美国国家公共电台 NPR--Young Iraqis turn to rap after the war to express trauma, dissent and protest

Young Iraqis turn to rap after the war to express trauma¹, dissent² and protest

Transcript³

Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq decades ago, young Iraqis have been using hip-hop to voice protest and pain. NPR's Leila Fadel talks to journalist Dalia Al-Dujaili about her piece in The Guardian⁴.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

What's the most effective way to express trauma, dissent, protest, community organizing? Quite a few young Iraqis are choosing rap.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "P.H.A.T.W.A.")

NARCY NARCE: (Rapping) Some things I'm unsure of, like an Arab man at an airport, when you wonder what he's there for. Therefore, I stand up for lands stuck near war in tandem⁵, passport control, where I'm picked at random⁶. Damn son.

FADEL: That's Narcy Narce, a Canadian rapper of Iraqi descent, and he's just one of many people in the diaspora sharing his lived experience post the U.S. war in Iraq through hip-hop. And inside Iraq, many artists are also choosing rap to depict⁷ life in the aftermath of that war and occupation. A lot of them are in their 20s and don't even remember an Iraq before the U.S. invasion. Dalia Al-Dujaili is a British Iraqi writer, and she recently wrote about all this in The Guardian.

DALIA AL-DUJAILI: Iraqis, both in the region and in the diaspora, haven't had much time to even begin to heal from the scars of the war because we kind of lived with the aftereffects of the war. The way that we experienced the country, either in Iraq or from the diaspora, was defined by terror, by war, by bombs, by Bush, by Saddam, by Blair. And we knew that that was not the reality of us. We knew that that was not our identity, that war and terror did not define us and did not define our culture and our amazing legacy⁸ in history. So I think we are a very mobilized generation that are so determined⁹ to flip¹⁰ that narrative¹¹ and to remove those kinds of associations with Iraqi identity.

FADEL: One example you cite is a song from an Iraqi New Zealander rapper who calls himself I-NZ. His song "This Is Iraq" - it's a take on the Childish Gambino song "This Is America."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THIS IS IRAQ")

I-NZ: (Rapping) Yeah. This is Iraq corruptin' the area, Farsi hysteria, sayin' we gon' take care o’ ya. Na, na, I might get shot for this. Na, na, you might get blocked from this. Na, na, I'ma go train a kid, na, na, wash off the innocence¹².

FADEL: And you called this, quote, "perhaps the most potent¹³ example of this" generation of artists. What stands out about this particular song?

AL-DUJAILI: Yeah. I love this song, and I love the video. So obviously, "This Is America" came out during a time when there were lots of protests and revolts against police brutality¹⁴ in the U.S. and a lot of corruption¹⁵ within the state. And this is something that occurs in many other countries such as Iraq. And I think it's so interesting, this mirroring of Iraq and America, because I guess a lot of Iraqis see America as the antithesis¹⁶ of Iraq. But to kind of directly compare the two through music I think is so biting and so direct.

FADEL: I mean, I do wonder why you think young Iraqis have taken on a very American art form - and an American art form that has its own history of pointing out repression¹⁷ and oppression, specifically of Black Americans in this country - why they've taken on that language, that genre¹⁸, to talk about the corruption in their country, the aftermath of this war - the U.S. war - the occupation.

AL-DUJAILI: The thing about hip-hop is that organically it grew as a protest genre. And one of the most, I think, powerful ways to protest is through satire¹⁹, because satire makes protest and political commentary so accessible, and it kind of uses language and imagery that we already use and know in our day to day, rather than kind of like adopting jargon²⁰ or using institutional language, which kind of alienates²¹ a lot of audiences.

FADEL: So far we've talked about Narcy Narce, Canadian Iraqi rapper.

AL-DUJAILI: Yeah.

FADEL: We've talked about I-NZ, Iraqi New Zealander born in Scotland, now living in Dubai. When you talk about Iraqi rappers that are living in Iraq, is there a difference in the music and what they produce?

AL-DUJAILI: I think so. I think they talk about, you know, the daily kind of struggles of life there. They talk about the electricity not turning on, having no access to...

FADEL: Right.

AL-DUJAILI: ...Clean water. They talk about police patting them down and searching them and giving them a hard time. They talk about the school infrastructure²² not being put in place. They talk about, you know, specific politicians, or they make, like, vague remarks to these politicians. But if you look at diaspora Iraqis, I think not just rappers, but a lot of diaspora Iraqi creatives in general, our view is a lot more kind of sweeping²³ and a lot more about how we see Iraq from a distance.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TAPSY")

KHALIFA OG: (Rapping in non-English language).

FADEL: There's a rapper that you write about, Khalifa OG. I just want to play a little bit of his song "Tapsy."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TAPSY")

KHALIFA OG: (Rapping in non-English language).

FADEL: So what is he saying here?

AL-DUJAILI: Yeah. You've got me, like, jamming in the studio now.

FADEL: Yeah. Me too.

(LAUGHTER)

AL-DUJAILI: There's so much dark humor in his music. He basically says, "this is a democratic country, and we have the freedom to express. But don't you speak about them, my brother. Of course, that's not allowed." In this line about, you know, being a democratic country and we have the freedom to express, he's obviously being ironic²⁴ here.

FADEL: Right.

AL-DUJAILI: And he says that we have - we're a democratic country, we have the freedom to express, but don't speak about them, and them being this like faceless, kind of, like, mass of leaders, because then you'll be in trouble.

FADEL: Yeah. And you quote Khalifa OG in your article. He was quoted in The National saying, you know, Iraqis don't want to talk about depressing things. They want to have fun. And that's why he puts satire in his music, right?

AL-DUJAILI: Yes, exactly. He said that as Iraqi people, we are upset. We're depressed²⁵ all the time. We don't want to listen to sad things about our country. And I was there recently in March, and no one talks about the war. No one talks about the protests. No one talks about the political situation.

FADEL: Really?

AL-DUJAILI: Number one, because you get in trouble for talking about things like that quite directly, but also because people want to move on. They are sick and tired of being so depressed and always being the victims. You know, we are not victims, and we do have a lot of agency.

FADEL: But you also write about another Iraqi rapper named Vife. And he's very direct. His music is much darker.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STORY OF IRAQ")

VIFE: (Singing in non-English language).

FADEL: What is his message in the song "Story Of Iraq"?

AL-DUJAILI: With Vife, one of the lines is, "dead bodies like flower pots. In each corner, you'll find hundreds. Red blood colored the streets. And we became the victims." It's tricky²⁶ because I wanted to include that to show the reality of what happened. And for so many Iraqis that are still processing and they're still healing, even the young generation, it is their realities. And to kind of ignore that is not doing any Iraqi justice.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STORY OF IRAQ")

VIFE: (Singing in non-English language).

FADEL: That's journalist Dalia Al-Dujaili. She wrote a piece for The Guardian called "We Are A Forgotten People: How Rap Music Processed Trauma In Iraq."

Thanks for sharing this with us and taking the time to talk to us.

AL-DUJAILI: Thank you so much, Leila. It's been a pleasure. 

1 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

2 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

5 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

6 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

7 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

8 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

11 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

12 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

13 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

14 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

15 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

16 antithesis   

n.对立；相对

参考例句：

• The style of his speech was in complete antithesis to mine.他和我的讲话方式完全相反。
• His creation was an antithesis to academic dogmatism of the time.他的创作与当时学院派的教条相对立。

17 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

18 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

19 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

20 jargon   

n.术语，行话

参考例句：

• They will not hear critics with their horrible jargon.他们不愿意听到评论家们那些可怕的行话。
• It is important not to be overawed by the mathematical jargon.要紧的是不要被数学的术语所吓倒.

21 alienates   

v.使疏远( alienate的第三人称单数 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The new teacher alienates the children by behaving prissily. 这位新老师因表现拘谨而疏远了学生。 来自互联网
• What alienates him from the house? 什么东西使他远离这所房子呢？ 来自互联网

22 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

23 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

24 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

25 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

26 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。