Hip-Hop is a universal genre of music. It allows young people to express themselves. There are many people that disagree with Hip-Hop. In some countries it is forbidden. It can often be described as a sin. In those countries some youth decide to rebel and perform it and listen to it. Music should be the way people express the way they feel about a subject. Not many people feel this way or they are afraid of change. Most of the time when people are afraid of change, they discourage the brave ones. One country in particular that disagrees with Hip-Hop is Morocco. Many youth in Moroccan communities rebel against the authorities. Two of these young people are Fatima and Brownfingaz.

Fatima is a female rapper. She is supported by her family, including her father. It is a way of expression for her. She doesn’t do it to look cool. A lot of people disrespect her and what she does. Fatima is sometimes told that she should stick to studying and leave rap alone. She says that she likes to speak the truth through her music. On the I Love Hip Hop in Morocco tour, she was boo and hissed at as she tried to perform. Instead of cowering away she played into their disbeliefs. She did her very best and wooed the crowd. The reason she does this is to speak the truth and send a message to the underdogs. Her father was stripped of the opportunity to become a musician. We can infer that pop culture is full of expressive youth. Youth in this culture have their opinions and don’t have a problem speaking the truth.

Brownfingaz on the other hand is a male rapper. He raps about having nothing. In his country there is no discrimination between races because they are all African. He does use the word “nigga” in his music. He says that African Americans have a right to say the word just as much as he does. I feel like he doesn’t realize what this word truly means for him to make that comment. His father does support him, however, he believes Hip-Hop is a fad and it will go away just like all music in their culture. Hip-Hop for Brownfingaz is a way to express himself freely. This is the same idea that Fatima has about Hip-Hop. It isn’t to make money, but to make a statement to the government and the judgmental people around him. It is to let go of the frustration that he feels against the government.

In Islam Hip-Hop is similar to American Hip-Hop. They take the things they hear from America and make something for their people. American artist rap about racism and Moroccan artist rap about the poverty rate and the way they are treated. Osama Bin Laden bombed their country and so it angered a lot of people. Many of the rappers decided to make songs about the terrible conditions and the bombings. The artists feel that it isn’t necessary to conform to the world around them. They would rather tell a message about how not to conform. It bothers the elders and religious individuals around them.

Both of these artists are similar. They are outcasts in some parts of their country. The Islamic faith does not condone the type of music that they perform. To them it is just music and it isn’t hurting anyone around them. They both write their own lyrics but look to Hip-Hop artists in America as a role model. Their messages differ; however, their reasons are the same. They sometimes rap about being the underdog seeing there is no money in what they do. In Morocco respect isn’t important, they do what they want. They don’t have respect for authority. Two things that are feared are religion and the constitution. These are not things that these artist are afraid of at all. They still practice their religion, just do Hip-Hop . A lot of the people in their country say that Hip-Hop is for dirty badass kids.

America helped fund this event in Morocco. A bad thing about is that music is forbidden there and so the leaders there might turn against America. The audience was hype and grateful as well. The American government could possibly hurt their relationship with Islamic world. When the leaders don’t agree then there shouldn’t be a debate, however, there was. The whole time all of this was going, no one stopped the process of the festival. Instead the country tried to make it hard on them. Some places refused them of any services. They had to search high and low for sponsors. It took a while for them to get the money from the embassy. Eventually the money was sent at the last minute. I think it took so long because America wasn’t sure if they wanted to get involved in what could possibly happen.

In conclusion, these rappers have it hard. They don’t have the right to freedom of speech. They can’t say what they want when they want without repercussions. It is somewhat the same in America. With the whole Natalie Maines situation we see that our freedom of speech isn’t so free. It all comes down to how society receives it. A lot of artist here live in fear of losing fans if they voice their opinions. Moroccan artist on the other hand have to worry about the government trying to take away their voice. It takes a lot of courage for them to go against their culture. Their homes were bombed because someone said the wrong thing. I thought it was wonderful to see so many artist get together to make a statement. They were not afraid to perform Hip-Hop. Of course they had to get through some troubles but they did it. Even when they were booed and hissed at they continued on and did what they had to. Some will say they are corrupting the Islamic world while others will say they are evolving it.