By Sean Leviashvili
In terms of its hip-hop scene, Morocco is no Detroit.
But international recognition is hardly the driving force for many of the artists featured in Josh Asen’s 2007 documentary, “I Love Hip-Hop in Morocco.”
“I don’t know if people in America will respect our music,” said Fnaire, a Moroccan hip-hop artist featured in the film. “The real dream is to make it happen right here.”
The 80-minute documentary was screened Friday at afterHOURS as part of “Spread the Word,” an event hosted by the organization Social Change through Peace Games (SCtPG). It follows five hip-hop groups and artists as they plan a three-day concert series – ultimately, a six-month endeavor rife with planning and coordination. The concert series took place between May and July 2005 in the Moroccan cities of Meknes, Marrakech and Casablanca.
Asen’s film captures the details of the planning process, from the artists’ search for a sponsor to their input regarding logistics and their advertising efforts. In addition, Asen and Jennifer Needleman, co-director and editor, gathered footage and sound bytes from artists and civilians alike on the country’s underground hip-hop movement – and how it stands up to hip-hop here.
“The difference between us and America?” mused one unidentified teenager from a suburb outside Marrakech. “Freedom of speech. [Americans] have a president, and we have a king.”
This is one of the primary reasons hip-hop artists in Morocco skimp on swearing and avoid rapping about women, said Brown Fingaz, a Morrocan hip-hop artist.
“Religion and the throne are sacred in Morocco,” he said. “You can’t [mess] with Islam and you can’t [mess] with the king.”
Asen explores the theme of censorship throughout the film, as well as oppression and nationalism. In the song “Hands Off My Country,” Fnaire addresses a series of suicide bombings that took place in Casablanca, a city of about 3 million, in May 2003. Fourteen bombers led the attack, which left 20 civilians dead.
“They didn’t think they were a target,” Asen said in a phone interview. “May 16 became a point around which people rallied, the way Americans are about September 11.”
The film’s screening was followed by a 35-minute performance by Unconscious Logic, a hip-hop trio from New York consisting of two singers, Thesis and Natural Fact, and DJ Elan Vytal.
A crowd of approximately 50 cheered as the three men took the stage.
“This is what it sounds like,” Thesis repeated, encouraging crowd members to chime in. It only took a few minutes before the audience began swaying their arms in sync with the beats laid out by the artists’ nine songs.
Toward the end of the performance, Thesis, who is also a Peace Games coordinator, acknowledged the mission of SCtPG: “Young people are making it happen.”
As a Peace Games coordinator in Harlem, Thesis works to alter the climates that exist in schools, he said after the performance.
“It’s important to bring real interaction into schools,” he said. “And that means that students are appreciated for what they think, not just what they absorb.”
Since 2007, SCtPG has used this theory as a cornerstone of their “Three Communities Initiative,” which includes outreach on campus and action on local and global scales.
The organization is working with three schools in Roxbury – the Maurice J. Tobin School, St. Patrick’s Grammar School and the Stephen P. Hanley School. Group members can volunteer as much or as little time as they want, said Corina Maturo, a sophomore psychology major slated to be the group’s executive director.
“In a year from now, we’d like to possibly provide for co-op opportunities, which could include anything from education to building schools,” she said.
SCtPG will hold their first meeting of the semester tonight at 7 p.m. in 103 Churchill Hall.
