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Soundtrack of a Revolution: Politically Engaged Tunisian Rappers
Abstract
One of the most significant developments in the ongoing Jasmine Revolution has been the emergence of Tunisian rappers as political actors. Much has been made of the use of social networking websites and services in the recent upheavals, with many taking issue with the overemphasis on American-invented social networking sites. However it is undeniable that throughout the Tunisian uprising, music videos and video messages of support have been disseminated via Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and the like. Tunisian hip hop heads have demonstrated themselves to be particularly adept at harnessing the web, deftly skirting government-imposed internet censorship, to establish a community that is at once virtual, tangible, and very much attuned to the country’s vicissitudes. The Tunisian rapper El Général, author of songs such as“Tounes bledna” (Tunisia’s our homeland), attracted the ire of the Tunisian government following the release of the hard-hitting song “Rayes lebled” (The President of the Country). During the height of the uprising that first spread from Sidi Bouzid, Tunisian security forces arrested the rapper on January 3, 2011 and he was held and eventually released by the Ministry of the Interior later. Meanwhile, the public could track his detention via his Facebook updates and interviews given by his family to the international press. Tunisia’s biggest rapper, Balti, recorded and spread a statement of support with regard to his protesting countrymen via Facebook shortly after Ben Ali’s ouster. Ultimately I will examine the ways in which Tunisian hip hop offers an important, new chapter in the short history of Maghrebi hip hop. If we accept that these Tunisian rappers have become political actors in the country, it would behoove us to determine to what extent they themselves embrace or refuse this role? Indeed, what does it mean to produce street rap (with its heavy connotations of the “Arab Street”) in the midst of civil unrest and veritable chaos? This paper will engage the concept of Arab Revolt by examining these questions. Do revolutions have a soundtrack? Did/does Tunisia have one?
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
Tunisia
Sub Area
Pop Culture