VOA常速英语2016--南苏丹说唱歌手不惧威胁，勇敢歌唱（在线收听）

South Sudan Rapper Speaks Out Despite Threats

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN—

对于南苏丹说唱歌手Lual D’awol来说，音乐是一种政治藐视的手段。

He took the stage at a nightclub in Juba the day after soldiers stormed another venue to stop his performance.On another occasion, his fans had to smuggle him out the back of a venue to avoid arrest.

在士兵们蜂拥而至阻止了他的一场演出之后，Lual在久巴的一个夜店里登台演出。还有一次，Lual的帮助他从演出现场的后门逃跑，从而避免了被逮捕。

It is part of the struggle for hip-hoppers in this tiny controlled country.

在这个小国里，这是说唱歌手们挣扎斗争的一部分。

"Hip-hop is a type of music where you talk.You pass messages, and talk about the suffering of the people,and be the voice of the voiceless, basically. I feel like [in] South Sudan, there’s a lot of people who are voiceless,there’s a lot of injustice, a lot of unfairness.”

“说唱是一种用说话来表演的音乐形式。一般来说，你会传递一些信息，说出人们的苦难，为那些不能发声的人说话。我觉得在南苏丹，许多人都不能够发出自己的声音，这里有许多不公正，许多不公平。”

Lual is one of South Sudan’s most popular rappers.Raised in the United States, Lual returned to what was then southern Sudan in 2009 in hopes of helping the country grow.

Lual是南苏丹最受欢迎的说唱歌手之一。他在美国长大，他在2009年的时候回到苏丹，想要帮助这个国家成长壮大，当时南苏丹还没有独立。

South Sudan got its independence two years later but has known little besides war, poverty and corruption since.

One song banned

Lual’s lyrics push the boundaries of free speech in a country where perceived government critics have been jailed, beaten or killed.

The government banned one of Lual's most popular songs, "Dowla Jadit," from playing on local radio stations.

“Dowla Jadit” means “New Nation” in the local Arabic language. In the song, Lual criticizes local officials who he says always reply, “We are a new nation,” as an excuse for the lack of public services like water and electricity.  Lual said he received death threats after releasing the song.

"It is just people trying to rattle me, trying to scare me, and trying to get me to sing things that make no sense, or talk about falseness and fake things that are not really happening, clubbing and what, but that is not the reality in South Sudan," he said.

'I cannot change'

Lual said he would not give in to intimidation.

"I just have to be myself," he said. "I cannot change for any intimidation or any fear, because you only live once and I cannot live like a coward, you know?"

With South Sudan emerging from a 2?-year civil war that has divided the country by tribe, Lual said he wanted to preach unity.

"Music brings people together ... and that is what we need right now, this time of peace and reconciliation," he said. "We need to unify, and have that nationhood, that love for South Sudan, you know?  Because we are all South Sudanese at the end of the day."

He is working on a new album, collaborating with producers and singers from the country’s various ethnicities.