Abstract
This paper presents research findings from fieldwork in the rap scene of Tunis. Although the scene is relatively small, especially when compared to its Algerian counterpart, the number of young men involved in rap is expanding rapidly, particularly with the internet as a networking and promoting tool. Throughout the discussion I explore some of the ways that (Sunni) Islam intersects with rap in the artists’ lives, lyrics and identities, and the ways that their particular locatedness informs their position within what has been termed the ‘transglobal hip hop nation’. Whilst interpreting religion has long been a contested area in Tunisia, it seems that rap here functions as a route to articulating alternative interpretations of Islam, ones which not only unite the artists but offer potential for pan-umma and transglobal connectivities. These potentialities resonate with the idea of a ‘transglobal hip hop ummah’ and provide the artists with arenas for personal, political, collective and spiritual expression.
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Notes
‘Ça fait ma vie comme un désert dans les mal temps/ fils de Sahara, Arabi wa Muslim hau a bot/ Je tire mon stylo il fouq, comme un katana. Kalami Toonsi, meshi il Toonsi, khaleni net kalem Toonsi.’All the lyrics here have been translated with the artists in the hope of reaching the most meaning-faithful English translation. Raps frequently involve code switches and mix (Tunisian) Arabic, French and English; lyrics are presented here are as they are spoken. For more information on the groups discussed here and some tracks, see http://www.myspace.com/gangstarwanted (Gangstas Wanted); http://www.myspace.com/weld15 (Weld 15); http://www.al-fann.com/path/Tunisia/Rap/T_Men/ (T Men); and http://www.myspace.com/daly_blaze216 (Daly Blaze of T Men).
This is shown not only by the variety and diversity of approaches to be found in academic works on rap, but also in the interdisciplinary reach of hip-hop studies. Alim reminds us that many US universities are now offering ‘hip-hop courses in departments as diverse as linguistics, religious studies, philosophy, and African American studies’ (Alim 2005:p272), a variety which will inevitably increase in time.
Whilst many of the rappers that we met in Tunis were quick to point out that Nas and Busta Rhymes are Muslims, they were less certain of the format that their Islam takes; the routes that their (heterodox) Islam provides in bringing them to, and articulating as, Islam, are surely very different to the Sunni, Maliki Islam that the Tunisian artists practice.
For further information on Arab/ic hip-hop a good place to start is the forum of Hip-hop Arabia, http://hiphoparabia.ning.com/forum. (accessed 10th of July 2009)
We were told that the hip-hop scene is primarily located in Tunis (although there are artists working in other places such as Sfax and Sousse) and summer concerts take place in diverse coastal resorts.
This may seem a small sample group but the number of people considered rap artists with the scene is relatively small; as producer Kamel told me, ‘there are maybe fourteen or fifteen artists in Tunisia.’ This reflects surely his distinction between artists who are producing and recording, and ‘wannabes,’ a quick search on Myspace casts doubt onto this figure, and also indicates that there are many more of the latter.
Two more commercially successful Tunisian rappers are Balti Hiroshima and Sincero. The majority of artists we spoke to were rather doubtful about their status within the holistic movement, particularly emphasising the (perceived) trajectory towards R‘n’B that Balti appears to have taken. We did travel to see Balti in concert but, due to a low turnout, it ended early, and unfortunately we were unable to interview him during our stay.
‘Ena Arabe fakhour baseet, la khin fakhour bi ardi ow ardh ajdaadi bil Arab ikhwaani’.
2008 figures put the official unemployment figure at 14.1%, though unofficial figures place it much higher. Due to the seasonal nature of much of the work in Tunisia, (most notably tourism and agriculture) figures are estimates at best.
‘Fi sharah akhi ah sha’bi nukuz fil abrage mteera ithul/ khalowkum people plastic/ underground tra revolution!/ Bi saher mnit kelim aley sigher fi hum bil musica mtayeh.’
The artists perform in public at least twice a year in a variety of venues, such as summer festivals, nightclubs and self-organised concerts. Balti (who is more commercially successful) was said to perform a few times a month.
‘Insh’allah wil khatma min ahl Jehnah/ min yiddek alla ubayid Shi’a wala Sunni.’
‘Muslim farhan nimshey ala as sirat/ subah shahada deyma il fouq; la illaha illah allah/ tajmana kilmit Muslimeen ... hadah she wasa Rasul, kitab il Qur’an whoah il mem bah, whoah el kahnoon, whoa iley ey faruk bayn il haqh wil batil, nayn addalim wa al mathloom.’
‘Arabe, fière de l’ètre frero I’m Arab/ We speak together, one language Arabi/We pray together, we fight together/ Forever ever, I’m still Arab.’
‘Satisfaction with my crew and with my section/ malgré la mentalité mauvaise/ and the bad conditions/ MAK frère nomé le scorpion.’
For an in-depth discussion of Raï in Algeria and France see Gross et al. 2002.
This perspective is similar to that presented by the popular site Muslim hip-hop, where music from, and information on, Muslim artists is offered online, supporting the argument that some music, if the focus is halal, can bring listeners closer to Islam, rather than further away. See for example ‘Music in Islam,’Muslim hip-hop (MHH), http://www.Muslimhiphop.com. (accessed 10th of July 2009)
This is a reference to the Qur’an; 33:4.
Discussing raï artists in Algeria Schade-Poulsen noted as similar tension; whilst artists reported spiritual elements within the musical process, some also felt it kept them from complete religious observance (1999: 140).
During a visit to a large university in the suburbs of Tunis, a senior Professor estimated that one third of university students wear hijab on campus, despite the official ban. As hijabis, we didn’t encounter any problems. However, many women confided to us of frequent, unpredictable harassment and refused entry by security forces at the gates to campus, the most extreme case being the actual pulling off of a woman’s scarf. They were keen to stress that enforcement is as much the whims of the particular officers as it was higher directives. (Interestingly, in towns in southern Tunisia the ban was more strictly enforced, with many women choosing between the scarf or employment in civic offices and universities).
This stands in contrast to raï’s gendered spaces and roles, where sheikhat (female artists) have been fundamental to the history and development of the genre. Virolle suggests that in Algeria female performers open up spaces ‘whereby masculine and feminine signs are superimposed, inverted, corresponding, and mutually nullifying’ (Virolle 2003: 226).
For example, as the research progressed we faced the experience of being offered ‘hugs’ by some of the artists, something completely novel to us within a mixed Muslim context.
Programmes such as Cubase and Fruity Loops are dramatically changing the landscapes of production, enabling artists to create and auto-produce their raps at home. Copies of such programmes are widely available in Tunis’s markets for as little as 1 Dinar, (50 pence) at the time of writing.
‘Lyrics comme les balles, revolution hip-hop sas.’
Lyrically linking the potential of the pen with weaponry is of course nothing new in rap, hearkening back to Tupac’s words ‘so I fight with my pen’ (To Live & Die in L.A., 1996).
‘Harbi Toonsi Arbi.’
‘Je tire mon stylo il fouq comme un katana. Kalami Toonsi, meshi il Toonsi, khaleni net kalem Toonsi.’
‘Nelga rouhi bayn el blouma will habar, wa’al eh wargah bdeet na’buur, jaar.’
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Discography
T Men. (2007). Just a Question of Time, Unsigned.
Gangstas Wanted. (2006). One-by-One, Unsigned.
Gangstas Wanted. (2008). Arabi, Unsigned.
Aladdin. (2009). Soldiers of Jah’s Army, Unsigned.
Tupac Shakur. (1996). To Live & Die in L.A., Death Row/Interscope Records.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editor at Contemporary Islam for their support and suggestions, and to Sahar Alnaas and Steve Presence for their parts in greatly improving the final version. We also owe a massive merci alik to Madame Hyat and all the Tunisian brothers who made this research possible.
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Shannahan, D.S., Hussain, Q. Rap on ‘l’Avenue’; Islam, aesthetics, authenticity and masculinities in the Tunisian rap scene. Cont Islam 5, 37–58 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-010-0134-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-010-0134-7