There is not much freedom in rock, but in hip-hop you have freedom to express, express your ideas. "I like, and people like, the freedom of hip-hop. He began combining the two art forms, meshing the ancient melodies with computer-generated beats, and near-forgotten Burmese-language words with his own modern lyrics. "In the British Library, I discovered these traditional songs, original Burmese-language lyrics, that nobody had performed for hundreds of years. He first heard hip-hop as a student at the SAE Institute in London, instantly admiring the quicksilver rhymes and daring lyrics of Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg.īut he also had an interest in the traditional music of his homeland, and began researching the hundreds of documents held in the UK. Thxa Soe is one of Burma's leading hip-hop stars, and one of its most outspoken. Following the 1988 student uprising, however, the music was banned outright by the ruling military junta.īut hip-hop's fluid lyrics wrapped in rhymes and youthful argot make it a perfect modern format for subtly spreading an anti-authoritarian message.
Traditional protest songs, known as thangyat, were once used to air grievances, both small, against neighbours, and large, against authority.
Anything even vaguely critical of the ruling military junta is swiftly outlawed, any attempt to circumvent the regime brutally repressed.īut an imported art form – hip-hop – is providing a subterranean vehicle for quiet, yet significant, dissent among Burmese youth.īurma has a history of revolutionary music. Books cannot be published without government approval, song lyrics are vetted by a censorship board for anti-government sentiment before they can be recorded. And everywhere, the Tatmadaw – Burmese military officers – armed and helmeted, watch over all.Įverything is watched in Burma, everything is scrutinised, and everything is controlled. At the very front of the crowd, two novice monks, wrapped in the maroon robes that have come to symbolise defiance in Burma, dance and play air guitar. The barricades keeping the audience from the stage are ordinarily used to control rioters. But this is Burma, and nothing is the same here. This is a summer music festival, soaked in alcohol and drenched in sweat, the same as anywhere.
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