MUSIC-TURKEY: Oriental Rap Hits Back

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Nadire Mater

ISTANBUL, Oct 3 1995 (IPS) - Until recently, rap did not enjoy much popularity in Turkey. But now a group of young German Turks is conquering the nation with what they describe as “oriental rap”.

The group ‘Cartel’ was formed in the early 1990s by third generation Turkish immigrants in Germany. Their latest album ‘Karakan’ (Black Blood) sold 180,000 copies here – a considerable amount for a rap record in Turkey.

The music sounds most like distorted Turkish folk. The words, most often, deal with racism and the band members’ mixed feelings on Germany and Turkey.

“Came here/ worked like an idiot/ stained and oppressed/isn’t that enough,” rapped the group during last week’s concert in Istanbul, in a song reflecting the mood among many young Turks in Germany and other western European countries. Tens of thousands of fans cheered loudly, seemingly not bothered by the heavy rains.

“Crazy Turk/ Born out of hell,” rap the nine musicians on ‘Karakan’. The song is about the tragedy in Solingen, Germany, where in Jan. 1993 a group of neo-Nazis set a house inhabited by Turkish immigrants ablaze. Five Turkish women and children died in the attack.

“Cartel is a musical reflection of both young generation Turks’ protest against racial discrimination in Germany and of their cultural confusion as well,” says music critic Tugrul Eryilmaz from Istanbul.

“At least four or five thousand people, more than half of whom are anti-racist Germans attend our performances in Germany,” says the group’s leader Erji, a student and former DJ for the Berlin- based local radio ‘Kiss FM’.

“But the skinheads never dare attack, for they are always faced with a tightly bound anti-racist solidarity,” says a proud Erji, as Cartel challenges the racist gangs singing: “It’s your turn now skinheads, wait as we shit on your heads.”

Yet the members of Cartel themselves too, have come under criticism for allegedly enhancing ultra-nationalism. In Turkey they are especially popular among the ‘Gray Wolves’ – a nationalist group linked with the pro-fascist MHP (Nationalist Movement Party).

“Cartel’s rise coincided with a nationalist wave in Turkey. However peaceful their lyrics may be, their violent videoclip images very well fit with Turkish ultra-nationalists’ emotions: hatred against all but Turks, vengeance and violence,” said Burcin Akkun, a conservatory student from Istanbul.

“When looking at those images, you can easily see that they are ready to do the same as what is done to them,” Akkun added. (MORE)

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