 years. Sick of police brutality, Le Brigadier chose to speak out against the service through his own experiences. His first few songs caused such controversy that they reached the interior ministry. The reaction there was not warm, and an enquiry into unmasking the traitor was soon launched. Today, the man in question says the team is closing in on him.

Abraham Bojorquez, no bling-bling rapper

Julien — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:00:00 +0200

Far from the gold chains and bimbos of American video clips, Abraham Bojorquez raps to his American Indian fans at 4000 metres above sea level.

Material compiled with the help of our regional editor for South America, Johana Kunin.

"Putin's plan is victory for Russia"

Julien — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:42:00 +0100

Material compiled by our Russian/ former-USSR regional editor, Maris Antonova.

In September, President Putin's United Russia party launched a paper campaign across Russia. The slogan: "Putin's Plan - Victory for Russia" (Plane Puntina - Pobeda Rossii). Internet users react to these posters and booklets distributed in the street by members of the party.