Rapping, From Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street

10 July, 2012

Khaled M is a Libyan-American rapper

Welcome to EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. I'm June Simms. Protest songs are part of the fuel of revolutions. Today, we talk to three rappers who played an active part in the Arab Spring revolutions and America's Occupy protests.

(MUSIC: "Rayes Lebled")

A new generation of musicians helped give voice to the popular uprisings in twenty-eleven that came to be called the Arab Spring.

In Tunisia, the rapper known as El General, Hamada Ben Amor, uploaded a song to YouTube in November of twenty-ten. He called it "Rayes Lebled," meaning "president of the country" or "head of state." It criticized the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali with lines like "Mister President, your people are dying" and "I see injustice everywhere."

The song quickly became popular among Tunisians as they began to protest against high unemployment, rising food prices and corruption. El General's music helped express the demands of protesters following the death of Mohamed Bouazizi.

He was a twenty-six-year-old Tunisian who sold fruits and vegetables on the street in Sidi Bouzid. In December of twenty-ten he set himself on fire to protest police abuse. Tunisians rebelled, and the following month, their longtime president fled the country.

When the protests had spread, El General posted another song on YouTube, called "Tunisia Our Country" ("Tounis Bledna"). As a result, security forces detained him. But they freed him soon after Tunisians demanded his release.