As one of the students asked me about famous Rap songs in Tunisia, here some suggestions to get used to Tunisian dialect.
Pscyco-M is known for his controversial lyrics addressing various issues, such as the media blackout that Arab regimes imposed before, during, and after the revolution, the repression and torture of certain Tunisian political activists, and the current status of the Arab revolutions. Public reactions to Psyco M’s work have varied; after presenting his song “Manipulation” on his Facebook page, the song created an uproar and drew both admiration and criticism for its censure of the state of decadence of Arab civilizations.
Tensions reached a climax when conservatives and liberals filed lawsuits and raised petitions against the young rapper. His Facebook page was subject to hacking from “counter-revolutionaries” in late September, after its membership exceeded 200 fans. His Facebook page clearly demonstrates evidence of the young rapper’s success — it has already attracted over 100,000 members. Thus, the statement on his page certainly is salient: “In the beginning, they ignore you. Then, they mock you. Then, they attack you. Then, you win.”
I recommend to listen to this song" My Tunisia" as there is less use of French words and the video shows life in Tunisia. The words generally tell about; on the one hand, the country's situation, people's suffering, daily life and on the other other hand about corruption, people in power, betrayal,..
El General is another young Tunisian rapper (one of my favorites). Unlike Psyco-M, El General has no political or religious orientation that has been shown in his songs, he depicts reality as it is and mostly concerned about social issues.
I think you should listen to this song as there are subtitles with the video and it shows real pictures and a brief sum up of what happened this last (almost) 2 years.
After releasing this song on facebook(though he has never showed his face or real name), El General was arrested and called in for questions in January 6th, 2011, just 8 days before the ex-president of Tunisia fled to Saudi Arabia. The song then became integral to the protests and he has been released from jail.
His rabble-rousing spirit is clearly descended from the lineage of American rap artists like Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions (and especially the finger-pointing wage disparity breakdowns of The Coup’s Boots Riley). But the noir beats, minor-key melodies and Omen-ous feel seems like he’s up on the more direct-action rhymes of Harlem’s Immortal Technique and the austere grooves of Philly’s quasi-political Jedi Mind Tricks.
Check out his story and how he became famous in one month! http://www.spin.com/articles/inside-tunisias-hip-hop-revolution
If you'd like to know more about Tunisian Rappers, let me know so I might post more about that...
Also feel free to visit my blog if you want to learn more about Tunisia's issues and Africa in general : http://aya-chebbi.blogspot.com/
Pscyco-M is known for his controversial lyrics addressing various issues, such as the media blackout that Arab regimes imposed before, during, and after the revolution, the repression and torture of certain Tunisian political activists, and the current status of the Arab revolutions. Public reactions to Psyco M’s work have varied; after presenting his song “Manipulation” on his Facebook page, the song created an uproar and drew both admiration and criticism for its censure of the state of decadence of Arab civilizations.
Tensions reached a climax when conservatives and liberals filed lawsuits and raised petitions against the young rapper. His Facebook page was subject to hacking from “counter-revolutionaries” in late September, after its membership exceeded 200 fans. His Facebook page clearly demonstrates evidence of the young rapper’s success — it has already attracted over 100,000 members. Thus, the statement on his page certainly is salient: “In the beginning, they ignore you. Then, they mock you. Then, they attack you. Then, you win.”
I recommend to listen to this song" My Tunisia" as there is less use of French words and the video shows life in Tunisia. The words generally tell about; on the one hand, the country's situation, people's suffering, daily life and on the other other hand about corruption, people in power, betrayal,..
El General is another young Tunisian rapper (one of my favorites). Unlike Psyco-M, El General has no political or religious orientation that has been shown in his songs, he depicts reality as it is and mostly concerned about social issues.
I think you should listen to this song as there are subtitles with the video and it shows real pictures and a brief sum up of what happened this last (almost) 2 years.
After releasing this song on facebook(though he has never showed his face or real name), El General was arrested and called in for questions in January 6th, 2011, just 8 days before the ex-president of Tunisia fled to Saudi Arabia. The song then became integral to the protests and he has been released from jail.
His rabble-rousing spirit is clearly descended from the lineage of American rap artists like Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions (and especially the finger-pointing wage disparity breakdowns of The Coup’s Boots Riley). But the noir beats, minor-key melodies and Omen-ous feel seems like he’s up on the more direct-action rhymes of Harlem’s Immortal Technique and the austere grooves of Philly’s quasi-political Jedi Mind Tricks.
Check out his story and how he became famous in one month! http://www.spin.com/articles/inside-tunisias-hip-hop-revolution
If you'd like to know more about Tunisian Rappers, let me know so I might post more about that...
Also feel free to visit my blog if you want to learn more about Tunisia's issues and Africa in general : http://aya-chebbi.blogspot.com/
Hey Aya!
ReplyDeleteCan you explain, in the second song, what the line about marigolds means? I feel like there is something idiomatic there, maybe, that I am not understanding?
Cathy Harris
Arabic 2001
Hey Cathy,
ReplyDeletein that line he is saying " maaasee partout",
"maasee"مأسي is an Arab word for misery or tragedies but I don't know why it's translated marigolds in the video.
"partout" is a French word for "everywhere".
See you tomorrow :)
That makes, much, much more sense than marigolds.
ReplyDeleteCathy Harris
Arabic 2001