Rap Music Inspires Rebel Leaders in Fight Against Qaddafi
With fighting in Libya still ongoing, rebel leaders are said to be looking to music for inspiration; rap music in particular.
According to an Associated Press report, rap music is the the source of inspiration for rebel leaders lashing out against Libyan dictator Mumammar Qaddafi.
With rap providing the soundtrack, Libyan rebel fighters like Jaad Jumaa Hashmi have been motivated to join in the battle.
He tells the AP that music like the rap group Music Masters’ track “Youth Of The Revolution” is helping define the revolution.
“It captures the youths’ quest for freedom and a decent life and gives us motivation,” Hashmi said as he sat in his truck on the outskirts of the front line city of Ajdabiya.
“Muammar, get out, get out, game over! I’m a big, big soldier!” sang 20-year-old Milad Faraway, who started Music Masters with his friend and neighbor, 22-year-old Mohammed Madani, at the end of 2010.
While rap isn’t the only music heard during the revolution, Mutaz al-Obeidi, a 23-year-old member of Revolution Beat, tells the Associated Press that it was uniquely positioned to appeal to Libya’s youth.
Rap is more popular than rock and country among the young people in Libya because it expresses anger and frustration.”
An estimated dozen rap songs recorded since the start of the rebellion have been put on CDs with rebel-inspired album covers and are on sale in downtown Benghazi.
One cover has a drawing of fighters on a captured Qaddafi tank flying the rebel flag.
