Editing Protest song (section)

== Africa ==

===Algeria===
[[Raï]] ({{langx|ar| "opinion" رأي}}) is a form of [[folk music]], originated in [[Oran, Algeria]] from [[Bedouin]] [[shepherd]]s, mixed with [[Music of Spain|Spanish]], [[Music of France|French]], [[African music|African]] and [[Arabic music]]al forms.  Its origins date back to the 1920s and has been primarily evolved by the women referred to as cheikhas, who performed in cafes, bars or bordellos, often for men.<ref name="Al-Deen-2005">{{Cite journal|last=Al-Deen|first=Hana Noor|date=2005|title=The Evolution of Rai Music|journal=Journal of Black Studies|volume=35|issue=5|pages=597–611|doi=10.1177/0021934704273906|jstor=40034339|s2cid=145502274}}</ref> A typical performance included the cheikhas accompanied by two to four male instrumentalists playing a gasba (a wooden flute) and gallal (a metal drum).  Rai was considered a rejection of the traditional Algerian music of the time, and the cheikhas " . . . used lewd lyrics focusing on the hardships of life facing peasant women in a big city, the pain of love, the lure of alcohol, immigration, and mourning."<ref name="Al-Deen-2005" />

By the 1950s, and through the 1960s, male musicians began performing rai music and incorporated the use of what was considered to be modern musical instruments of that time, such as the violin, the accordion, the lute, and the trumpet.<ref name="Al-Deen-2005" /> As the genre evolved over time, it continued to have associations with political movements and organizations, such as the Algerian Freedom Fighters who rallied against the French occupation.  Even after Algeria achieved independence in 1962, Rai continued to have an adverse relationship with the Algerian government, which exerted a tight grip upon its culture.  In fact, Raï had been banned from broadcast media, though it thrived in underground spaces, such as cabarets.<ref name="Al-Deen-2005" /> It was forbidden to the point of one popular singer, [[Cheb Hasni]], being assassinated.  However, since the government lifted its restrictions on rai in the 1980s, it has enjoyed some considerable success.

The song "Parisien Du Nord" by [[Cheb Mami]] is a recent example of how the genre has been used as a form of protest, as the song was written as a protest against the racial tensions that sparked the [[2005 civil unrest in France|2005 French riots]]. According to Memi: <blockquote>It is a song against racism, so I wanted to sing it with a North African who was born in France... Because of that and because of his talent, I chose [[K-Mel]]. In the song, we say, 'In your eyes, I feel like foreigner.' It's like the kids who were born in France but they have Arab faces. They are French, and they should be considered French."<ref>{{cite web|title=Raï: Algerian blues and protest music|url=http://unclesamscabin.blogspot.com/2007/03/ra-algerian-blues-and-protest-music.html|publisher=Uncle Tom's Cabin}}</ref></blockquote>Rai continues to be regarded, as Al-Neen states, "[the] music of rebellion and the symbol of cynicism. Rai has emerged as an outlet for voicing the frustrations of youths and placing greater emphasis on freedom and liberty."<ref name="Al-Deen-2005" />

=== Egypt ===
[[Ahmed Fouad Negm]] is considered a key dissident figure whose poetry in colloquial Arabic gave voice to the underclass in Egypt, and inspired protesters.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hendawi|first=Hamza|date=December 4, 2013|title=Ahmed Fouad Negm: Poet whose revolutionary work inspired decades of|language=en-GB|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ahmed-fouad-negm-poet-whose-revolutionary-work-inspired-decades-of-leftist-protest-against-egypts-8983733.html|access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref><ref name="NYTNegm">{{Cite news|last=Fahim|first=Kareem|date=December 6, 2013|title=Ahmed Fouad Negm, Dissident Poet of Egypt's Underclass, Dies at 84|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/world/middleeast/ahmed-fouad-negm-dissident-poet-of-egypts-underclass-dies-at-84.html|access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref> He teamed up in the 1960s with composer [[Sheikh Imam|Sheikh Imam Eissa]] who gave music to his verses, the partnership lasting for twenty years. Lines from Negm's poem "Who Are They, and Who Are We?" were chanted at [[Tahrir Square]] in 2011 during protests against President Hosni Mubarak.<ref name="NYTNegm" />

Music played a key role in mobilizing the 2011 protests at [[Tahrir Square]] against [[Hosni Mubarak|President Hosni Mubarak]] which led to the [[Egyptian revolution of 2011|Egyptian revolution]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Valassopoulos|first1=Anastasia|last2=Mostafa|first2=Dalia Said|date=May 13, 2014|title=Popular Protest Music and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution|journal=Popular Music and Society|language=en|volume=37|issue=5|pages=638–659|doi=10.1080/03007766.2014.910905|s2cid=145740971|issn=0300-7766}}</ref> "Ezzay," meaning "How come?" by Egyptian singer and actor [[Mohamed Mounir]] is considered one of the most popular songs associated with the protests.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Blair|first=Elizabeth|date=February 11, 2011|title=The Songs Of The Egyptian Protests|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/02/11/133691055/Music-Inspires-Egyptian-Protests|access-date=August 3, 2018|newspaper=NPR}}</ref> "[[Irhal]]," meaning "Leave", by Ramy Essam became an internet hit,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lynskey|first=Dorian|date=July 19, 2011|title=Ramy Essam – the voice of the Egyptian uprising|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jul/19/ramy-essam-egypt-uprising-interview|access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref> and was subsequently described in the media as having become an anthem for the revolution.<ref>{{Cite news|last=McTighe|first=Kristen|date=December 7, 2011|title=Out of Protest, an Anthem for Egypt's Revolution|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/world/middleeast/out-of-protest-an-anthem-for-egypts-revolution.html|access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Swedenburg|first=Ted|year=2012|title=Egypt's Music of Protest|url=https://www.merip.org/mer/mer265/egypts-music-protest|magazine=Middle East Report|edition=Winter 2012|volume=42|access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref>

=== South Africa ===
{{Main|Music in the movement against apartheid}}

==== Anti-apartheid ====
The majority of South African protest music of the 20th century concerned itself with [[apartheid]], a system of legalized [[racial segregation]] in which blacks were stripped of their citizenship and rights from 1948 to 1994. As the apartheid regime forced Africans into townships and industrial centres, people sang about leaving their homes, the horror of the coal mines and the degradation of working as domestic servants. Examples of which include [[Benedict Wallet Vilakazi]]'s "Meadowlands", the "[[Toyi-toyi]]" chant and "[[Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)|Bring Him Back Home]]" (1987) by [[Hugh Masekela]], which became an anthem for the movement to free [[Nelson Mandela]]. The Special AKA wrote a song on Nelson Mandela called "[[Free Nelson Mandela]]". The track is upbeat and celebratory, drawing on musical influence from South Africa, was immensely popular in Africa. Masekela's song "[[Soweto Blues]]", sung by his former wife, [[Miriam Makeba]], is a blues/jazz piece that mourns the carnage of the [[Soweto riots]] in 1976.<ref name="Cheyney 1990">{{cite journal|last1=Cheyney|first1=Tom|date=March 1, 1990|title=Miriam Makeba Welela|journal=Musician|issue=137|page=84}}</ref> [[Basil Coetzee]] and [[Abdullah Ibrahim]]'s "[[Mannenberg]]" became an unofficial soundtrack to the anti-apartheid resistance.

In Afrikaans, the 1989 [[Voëlvry]] movement led by [[Johannes Kerkorrel]], [[Koos Kombuis]], and [[Bernoldus Niemand]], provided a voice of opposition from within the white [[Afrikaner]] community. These musicians sought to redefine Afrikaner identity, and although met with opposition from the authorities, Voëlvry played to large crowds at Afrikaans university campuses and was quite popular among Afrikaner youth.<ref>Voëlvry is discussed in detail by Hopkins (2006) in ''Voëlvry. The movement that rocked South Africa'' (Cape Town: Zebra Press), and Grundlingh (2004) in "'Rocking the Boat' in South Africa? Voëlvry music and Afrikaans anti-apartheid social protest in the 1980s", ''The International Journal of African Historical Studies'', 37(3):483–514.</ref>

====Post-apartheid====
{{POV section|date=January 2024|talk=POV on post apartheid South Africa section}}
Following apartheid's demise, most Afrikaans writers and musicians followed public sentiments by embracing the new South Africa, but cracks soon emerged in the dream of the "rainbow nation" and criticism started to emerge, criticism that has grown in frequency and intensity in recent years. Violent crime put South Africa in the top category of most dangerous country in the world, along with poverty, government corruption, and the AIDS pandemic. For this reason, writers and musicians in which some of them veterans of anti-apartheid movements, are once again protesting against what they consider to be a government failing to uphold the promise of 'peace, democracy and freedom for all' that Nelson Mandela made upon his release from prison.  By 2000, [[Johannes Kerkorrel]] claimed in the song "Die stad bloei vanaand" [The city bleeds tonight]: "the dream was promised, but just another lie has been sold."

Two Afrikaans compilation albums of predominantly protest music were released recently: ''Genoeg is genoeg'' [''Enough is enough''] (2007) and ''Vaderland'' [''Fatherland''] (2008), and [[Koos Kombuis]] also released a CD called ''Bloedrivier'' [''Blood River''] (2008), which is primarily a protest album.  One track, "Waar is Mandela" [''Where is Mandela''] asks, "Where is Mandela when the shadows descend&nbsp;... Where is the rainbow, where is the glory?" and another, "Die fokkol" song [''The Nothing''] song, tells tourists who visit South Africa for the 2010 Football World Cup that there is nothing in South Africa; no jobs, no petrol, no electric power, not even jokes.  However, these compilations only represent the tip of the iceberg, as many prominent musicians have included protest songs on recent albums, including [[Bok van Blerk]], [[Fokofpolisiekar]], and [[KOBUS!]].

The reality of the New South Africa is decidedly violent and crime is a well-known theme in post-apartheid Afrikaans protest music. The punk group [[Fokofpolisiekar]] (which translates to ''fuck off police car'') sings in "Brand Suid-Afrika" [Burn South Africa]: "For you knives lie in wait, in the garden outside you house," and [[Radio Suid-Afrika]] sings in "Bid" [Pray]: "Pray that no-one will be waiting in the garden, pray for strength and for mercy in each dark day." Theirs is a country of "murder and child rape" where the only respite is alcohol abuse. In "Blaas hom" [Blow him away] by the industrial band [[Battery9]], the narrator sings how he gleefully unloads his gun on a burglar after being robbed for the third time, and in "Siek bliksems" [Sick bastards] [[Kristoe Strauss]] asks God to help against the "sick bastards" responsible for hijackings. The metal band KOBUS! pleads for a reinstatement of the death penalty in "Doodstraf", because they feel the promise of peace has not been realized. In "Reconciliation Day", Koos Kombuis sings: "Our streets run with blood, every day a funeral procession, they steal all our goods, on Reconciliation Day."  Elsewhere he states, "we're in a state of war." The video of this song features a lawless microcosm of theft, rape and abuse – a lawlessness reflected in [[Valiant Swart]]'s "Sodom en Gomorra": "two cities in the north, without laws, without order, too wonderful for words." [[Hanru Niemand]] rewrites the traditional Afrikaans song [[Sarie Marais]], turning it into a murder ballad speculating on where Sarie's body will be found.  The new protest musicians also parody [[Voëlvry]]'s music: [[Johannes Kerkorrel]]'s "Sit dit af" [Switch it off] – a satire on [[P. W. Botha]] of the apartheid regime – is turned into "Sit dit aan" [Switch it on] by Koos Kombuis, now a song protesting mismanagement resulting in chronic power failures.

Much of the protest by Afrikaans musicians concerns the legacy of apartheid: In "Blameer dit op apartheid" [Blame it on apartheid] [[Koos Kombuis]] sings how "the whole country is evil," yet the situation is blamed on apartheid. [[Klopjag]], in "Ek sal nie langer" [I will no longer] sings that they will no longer apologize for apartheid, a theme echoed by many others, including Koos Kombuis in "Hoe lank moet ons nog sorry sê" [For how long do we still have to say sorry]. [[Piet Paraat]] sings in "Toema Jacob Zuma" [Never mind Jacob Zuma]: "My whole life I'm punished for the sins of my father." There is also a distinct feeling that the [[Afrikaner]] is being marginalized by the [[ANC]] government: [[Fokofpolisiekar]] sings in "Antibiotika" [Antibiotics], "I'm just a tourist in the country of my birth," [[Bok van Blerk]] sings in "Die kleur van my vel" [The colour of my skin] that the country does not want him despite his willingness to work, because he is white, even though white South Africans have the lowest rate of unemployment, <ref>{{Cite news |last=Maromo |first=Jonisayi |date=November 14, 2019 |title=Black citizens bear brunt of unemployment, inequality in SA - StatsSA |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/black-citizens-bear-brunt-of-unemployment-inequality-in-sa-statssa-37212798 |access-date=January 7, 2024 |work=IOL}}</ref> and in "Bloekomboom" [[Rian Malan]] uses the metaphor of a blue gum tree (an alien species) to plead that Afrikaners should not be regarded as settlers, but as part of the nation. [[Steve Hofmeyr]] has incorrectly<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brodie |first=Nechama |date=June 6, 2013 |editor-last=Rademeyer |editor-first=Julian |title=Are SA whites really being killed 'like flies'? Why Steve Hofmeyr is wrong |url=https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/reports/are-sa-whites-really-being-killed-flies-why-steve-hofmeyr-wrong |access-date=January 7, 2024 |website=Africa Check |language=en}}</ref> expressed concern about the statistically high [[South African farm attacks|murders of Afrikaner farmers]], and has also appealed in several speeches to remember Afrikaner heritage. His songs "Ons Sal Dit Oorleef" (We will survive this) and "My Kreed" (My Cry) also echoes many Afrikaners' fears of losing their culture and rights. The appeals by these musicians, and several others, to be included follows a sense of exclusion manifested in the political, linguistic and economic realms, an exclusion depicted particularly vividly by [[Bok van Blerk]]'s "Kaplyn" [Cut line], a song that laments that fallen South African soldiers have been omitted in one of the country's show-case memorials, the Freedom Park Memorial, despite official claims of it being a memorial for all who had fought for the country.

===Tunisia===
[[Emel Mathlouthi]] composed songs since a young age which called for freedom and dignity in a Tunisia ruled by the dictator [[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]], earning her scrutiny from internal security forces and forcing her to retreat to Paris. Banned from the official airwaves, her protest songs found listeners on social media. In late 2010 and early 2011, Tunisian protesters referred to her song [[Kelmti Horra]] (my word is free) as an anthem of the [[Tunisian Revolution]].