A few decades ago, when famous hip-hop performer Chuk D called rap 바카라black America바카라s CNN바카라, he spoke for an underclass that had found not just its own voice but its own medium as well. If the hip-hop movement in the US has its icons in artistes such as Mos Def, Tupac Shakur, Ludacris and Chuk D바카라s Public Enemy, India has is witnessing a revolution of its own. From Assam to Kerala to Kashmir, young rappers are speaking out against violence, farmers바카라 movement and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, lending weight to mass protests on the burning issues.
Kashmir, where protests against violence have been going on for some 30 years now, has a vibrant hip-hop scene, not just in English and Urdu but in native Kashmiri as well. As does Bihar where poverty, class and caste divide have given its local artistes enough to be angry about. Some of these songs are wildly popular. Here바카라s a collection of hip-hop, as an alternative, provocative and perhaps a necessary medium for exchange of ideas.
Asaam mein ghusna hai,
Bohot hi asaan hai
Voter jaake, girgirate,
note dete 200 ka
Virodh karo to chalega sulie,
Shaheed hua wo baccha
Jis umar mein bache ghar mein
cartoon dekhe Pogo ka
Getting into Assam, is quite easy
Go to the voter, grovel before them, offer them Rs 200 bill
And if they protest, hang them by the neck
Even a child became a martyr
At an age when they sit at home watch
cartoons on Pogo
바카라Van M
On CAA
ALSO READ:
Pahada jiday hosaly
Teh senaya ch robh ah
Sedak tsabar sachay
Ohdi mataya ch loh hai
Shahadata da dor ohi
Mahena utho poh hai
O put tere ohi ne
Hukumta ve oo ah
Courage like mountains
And attitude in chest
Faith and patience are true
Anger in forehead
It바카라s the time for martyrdom
On top of that, it바카라s the month of December-January
They are your same son
Rule is also the same
바카라Harf Cheema And Kanwar Grewal
On farmers protest
ALSO READ:
Yahan ghus deke padhne waale JNU pe bhonke
jhonke school paatal main,
murti aasaman main
sangharsh ka ye harsh baithi bagawat pe beti
aawaaz aag ka taap, vidroh ka haav bhaav
kehti bahaav ke saath aksar laashe hain behti
Those who bribe their way through
school make caustic comments about JNU
Meanwhile, the schools rot in hell,
while statues reach for the skies
The celebration of the struggle,
your daughters sitting in protest
Fiery sounds of the uprising fan
the waves of rebellion
And with the flow of words often flow corpses
바카라Rahul Negi
On JNU violence
ALSO READ:
Swaraja piche barigate paaye hoye ne
Jatt ni Punjabo ae aaye hoye ne
Oh bik gaya paave Inda da media
BBC de utte jhote chaye hoye ne
The Swaraj tractors are behind the barricade
Boys from Punjab have come here
Indian media is sold
Everything is displayed on the BBC
바카라Mankirt Aulakh and Jass Bajwa
On farmers protest
ALSO READ:
Huwa CAB abhi CAA, par tu layega kaha?
Crore바카라on me jo log ayenge, basayega kaha?
Khilayega kaha?
Naukri dilayega kahan?
Apne logon ko to pehle berozgaari se bacha
CAB became CAA, but where will you bring them?
The crores who come where will you settle them?
Feed them?
Where바카라ll you get jobs for them?
Save your own people from unemployment first
바카라Vayu Vrse
On CAA
ALSO READ:
The problem with the present is the burdened MSP
The setting of the prices and the owner of the seeds
The farmers gonna die
Then where you gonna feed.
바카라Young Daku
On farmers protest
ALSO READ:
Jannat nahi hai ye hai jahnum
hain jalte hum
khuun kharaabi aur baimaani ka hai jashn
kyun na dikhe tumhe zakhm jo kabhi bhare nahi
kyun na nikle hum jalso mein, dekho hum mare nahi
This is hell not heaven
where we burn
where we raise a toast to violence and corruption
why can바카라t you see the wounds that have never healed
why shouldn바카라t we come out in protest, look we aren바카라t dead, we can still feel
바카라Ahmer
On Kashmir
ALSO READ:
Sentiments of a broken nation
separated by religions
and the hesitation
vote banks, industries
and corporations
filthy pockets of the rich and famous
at the cost of poverty and desperation
pellet embedded faces of desperation
let us face and breathe the blatant
truth of celebration
Happy Diwali, New Delhi
바카라Sumit Roy
On socio-political scene
(This appeared in the print edition as "Poetry on Pavement")
