VOA常速英语2016--南苏丹说唱歌手不惧威胁，勇敢歌唱

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 venue¹ to stop his performance.On another occasion, his fans had to smuggle² 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 injustice³, 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 helping⁴ 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 corruption⁵ since.

One song banned

Lual’s lyrics⁶ 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 rattle⁷ 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 intimidation⁸.

"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 unity⁹.

"Music brings people together ... and that is what we need right now, this time of peace and reconciliation," he said. "We need to unify¹⁰, 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, collaborating¹¹ with producers and singers from the country’s various ethnicities.

1 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

2 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

3 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 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。

6 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

7 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

8 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

9 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

10 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

11 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。