Asero
30th July 2015, 04:36
BANGKOK, Thailand "Hardcore hip-hop" isnt releasing yet another rhyme about cocaine and Glocks to titillate the American suburbs. Hardcore hip-hop is a Vietnamese MC rapping about executing corrupt officials and overthrowing the Communist Party.
One of Vietnams most subversive new rap songs isnt about partying, sex or even drugs. Its simply called F*ck Communism. (We added the asterisk.) Its a six-minute revenge fantasy targeting dirty cops, crooked bureaucrats and the so-called professional thieves who run the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Here are a few choice verses:
All embezzlers will die without burial.
The traffic cops will be executed first.
Ill never accept being a slave. F*ck communism.
This song is dangerously rebellious in Vietnam, an authoritarian state that attempts to crush anti-government dissent. Its also growing really popular. Since its release in January, the track has racked up 875,000 views on YouTube and in a country with fewer than 40 million internet users, thats a huge hit song.
Going public with a song titled F*ck Communism in Vietnam is practically begging to get arrested. It was composed by a well-known rapper named Nah, a self-described middle-class kid from Ho Chi Minh City who makes no effort to conceal his real name: Nguyen Vu Son.
I knew this was risky, Nah tells GlobalPost. Ive thought of the consequences. Going to jail. Getting my family framed for crimes they didnt do. They might even try to kidnap me or arrange an accident.
Nah, 24, is currently in the US where hes studying entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University. His student visa expires in the summer of 2016. Thats when he intends to return despite potential charges of creating propaganda against the state, a crime used to imprison hundreds of dissidents in the past decade.
All of that is definitely going to happen, he says. His new neck tattoo which reads F*ck Communism is unlikely to endear him to the Vietnamese authorities.
But if I go to jail, he says, itll show the young people not to be afraid.
If F*ck Communism has an American counterpart, it might be NWAs pioneering gangsta rap song F*ck Tha Police, says Trinh Nguyen of Viet Tan, a US-based organization advocating for democracy for Vietnam.
Its this generations version of F*ck Tha Police because it clearly identifies the problems people are seeing and directly spells them out, Trinh says. Its also really provocative so, of course, it caught on really quickly.
The track is not about communism as an ideology, but rather the failings of Vietnams all-powerful Communist Party and those too meek to condemn it. Vietnams corruption score, as determined by Transparency International, ranks 119th out of 175 countries worse than fellow communist state China.
F*ck Communism is the songs English-language title. Thats a translation from the actual title "Địt Mẹ Cộng Sản" and it doesnt fully capture the intensity of the original. The actual curse word he uses is so heavy, Trinh says. Try to think of the worst curse word you could ever say.
Hip-hop fans can interpret the songs calls to violence as an expression of frustration. Vietnamese police are more likely to perceive it as a death threat with a chorus.
Nahs viral hit is now doubly dangerous. Its become the anthem of an anti-communist movement to convince Vietnams youth that theyre zombies manipulated by the state. The song was just a kickstart to get this whole movement going, Nah says.
As in the West, many urban youth in 21st-century Vietnam are more enamored with lattes and Facebook likes than social upheaval. Only recently has Vietnam, a nation devastated by war and colonial plunder in the 20th century, given rise to a young generation that can aspire toward conspicuous consumption.
The song laments that this whole generation has been brainwashed ... like zombies and that their apathy is prolonging the Communist Partys reign. Too many Vietnamese youth dont care about social issues, Nah says. They just spend their time gossiping and being materialistic.
Until recently, the movement existed largely online. It urged a simple act of rebellion: posting its logo, a cartoon zombie, on social media. Its the same way that, in the US, you see people changing their avatar to promote gay pride or immigration issues, Trinh says.
But Vietnamese youth have more to lose, she says. Their employment prospects will be quite low if theyre identified as a dissident.
Organizers are now beginning to move the campaign into the streets and police arent pleased. On July 11, a small gathering of activists wearing T-shirts with the movements zombie logo were detained by police in Ho Chi Minh City.
All were sent home except for the lead organizer: Nguyen Phi, a rapper cooperating with Nah. Police raided Phis home and confiscated a stash of zombie T-shirts, according to Viet Tan. He has yet to be released.
Theyre trying to kill off this movement from the beginning, Nah says. Police in Ho Chi Minh City are also contacting Nahs family, he says, and his parents have considered disowning him.
My parents lived through the war and saw some crazy stuff. They know who theyre up against, Nah says. At first, they told me, Well just tell the police that we dont want you as a son anymore. But so far, he says, they havent abandoned him even though my dads hair, after six months, has turned all white.
When Nah returns to Vietnam next year, he hopes the zombie movement will have grown into a formidable anti-communist force. Hes even released a manifesto for the crusade, which is inspired by pro-democracy uprisings in Hong Kong and Americas Occupy Wall Street campaign.
As a Vietnamese kid growing up in Southeast Asia, Im supposed to be a nobody, Nah says. But somethings leading me down this course. I really relate to young, black America ... that whole culture with people like Tupac, Nas, Kanye West. Ive grown up idolizing these rappers and its inspiring me to do something great.
Nah will almost certainly be detained once he returns to Vietnam, says Nguyen Van Dai, an attorney in Vietnam who specializes in human rights.
But as a young first offender, Dai says, Nah might actually be released as long as he promises to stop making songs about the Communist Party. If he persists, Nah may be sentenced to anywhere between three and 20 years for spreading propaganda against the state.
For now, Nah insists hes resigned to doing time. In true hip-hop fashion, he plans to be as uncooperative with police as possible. Ill just keep silent at all times, Nah says.
http://www.globalpost.com/sites/default/files/styles/w768/public/photos/201507/zombie_vietnam.jpg?itok=SO_q3K0p
The logo of Vietnam's youth "zombie" movement.
Taken From: http://www.globalpost.com/article/6621001/2015/07/24/rap-anthem-called-fk-communism-going-viral-vietnam
The Manifesto: http://www.triethocduongpho.com/2015/01/13/thu-gui-dang-cong-san-va-tat-ca-nguoi-viet-tu-nah-rapper/
The Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWxFIH4_dE&feature=youtu.be
This Vietnamese Communism sounds awfully like capitalism, doesn't it.
One of Vietnams most subversive new rap songs isnt about partying, sex or even drugs. Its simply called F*ck Communism. (We added the asterisk.) Its a six-minute revenge fantasy targeting dirty cops, crooked bureaucrats and the so-called professional thieves who run the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Here are a few choice verses:
All embezzlers will die without burial.
The traffic cops will be executed first.
Ill never accept being a slave. F*ck communism.
This song is dangerously rebellious in Vietnam, an authoritarian state that attempts to crush anti-government dissent. Its also growing really popular. Since its release in January, the track has racked up 875,000 views on YouTube and in a country with fewer than 40 million internet users, thats a huge hit song.
Going public with a song titled F*ck Communism in Vietnam is practically begging to get arrested. It was composed by a well-known rapper named Nah, a self-described middle-class kid from Ho Chi Minh City who makes no effort to conceal his real name: Nguyen Vu Son.
I knew this was risky, Nah tells GlobalPost. Ive thought of the consequences. Going to jail. Getting my family framed for crimes they didnt do. They might even try to kidnap me or arrange an accident.
Nah, 24, is currently in the US where hes studying entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University. His student visa expires in the summer of 2016. Thats when he intends to return despite potential charges of creating propaganda against the state, a crime used to imprison hundreds of dissidents in the past decade.
All of that is definitely going to happen, he says. His new neck tattoo which reads F*ck Communism is unlikely to endear him to the Vietnamese authorities.
But if I go to jail, he says, itll show the young people not to be afraid.
If F*ck Communism has an American counterpart, it might be NWAs pioneering gangsta rap song F*ck Tha Police, says Trinh Nguyen of Viet Tan, a US-based organization advocating for democracy for Vietnam.
Its this generations version of F*ck Tha Police because it clearly identifies the problems people are seeing and directly spells them out, Trinh says. Its also really provocative so, of course, it caught on really quickly.
The track is not about communism as an ideology, but rather the failings of Vietnams all-powerful Communist Party and those too meek to condemn it. Vietnams corruption score, as determined by Transparency International, ranks 119th out of 175 countries worse than fellow communist state China.
F*ck Communism is the songs English-language title. Thats a translation from the actual title "Địt Mẹ Cộng Sản" and it doesnt fully capture the intensity of the original. The actual curse word he uses is so heavy, Trinh says. Try to think of the worst curse word you could ever say.
Hip-hop fans can interpret the songs calls to violence as an expression of frustration. Vietnamese police are more likely to perceive it as a death threat with a chorus.
Nahs viral hit is now doubly dangerous. Its become the anthem of an anti-communist movement to convince Vietnams youth that theyre zombies manipulated by the state. The song was just a kickstart to get this whole movement going, Nah says.
As in the West, many urban youth in 21st-century Vietnam are more enamored with lattes and Facebook likes than social upheaval. Only recently has Vietnam, a nation devastated by war and colonial plunder in the 20th century, given rise to a young generation that can aspire toward conspicuous consumption.
The song laments that this whole generation has been brainwashed ... like zombies and that their apathy is prolonging the Communist Partys reign. Too many Vietnamese youth dont care about social issues, Nah says. They just spend their time gossiping and being materialistic.
Until recently, the movement existed largely online. It urged a simple act of rebellion: posting its logo, a cartoon zombie, on social media. Its the same way that, in the US, you see people changing their avatar to promote gay pride or immigration issues, Trinh says.
But Vietnamese youth have more to lose, she says. Their employment prospects will be quite low if theyre identified as a dissident.
Organizers are now beginning to move the campaign into the streets and police arent pleased. On July 11, a small gathering of activists wearing T-shirts with the movements zombie logo were detained by police in Ho Chi Minh City.
All were sent home except for the lead organizer: Nguyen Phi, a rapper cooperating with Nah. Police raided Phis home and confiscated a stash of zombie T-shirts, according to Viet Tan. He has yet to be released.
Theyre trying to kill off this movement from the beginning, Nah says. Police in Ho Chi Minh City are also contacting Nahs family, he says, and his parents have considered disowning him.
My parents lived through the war and saw some crazy stuff. They know who theyre up against, Nah says. At first, they told me, Well just tell the police that we dont want you as a son anymore. But so far, he says, they havent abandoned him even though my dads hair, after six months, has turned all white.
When Nah returns to Vietnam next year, he hopes the zombie movement will have grown into a formidable anti-communist force. Hes even released a manifesto for the crusade, which is inspired by pro-democracy uprisings in Hong Kong and Americas Occupy Wall Street campaign.
As a Vietnamese kid growing up in Southeast Asia, Im supposed to be a nobody, Nah says. But somethings leading me down this course. I really relate to young, black America ... that whole culture with people like Tupac, Nas, Kanye West. Ive grown up idolizing these rappers and its inspiring me to do something great.
Nah will almost certainly be detained once he returns to Vietnam, says Nguyen Van Dai, an attorney in Vietnam who specializes in human rights.
But as a young first offender, Dai says, Nah might actually be released as long as he promises to stop making songs about the Communist Party. If he persists, Nah may be sentenced to anywhere between three and 20 years for spreading propaganda against the state.
For now, Nah insists hes resigned to doing time. In true hip-hop fashion, he plans to be as uncooperative with police as possible. Ill just keep silent at all times, Nah says.
http://www.globalpost.com/sites/default/files/styles/w768/public/photos/201507/zombie_vietnam.jpg?itok=SO_q3K0p
The logo of Vietnam's youth "zombie" movement.
Taken From: http://www.globalpost.com/article/6621001/2015/07/24/rap-anthem-called-fk-communism-going-viral-vietnam
The Manifesto: http://www.triethocduongpho.com/2015/01/13/thu-gui-dang-cong-san-va-tat-ca-nguoi-viet-tu-nah-rapper/
The Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWxFIH4_dE&feature=youtu.be
This Vietnamese Communism sounds awfully like capitalism, doesn't it.