Music is a language of protest and creates networks of solidarity. That is the ethos behind Sarkash سرکش Underground, a festival for hip-hop, rap, trap, and experimental sounds from Afghanistan, Balochistan, and Kashmir taking place in Berlin on August 1st at Marmorbar & Oelgarten. We spoke to organizer Armeghan Taheri about what it means to host a festival for the diaspora of a region where music is banned.
The Palestinian multi-instrumentalist Ahmed Eid has released his first solo record "min ghazzeh la baghdad min haifa la beirut (من غزة لبغداد من حيفا لبيروت)" after performing with bands for more than a decade. We spoke to the Berlin-based artist about using music to express lived reality, Palestine Music Space, and what calling out the Western complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine means for musicians.
The Detroit-based artist Tiffadelic moves at her own pace. From growing up on artists like Jimi Hendrix and Sade, she got into goth and alternative music, something that didn't always land with her peers. Her debut, "Retrosynthesis Vol I", is a document of survival and self-liberation. We spoke to Tiffadelic about what shaped her sound, the stories of survival that informed the record, and why we need songs as rituals of protest.
The Vancouver-based rapper Kimmortal makes music that challenges the status quo of the music industry and colonial capitalist frameworks. Their recent release "sunniest of days" is about navigating the tension of witnessing the injustices and genocides being committed across the globe, while holding space for personal happiness. Ahead of their show in Berlin on 17 September, we spoke to Kimmortal about their musical journey.
The New Delhi-based rapper and producer Kinari recently released her new project "BADDUA". Ilo Toerkell spoke to the artist about the diverse range of influences she draws from, including traditional Indian and Tamil sounds, hip-hop and Ballroom beats, her relationship to faith, and how the district Dilli 17 of her hometown has shaped her creative output.
The rapper Enana and DJ/producer mx.pinky merged their creative energy to create the EP "Becoming." It is the debut release on exude records - a label and event series by and for trans artists. Ilo Toerkell met Enana and mx.pinky to chat about their collaboration, allowing joy regardless of the repressive climate that trans and other marginalized people face, and why we need more T4T spaces.
What is considered classical music? And who gets to decide? The Toronto-based Colombian artist, Lido Pimienta, has recently released her first fully orchestral album "La Belleza". On it, she uses the tools of western classical music but reinterprets them through her own lens celebrating her roots and the "Caribbean sublime".
The Iranian singer Faravaz will release her debut, "Azadi" (meaning "Freedom" in Farsi), on May 11th. The record recounts the story of her life in exile in Germany because the Iranian government sentenced her to one year in prison for the act of singing as a woman. Choosing to not return to her homeland, Faravaz fights for women’s rights from abroad. Her music is driven by the yearning and fight for liberation from patriarchal oppression.
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