Tunisia: Musicians Confronted with Censorship and Repression | norient.com 25 Sep 2021 11:43:29 Tunisia: Musicians Confronted with Censorship and Repression by Daniel Brown Of Tunisia’s entire artistic community, the musicians – and in particular urban rappers – have borne the brunt of the state’s censorship and repression. A wide legal arsenal has been used to drag musicians into court and throw them unceremoniously into gaol. In Tunisia, there are two kinds of rappers. First, there are ones like El General and Mos Anif who captured broad international interest at the outset of the 2010-2011 overthrow of General Zinedine Ben Ali. At the time, their popularity resided in texts denouncing both corruption and social injustice. Yet they were couched in a profound respect for Tunisia’s traditional moral and religious values and were noted for their absence of verbal violence, swear words or insults. El General was briefly thrown in prison on 24 December 2010 and became something of a symbol of Ben Ali’s repressive policies on culture. Then there are the underground rappers who go by the names of Weld El 15, Madou MC, Phénix, Klay BBJ, Bendir Man, Hamzaoui Med Amine and Spoiled Boy. Their rap is an abrasive yet festive description of their experiences of https://norient.com/stories/tunisia-musicians-confronted-with-censorship-and-repression Page 1 of 8 Tunisia: Musicians Confronted with Censorship and Repression | norient.com 25 Sep 2021 11:43:29 ongoing police violence, urban poverty and political corruption. These urban poets claim the ills of the Ben Ali era have stretched on unabated into the five years since Tunisia’s revolution. Their texts take off the gloves in describing police abuse and political connivance. The words are drawn from ghetto slang and are violent, torrid and hardcore. «The violence is rooted in direct insults of the police», writes Mohammed Fliti, a Tunisian doctoral student whose thesis is on the link between politics and rap in his homeland. Fliti continues: «Rap has become an essential feature of Tunisia’s music scene. It is rap which best expresses the anger and sense of confusion amongst the youth… Nowadays, it centres on questions of social justice». Which could go some way to explaining the ambivalent positioning both of successive governments and the wider public to their music. Some of the country’s most notorious rappers – Weld El 15, Phénix, Kafon, Madou MC – have been arrested and sentenced to lengthy prison sentences, their music banned from radio and television. They were charged with crimes as diverse as plotting against Tunisia to consumption of illegal drugs. Some have been forced into exile in France or even joined the ranks of the Islamic State in Syria. According to independent blogger Olfa Riahi, their popularity has not translated itself into support from the population in their struggle against the state. «They criticise not only the government but the extremely repressive laws in Tunisia on cannabis consumption», Riahi recently told Lilia Blaise of the Tunisian weeklyRéalité. «And this stance does not really seduce the wider general public». (See Daniel Brown: «The alternative voices: Artists in the Arab world»). Pernicious censorship of the poor Of all Tunisia’s artistic community, musicians, and in particular, urban rappers have borne the brunt of the state’s censorship and repression. A wide legal arsenal, particularly Article 121 of the Penal Code has been used to drag https://norient.com/stories/tunisia-musicians-confronted-with-censorship-and-repression Page 2 of 8 Tunisia: Musicians Confronted with Censorship and Repression | norient.com 25 Sep 2021 11:43:29 musicians into court and throw them unceremoniously into gaol. (See Daniel Brown: «Artistic freedom – Tunisia walks a narrow tightrope»). Rappers are also targetted through abusive use of the anti-marijuana law 52 (ibid). But for percussion virtuoso Imed Alibi, there is a more pernicious form of censorship. «The cultural authorities of our country are dead-set against what you could call the ‹music of the poor›, as well as music from rural regions», he explains in the quiet and spacious cultural centre Dar al Finun which he helps to run in central Tunis. «We call it ‹mezwed›. This is popular music where women sing accapella, then are joined by the bendir frame drum, our own tabla tijaniya (ed. See www.dansedumaghreb.blogspot.fr) and the mezwed wind instrument which gives the music its name. But this popular style is frowned on by the Ministry of Culture where bureaucrats prefer to subsidise commercial garbage for the elite in cities like Hammamet, Sousse and Tunis». The 37-year-old has played with a plethora of international stars ranging from Justin Adams to Zé Luis Nasciemento, Michel Marre and Hamid Bouchnak. But he is committed to breaking what he calls «a corrupt form of using public funds» in order to finance some of Tunisia’s most prestigious events and festivals. «The Carthage Festival sells tickets at a price equivalent to three days salary for an olive picker», he exclaims. «This elitism is creating tensions, it’s becoming urgent to address what is causing them. The youth are giving up hope, they’re marginalised, there’s no places to perform or see concerts in rural regions like Maknassy where the revolution began. Our culture has to be decentralised or it will starve». Sentenced in absentia The disillusionment has spread to the top names in hip-hop, seen as standard-bearers for the generation that emerged during the 2011 uprising. After repeated brushes with the law, top rapper Emino shocked the music community in March 2013 by joining the ranks of Islamic State in Syria. Whilst the likes of Weld El 15, real name Alaa Eddine Yacoubi, and his childhood friend Madou MC have exiled themselves to France. «What do you expect?» asks the rappers’ lawyer, the flamboyant Ghazi Mrabet. «They have been charged with crimes ranging from plotting against the state and participating in a rebellion, to conspiracy to commit violence against public officials and verbally abusing civil servants (ed., in French: outrage à un fonctionnaire publique), in this case the police force. Some offences are punishable by seven years behind bars. Not to mention the most widely-used law against the youth of this country, possession of cannabis and its promotion through channels like their musical lyrics. The infamous Law 52». https://norient.com/stories/tunisia-musicians-confronted-with-censorship-and-repression Page 3 of 8 Tunisia: Musicians Confronted with Censorship and Repression | norient.com 25 Sep 2021 11:43:29 This 23-year-old law condemned consumers and peddlers of cannabis to a year in prison, while Law 53 did not allow judges to consider attenuating circumstances. The latter was modified in May 2015 to allowing the judicial body to admit such circumstances. However, the recent incarceration of Klay BBJ for «possession and use» of cannabis underlines the relatively limited impact of the new legislation. (See: Tunisia: «Rapper Klay BBJ released from custody»). Whilst serving an eight-month sentence under Law 52, Weld El composed Boulicia Kleb or The Police Are Dogs. «Every civil servant of (the Ministry of) the Interior is a corrupt shit», he raps. «He sits up for his generals, this dog». «Weld El went too far», admits Madou MC, who began the new underground rap movement with his childhood pal eleven years ago. Madou and three fellow-rappers spent six months in gaol in 2013 because Weld El dedicated a music clip of the Boulicia Kleb song to them. «Many policemen even helped him when he was hiding from the authorities. Look, my dad’s a cop, he actually understands what we rappers are trying to do. They’re not all dogs…» We are sitting on the picturesque Avenue Bourguiba, central Tunis, just days before Madou leaves for France, a five-year work permit in his pocket. Nearby, a group of young hip-hoppers from the popular southern ghetto of Kabbaria are practising their art on the steps of the municipal theatre. Many of Tunisia’s most popular underground artists, including Madou, are from there. One of them breaks away to salute Madou and thank him. «This is what gives me hope», the 26-year-old confides afterwards, «Here’s a posse (ed. a rap group and its followers) called KBBA, 12 rappers, a couple beatmakers and a raggamuffin guy. They’ll pick up where we left off. It’s tough for us, we live in what you call galère in French, something like hell, but there’s always hope». We return to the Weld El affair. Madou is not bitter but admits that he can no longer work with his old friend. «Because he dedicated that clip to us, the judge was convinced we were all in it together. But I had nothing to do with it, none of us did. You know», he pursues, «I’m not a politician, I don’t use double-speak, I just say it the way it is. My rap is nothing new, just a reminder of the government’s promises to the youth. I also remind my generation that they can do things, they can save their lives. They just have to get off their asses». Madou chuckles when I ask for details of his court case. «I wasn’t in the country when they tried me. I didn’t even know about it, I wasn’t invited to my own trial. I was in Morocco when friends called me up and said: ‹Hey, you’ve just been convicted to six months at the Mournagaya prison, in southeast Tunis.› Yeah, I was surprised. I hesitated a long time before finally https://norient.com/stories/tunisia-musicians-confronted-with-censorship-and-repression Page 4 of 8 Tunisia: Musicians Confronted with Censorship and Repression | norient.com 25 Sep 2021 11:43:29 handing myself in».