Islamic hip-hop artists are accused of indoctrinating young against the West
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...448891,00.html
Quote:
HIP-HOP and rap artists are teaching young Muslims the ideology of radical Islamism through songs about the war in Iraq, the oppression of Muslims and the creation of an Islamic state governed by Sharia, or religious law.
Intelligence agencies have identified music as a “tool for indoctrination”. The phenomenon began with an American group called Soldiers of Allah. The group has since disbanded but its music and lyrics remain popular on the internet. Other groups in Britain, France and the US have been identified as giving cause for concern. Many use the derogatory term “kufur” to describe non-Muslims.
Madeleine Gruen, an American intelligence analyst, highlighted the lyrics of a British group called Blakstone as a possible gateway to extremist politics.
Blakstone website
http://www.blak-stone.com/
Music & Small Wars (a broad theme)
The role of music in resistance movements, insurgency and rebellion is something i've been thinking about a bit lately and noticed there doesn't seem to be much written on the topic, at least for Iraq and Afghanistan (perhaps because insurgents in those places are often hostile to music to begin with).
I grew up listening to Irish rebel music (the Wolfetones are still my favorite), so I have some understanding of music as a force for cohesion and influence in resistance movements. Even though the troubles in Northern Ireland are essentially over (for the time being at least), rebel music remains as part of Irish culture and identity.
More recently, I've been listening to some great North-African-based music which has similar roots in resistance. Tinariwen is one of the better-known groups, but there are others, many of which can be found through links to music groups on myspace. Through Tinariwen's myspace page, one can find all sorts of acts - many of which are North African "rebel music" acts. This is yet another demonstration of the power of social networking.
So a question I have, is there anything we can do with music to further our COIN strategy, or is this something we should steer away from? My experience with Irish music tells me that attempts to ban or otherwise discourage certain bands/songs/themes are most-likely counterproductive. Beyond that, it seems to me the hostility toward most music by elements in the Taliban, takfiri and other movements we are opposing presents an opportunity to attack their ideas and ideology through music. Thoughts?
North Africa's Hip Hop Protest Music
Quote:
In the midst of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and the protests elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East, a group of Libyan exiles who run a website called Khalas noticed one surprising common thread in the voicing of discontent … rap music. Across the region rap artists were providing the soundtrack to protests in the streets. So Khalas decided to contribute by releasing a mixtape of their own. Khalas co-founder Abdulla Darrat talks about the influence of hip hop in this latest round of protests.
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2011/02/11/02
Transcripts will be available Monday afternoon.
Music as a motivator for rebellion
Placed here, as Art usually goes hand-in-hand with the Social Sciences.
I haven't seen this addressed anywhere here, even after some reasonable googling and yet I can remember discussing the potential impact with Dave D. 15 years ago. :cool:
Quote:
The political and military chaos in Libya is about to enter its sixth month. As the rebels wage war against Muammar Gaddafi from their capital in Benghazi, and NATO air strikes continue to target his forces, subtler forms of protest that don't make headlines are sustaining the rebel cause.
Libyans are writing their own musical soundtrack to the war, expressing themselves in ways forbidden under the regime, and painting anti-Gaddafi murals and cartoons. These are important gestures of freedom in one of the Arab world's most totalitarian countries.
http://www.studio360.org/2011/jul/01...ck-revolution/
Quote:
Since December, musicians have been responding to — and provoking — the protests in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, and much of the music being made about these movements is hip-hop. Some of these songs have played a direct role in popular uprisings, while others have helped galvanize international support. Songs are rapped in both English and Arabic, and international collaborations have helped to spread the music over the Internet, via Facebook and YouTube.
Hear Five Of The Best
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2...he-arab-spring
Quote:
In 2009, in response to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s first speech to the United Nations, a group of Libyan exiles created an organization called Khalas, which means “enough,” the goal, to bring awareness of the struggles again Libya’s dictatorial regime not only to other Libyans in the western world but to the English-speaking world at large. In the wake of revolution in Tunisia and Egypt and protests elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East, the Khalas team recognized one surprising common thread in the voices of discontent, rap music. Across the region, rap artists were providing the soundtrack to protests in the street. Khalas has curated a mixtape of some of the best new protest music and is now hosting the mix on its website, Enoughgaddafi.com. Abdulla Darrat is one of the founders of Khalas.
http://www.onthemedia.org/2011/feb/1...ic/transcript/
See also
http://rebelfrequencies.blogspot.com...t-gaddafi.html
Trying To Fix Revolutionary Music
OK, I am trying this once again.:( For what ever reason I could not edit the original post for some reason it said I did not have the authority to edit the post! I don't know what is up with that but it would not let me do anything despite following the instructions.
So here is a link to an interesting post from Fabius Maximus on the subject of reform in America and the use music. As the first SWJ/SWC self appointed unconventional warfare music and Video Disk Jockey expert:) I was very interested in the posted experts opinion and analysis of the subject.
http://fabiusmaximus.com/2013/09/03/...a-music-54559/