Tupac Encouraged The Arab Spring
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. We are going to spend a bit more time in the Middle East and North Africa today. In a few minutes, we'll talk about Nowruz, also known as Persian New Year. We'll hear from a young Persian-American who will tell us how his family uses the holiday to celebrate both his Persian and African-American roots and he's also a comedian, so that should be quite a good time. That's later.
But, first, we want to talk more about the Arab Spring. That's the wave of demonstrations that swept across North Africa and the Middle East two years ago and unsettled several longstanding regimes.
Now, you've probably heard about how Twitter and social media played an important part of the Arab Spring, especially for young people, but what you might not have heard is that music, especially rap music and one rapper in particular, was also a big part of the story for young people, bringing them encouragement.
I'm joined now to hear more about this by Khaled M. He is a Libyan-American hip-hop artist. He says that Tupac Shakur inspired him and countless other people during the Arab Spring and he's with us now.
Welcome. Thanks so much for joining us.
KHALED M: Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.
MARTIN: So how big is Tupac in Libya?
M: I would say that Tupac is, still to this day, the biggest western music artist in Libya, maybe along with Bob Marley, but the two are definitely neck-and-neck.
MARTIN: Give me an example of, like, how I would experience that if I were to go.
M: It's everywhere. I mean, I was shocked because I grew up listening to Tupac over here and, you know, my first time ever going to Libya in my life was last year, and I was shocked. I mean, visually, you see it everywhere. You see graffiti, RIP Tupac. Just riding around in the streets, you still see people playing his music from the '90s to this day, and I'm talking about kids that are 18, 19 and 20 years old that may not have been around when he was making music, but his influence is huge. I mean, he's still the premier hip-hop artist in Libya.
MARTIN: Not just hip-hop artist, but artist who represents, kind of, the soundtrack of what young people are listening to. Does that...
M: For sure.
MARTIN: ...sound about right? Why do you think that is?
M: I think he made music that's very relatable. I think Tupac really represented a struggle. He represented trying to come up out of your environment and be something bigger, exceeding expectations and, you know, that's something that all of the youth in Libya can relate to.
MARTIN: I just want to play one of Tupac's songs now. I want to play "Only God Can Judge Me." Let's hear some of that and maybe you can talk a little bit about how, why a theme like this would resonate. Here it is.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME")
TUPAC SHAKUR: (Singing) Dear Mama, can you save me? (Bleep) peace 'cause the streets got our babies. We got to eat. No more hesitation. Each and every black male's trapped and they wonder why we suicidal running 'round strapped. Mr. Police, please try to see that it's a million (bleep) stressing just like me. Only God can judge me.
MARTIN: So talk a little bit about - if you would - about how you feel some of these themes kind of dovetail with what's on people's minds.
M: I mean, the situation that he's speaking of is something that, you know, Libyans can relate to, kind of an oppressive, authoritative figure, whether it's police, whether it's Gaddafi's military guards, kind of rebelling against them and responding to that with, you know, only God can judge me and, you know, God knows what our true value is as human beings.
MARTIN: You know, it's interesting that I think, if people think about it, they might think about how music has played a role in social movements lots of places around the world. I mean, in the United States, for example, in the civil rights movement, nobody would think about the civil rights movement without thinking about the music that people used to inspire them. I mean, there are many, many stories about people who were imprisoned singing to give each other courage and strength.
And it was also a way for other people to know that you were alive and I know you were in the U.S. during much of that time, but how do you think this music was actually used during this period?
M: I mean, it was twofold. I stayed in the U.S. I had actually wanted to go to Libya during the revolution and they told me, no, stay there. You know, what you're doing is more valuable. You're more valuable to us in the media doing interviews, making music, doing shows and raising money than you would be to us on the ground.
I think, first of all, for me especially because my song was in English, it raised a lot of awareness to the western world when we released "Can't Take Our Freedom." But, second of all, it really inspired Libyans inside. All the music that you saw coming from artists in Libya was meant to offer a voice to people who never had a voice before, who were never allowed to be journalists, who were never allowed to be on television or write newspapers and offered them a voice and let people know that others were standing with them.
MARTIN: Hold on a second. Let me just play a clip of the song that you just mentioned. This is your song, "Can't Take Our Freedom," and I will mention that the government actually blocked the song online because of...
M: Oh, yeah.
MARTIN: ...the impact that it was having on people and because of the message. Let's play a little bit. Here it is.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CAN'T TAKE OUR FREEDOM")
M: (Singing) In the darkest hour when the world has turned away and no one's watching, when the sky has turned to gray and you have no options, when your voice is illegal. Only choice for the people is to stand up proudly in the face of death. It ain't a waste of breath when you speak up loudly on behalf of the kids in the street with no pot to piss in, living on the young 'cause their pop is missing. Don't know if he's dead or if he's locked in prison. Disappeared, they consider him the opposition and now I'm having visions of dreams I shouldn't see. And could we be this close? Nah, couldn't be, but if the people in Egypt and Tunis can do this, decide their fate, then why wouldn't we? More than 40 years...
MARTIN: Talk a little bit about - how did you figure out that the government was blocking your music and what was the work around, if you don't mind my knowing that?
M: We actually linked up with Anonymous, who are known to be activists for anybody that isn't familiar. And Anonymous worked around and did their internet magic and even actually helped us shut down some of the Libyan government's websites and online presence for a little bit.
MARTIN: I did want to ask, you don't mind sharing this, that I mentioned that you're a Libyan-American, but this is not all hypothetical, just for people who are wondering. This is not all information that's gathered from a distance
