Hillary Clinton attacks Sanders, rap music parody

When Hillary Clinton lost the 2008 United States Democratic party primary elections to Barack Obama, somewhat more to the left than her, she did 12 meetings supporting the winner of the nomination.

When Bernie Sanders lost the 2016 United States Democratic party nomination to Hillary Clinton, after the party establishment had used dirty tricks, Sanders did many more meetings, 41, all over the USA asking voters to vote not for Trump, and not to stay home, but to vote for Clinton; even though the opposition to him had been much dirtier and the political differences were much bigger than after the Clinton-Obama primaries.

Now, it looks like Ms Clinton would rather have four more years of Donald Trump than Bernie Sanders being elected president.

This 3 February 2020 rap music video from Britain, a parody of the song Insane in the brain, by Cypress Hill, says about itself:

Cypress Hillary – Insane in the Dem Brain

Hillary Clinton‘s Cypress Hill tribute act.

LYRICS:

Listen up, DNC:
It’s looking rough
We can’t let Bernie win the primary
How can we make the nominee me?
Or Bloomberg or John Kerry?
Rig the convention selections
To kill momentum in time for the General Election
Damn! The gap just widened on Biden
And Liz Warren
Gotta come out fightin’
Oh! Can someone wake up Joe?
We need a good show for the Bernie Bros
They’re booing my name
It’s got Hillary Clinton going insane

Insane in the Dem brain
(Insane in the brain!)
Insane in the Dem brain
(Insane in the brain!)
Insane in the Dem brain
(Galaxy brain! Got no shame!)
Insane in the Dem brain
(Insane in the brain!)

Do my shit undercover, drone strike like Obama
Oughta take out the whole of Iowa
I’ll take a donation from any nation
Just make it out to the Clinton Foundation
Nobody in Congress likes Bernie S
He’s basically Trump for the left
And you’re all deplorable, frankly
You don’t believe I’m a fan of the Yankees
Or that I was attacked on the tarmacIn Bosnia with Sinbad and a press pack
Get on the galaxy brain thought train!
‘Cause Hillary Clinton’s going insane

Insane in the Dem brain
(Insane in the brain!)
Insane in the Dem brain
(Insane in the brain!)
Insane in the Dem brain
(Galaxy brain! Got no shame!)
Insane in the Dem brain
(Insane in the brain!)

Moroccan rapper L’Gnawi arrested fror criticizing government

This 29 October 2019 musical video from Morocco is the song Aâcha Chaâb by rapper L’Gnawi.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Moroccan rapper Mohamed Gnawi was arrested two days after a video appeared in which he expressed his criticism of the Moroccan government.

In the song Aâcha Chaâb, which means ‘long live the people‘, Gnawi says, eg, that the government “drugs people ” so that they do not revolt. He also sings that Morocco will become an “empty country” in 2020 because everyone leaves and that the king “fools everyone”. The video has been viewed more than 700,000 times since Friday.

834,435, when I last looked today.

“Everyone thinks it’s a suspicious coincidence that he was arrested two days after that song,” says correspondent Samira Jadir. “He was already in the sights of the police. I think they were already planning to arrest him, but were only looking for a good opportunity.”

Jadir thinks that the many views played a role. “You can say a lot in Morocco, but as soon as the authorities see that you are being followed a lot, you are a danger to society in their eyes”.

From L’Express in Morocco, 2 November 2019:

The song recently released online is a “cry from the heart of a youth left on the margins”. In the video, we see the trio of rappers denouncing social injustice, repression, and abuse of power.

Ethiopian-Israeli rap music against police brutality

Associated Press news agency, 12 July 2019, writes about this video about music:

Ethiopian rappers challenging Israel police through song

In his song “Handcuffed”, rapper Teddy Neguse addresses police brutality against young Israeli men of Ethiopian descent.

Although the song came out in 2017, it has recently reached new heights in the wake of street protests across the country following the killing of an Ethiopian Israeli teen by an off-duty police officer last month.

This week the 23-year-old artist was invited to perform his song live on the popular news website Ynet.

Neguse’s appearance on Ynet illustrates the growing Ethiopian Israeli presence in the local music scene.

But it also reflects the ongoing struggles against alleged racism and discrimination, some three decades after Ethiopian Jews began arriving in Israel.

Large numbers of Ethiopian Jews began arriving in Israel via secret airlifts in the 1980s.

The new arrivals from a rural, developing African country struggled to find their footing in an increasingly high-tech Israel.

Throughout the decades, Ethiopians have suffered discrimination.

In the late 1990s, it was discovered that Israel’s health services were throwing out Ethiopian blood donations over fears of diseases contracted in Africa.

Accusations have also been raised that Israel has deliberately tried to curb birth rates in its Ethiopian communities.

Today there’s around 150,000 people in the Israel Ethiopian community, some 2% of the country’s 9 million citizens.

While some Israelis of Ethiopian descent have made gains in areas like the military, the police force and politics, the community continues to struggle with a lack of opportunity and high poverty rate.

Against this backdrop, Israeli artists of Ethiopian heritage are breaking out in the entertainment world, especially in the growing hip hop and dancehall scenes.

In his music video for “Handcuffed”, Neguse is dressed up as a soldier, riding a bicycle, when he encounters two policemen.

The officers then, seemingly unprovoked, beat him up.

The music video depicts a 2015 incident in which two policemen were filmed beating a uniformed Ethiopian Israeli soldier, sparking mass protests.

The most recent demonstrations erupted after the unarmed Solomon Teka, 18, was fatally shot by a police officer in a Haifa suburb on June 30.

…

Police say … at least 150 protesters were arrested.

The officer in question, who has claimed the youth was accidentally hit by a warning shot he had fired at the ground, is being investigated by internal affairs and remains under protective custody.

Another up-and-coming Ethiopian Israeli musician, Yael Mentesnot, says that in the past, the community has been “restrained” and “we end up coming off a bit naive.”

But this time she says the community is beginning to truly feel the despair.

“All the protests, they are not orchestrated, nothing there was organised,” she said.

“Everyone went to the streets frustrated and released their anger.”

While most of Mentesnot’s young solo career has been filled with upbeat party songs, she said the recent events have inspired her to address the Ethiopian Israelis’ struggle.

“Our whole life is a struggle, we face challenges, and we overcome them,” she said. “I want the public to see it. To understand what we feel.”

Neguse said he is pleased that Ethiopian musicians are on the rise, but said the recent protests should be seen as “a call for help, a cry of an entire community.”

No Nicki Minaj concert in Saudi Arabia

This 6 July 2019 video from the USA is called Nicki Minaj Receives Huge Backlash After Controversial Saudi Arabia Performance.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

The US American rapper Nicki Minaj is not going to Saudi Arabia for a concert. In a statement she writes that she has given it a lot of thought and that she has studied the situation in more detail.

Her conclusion is that she will not go to the strictly religious country, where women have less rights than men and LGBT people are discriminated against.

‘Discriminated against’=getting the death penalty.

In the statement, Nicki Minaj expresses her strong support for the establishment of equal rights for women and LGBT people. She also speaks out for freedom of expression.

The announcement last week that Minaj would appear at the Jeddah World Fest was received with surprise. In her raps, Minaj does not mince words …. The video clips that accompany her songs can be called explicit.

Spanish rapper, convicted for rapping, not extradited

This 17 September 2018 video in Spanish is about a Belgian court refusing to extradite rapper Valtònyc to Spain.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV:

The Spanish rapper Valtònyc, who was sentenced to a prison sentence for his song lyrics and fled to Belgium, does not have to be extradited to Spain. This has been decided by the Belgian court.

The 24-year-old Josep Miquel Arenas Beltran, as the rapper really is called, was sentenced to a prison sentence of 3.5 years last year for glorification of terrorism, threats and insulting the Spanish crown in his song lyrics.

At the end of the session, lawyer Simon Bekaert told the press that the rapper, according to Belgian law, was not guilty of glorifying terrorism or lèse-majesté. “The council chamber has ruled that it is not terrorism and that there is no violation as far as Belgian law is concerned, nor was there any question of lèse-majesté.” The judge finally stated that there were no threats.

…

Arrest warrant

At the end of May of this year, when he had to start serving his prison sentence, Valtònyc fled to Belgium. The Mallorca rapper reported to the Belgian police two months later in Ghent after Spain had issued an arrest warrant.

The investigating judge had released the rapper conditionally, while the Belgian court had to rule on his arrest warrant.

Rapper Valtònyc, extradited to Spain for rapping?

This March 2018 Spanish rap music video by Valtònyc is a song critical of the Spanish monarchy.

By Alejandro López in Spain:

Pursuit of rapper Valtònyc reveals widespread censorship in Spain

26 July 2018

A Belgian court provisionally released rapper Josep Miquel Beltrán (stage name Valtònyc) pending its decision on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by Spain. The rapper fled Spain in May to avoid a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence after being convicted of glorifying terrorism, insulting the monarchy, and issuing threats in songs posted on YouTube and other internet platforms.

Valtònyc’s offending lyrics … [were] referring to corrupt politicians and the monarchy.

Valtònyc has defended his songs saying, “Calling me a terrorist is nonsense … My songs don’t hurt anyone, I haven’t killed anyone. I rap about things that happen, but I’m not a participant.” He invoked freedom of expression in his defense, describing the very nature of rap lyrics as “extreme, provocative, allegorical and symbolic.”

Valtònyc is widely supported among Spanish youth. In April, a group of Spanish rap artists recorded a video in support of free speech and the rapper, and opposed to the royal Bourbon dynasty under the title “Los Borbones son unos Ladrones” (The Bourbons are Thieves).

This April 2018 Spanish music video is called Los Borbones son unos Ladrones VIDEO (feat. Frank T, Sara Hebe, Elphomega, Rapsusklei…).

The unrelenting pursuit of Valtònyc is further evidence of the growing assault on free speech and democratic rights in Spain and throughout Europe.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is the most high-profile victim of the EAW. He was first arrested in London in December 2010 under its anti-democratic provisions to answer trumped up “questions” of sexual misconduct in Sweden.

Assange is no longer any sort of suspect in Sweden. However, the Trump administration wants Britain to extradite him to the USA for revealing war crimes which they call ‘espionage’.

In 2017, an EAW was issued by Spain against ousted Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont. It has subsequently been dropped.

Dropped because Germany did want to extradite Puigdemont, but not for ‘rebellion’ which is not a crime in Germany.

Esteban Beltrán, the director of Amnesty International Spain has stated, “Sending rappers to jail for song lyrics and outlawing political satire demonstrates how narrow the boundaries of acceptable online speech have become in Spain.”

“People should not face criminal prosecution simply for saying, tweeting or singing something that might be distasteful or shocking. Spain’s broad and vaguely-worded law is resulting in the silencing of free speech and the crushing of artistic expression.”

“Spain is emblematic of a disturbing trend which has seen states across Europe unduly restricting expression on the pretext of national security and stripping away rights under the guise of defending them.”

Following Valtònyc’s sentencing and before it was installed in government in June, the Socialist Party (PSOE) together with the … Podemos [party] both used it to attack the Popular Party (PP). PSOE Secretary General Pedro Sanchez, now Prime Minister, called for “freedom in artistic expression” and tweeted, “Bad taste cannot be punished with jail … That a rapper enters prison is a very bad symptom on the state of our democracy.”

Podemos general secretary Pablo Iglesias declared that a clear “regression in regards to civil liberties” was taking place adding, “It seems that criminal law is applied to persecute dissidents while the corrupt ones are let off scot-free.”

However, since coming to power with the help of Podemos, the PSOE has remained completely silent. So too has the Attorney General’s office, which was used by the previous PP government to intervene in all manner of right-wing political operations, most recently in the Catalan independence campaign firing off criminal complaints to the courts within hours of actions by the separatists.

Instead, both Podemos and the PSOE have directed their attention to “reform” of the Citizens Security Law, also known as the Gag Law, which was used against Valtònyc. The law, passed by the PP in 2015 under the all-encompassing pretext of “fighting against terrorism”, limits freedom of speech, prohibits mass gatherings and imposes fines for protesting and making comments on social media.

Since it was passed three years ago, there have been a huge number of prosecutions. Some 48,000 fines have been imposed solely on the basis of article 37.4—“disrespect and lack of due consideration to the State Security Forces”.

Where once Podemos called for the Gag Law to be abolished, it now pleads with the PSOE to “remove the most negative aspects.” Podemos could have conditioned its support for the new minority PSOE government on the repeal of the Gag Law, but instead declared the PSOE would be installed with their help with “no preconditions.”

Valtònyc was also found guilty of defaming the monarchy under articles 490 and 491 of the Penal Code dealing with “Crimes against the Crown”, which includes the whole Royal Family, past and present and can result in sentences of up to two years. Some 29 people have been charged between 2007 and 2016.

It was the PSOE which re-inserted the articles into the Penal code in 1995 and it has resisted all attempts to amend or remove them. Last March, it opposed attempts by the Catalan separatist party ERC to revoke them in the Spanish parliament, declaring they “go far beyond the freedom of expression and enter the field of institutional respect.”

The PSOE also supported the “praising of terrorism” law, which was introduced into the Penal Code by the PP government in 2000 and strengthened in 2015. It was passed under the pretext of fighting the terrorism of the Basque petty-bourgeois armed group ETA [Euskadi Ta Askatasuna—Basque Homeland and Freedom]. However, whilst there were 33 sentences between 2004 and 2011 under this law, after ETA announced it was ceasing its armed struggle in 2011 the number of sentences has multiplied by four. From 2011 to 2017, there have been 121 cases.

The most notorious case under “praising of terrorism” was against two puppeteers for a performance in Madrid denouncing the Gag Law. César Strawberry, lead singer of the group Def Con Dos, was sentenced to a year in prison last year for tweeting jokes about ETA and giving the king “a cake-bomb” for his birthday.

Cassandra Vera, a 22-year old student, also received a one-year suspended jail sentence last year for “humiliating” the victims of terrorism by making jokes on Twitter about the killing of [Admiral] Luis Carrero Blanco, the right-hand man of Spanish dictator and mass murderer Francisco Franco. Referring to his assassination over 40 years ago by an ETA bomb, which blew his car 20 metres into the air, Vera joked, “Not only did ETA have a policy about official cars, they also had a space programme.” The sentence resulted in the loss of her university scholarship and disqualified her from employment in the public sector for seven years.

Since the start of the year, other censorship and attacks on free speech include:

•  In January, the High Court sentenced a man to a 900-euro fine for insults to the monarchy.
•  In February, Arco contemporary art fair in Madrid removed artist Santiago Sierra’s piece, “Political Prisoners in Contemporary Spain”, which included photographs of jailed Catalan independence leaders, claiming it was hurting the “visibility” of the other art on show.
•  In March, rapper Pablo Rivadulla, known as Pablo Hasél, was sentenced to two years in jail for praising terrorism, slandering the Spanish state and insults to the monarchy. “A generation of rappers has emerged with combative lyrics”, Hasél declared, adding “[The state is] afraid because these lyrics reach a lot of young people, and they don’t want those people to get involved in the struggle for the rights that are denied us.”
•  Also in March, actor Willy Toledo appeared in court because he had defended three women charged with blasphemy after they paraded in the southern city of Seville with a giant vagina, simulating a religious procession.
•  Two weeks ago, the mayor of La Línea de la Concepción ordered the removal of a photograph at an exhibition by the photographer Marta Castellano, in which a woman dressed as a priest is seen marrying two men, saying it “could offend Catholics”.

In numerous articles, the WSWS has warned that the Spanish ruling class has been organising the forces of the state to be used, not in “a war against terror”, but for domestic repression under conditions of growing inequality.

We have explained how the Gag Law heralded a new stage in the development of sweeping police-state powers aimed at prevent mass opposition organised through social networks outside of the control of the main parties.

Spanish king ‘insulted’, rapper flees to Belgium

Hoy es un gran día.

España ya no juega en el mundial pero yo sigo en cuartos de final.

Rueda de prensa en Bruselas hoy a las 17h comentando el partido y las jugadas clave.

Roncero no llores. pic.twitter.com/P5ptiNbn0F

— Josep Valtònyc🎗️ (@valtonyc) July 5, 2018

In this tweet, with its photo from Belgium, Spanish rapper Josep Valtònyc said (translated):

Today is a great day. Spain no longer plays in the World Cup but I’m still in the quarterfinals. Press conference in Brussels today at 5pm commenting on the match and key moves. [Spanish sports journalist Tomàs] Roncero, do not cry.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

The rapper Valtònyc, who was convicted of lèse majesté in Spain, reported yesterday to the Belgian judiciary in Ghent. Spain has submitted an extradition request to Belgium. Valtònyc may await the decision in freedom, provided that he remains in Belgium.

José Miquel Arenas Beltrán, as the 24-year-old rapper is called really, is the first artist since the fall of dictator Franco in 1975 who was convicted of lèse majesté. At the end of May he had to start a prison sentence of 3.5 years because of insulting the Spanish crown …

Valtònyc fled after his conviction. He wrote on Twitter that “disobedience is an obligation towards this fascist state“. …

Puigdemont

At a press conference, recorded by the El Mundo newspaper, Valtònyc said yesterday that he was inspired by the Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont. He fled to Belgium after the organization of an … independence referendum and now awaits an extradition request in Germany. Puigdemont expressed sympathy for Valtònyc’s situation.

The rapper said yesterday that he does not regret his lyrics. He also says he is not afraid of extradition. “I am not in danger, I have not done anything wrong. Here (in Belgium), they sing against the king and nothing happens. Spain is an exception in that respect. What happens there is not normal.”

Free rapper Ezhel from Turkish dictatorship

Rapçi Ezhel'in tutuklanması, ifade özgürlüğünün ihlalidir!

Rap özgür olmalı, sanat özgür olmalı, ifade özgür olmalı!

Siz de imza verin, dayanışma gösterin ve Ezhel'in serbest bırakılmasını talep edin: https://t.co/qrX1H6eGfR #FreeEzhel pic.twitter.com/gz3DMsMV1s

— Amnesty Turkey (@aforgutu) June 2, 2018

Translated from Dutch NOS radio today:

Against the Turkish rapper Ezhel ten years imprisonment was demanded because he rapped about marihuana.

Ten years imprisonment. Turkish dictatorship-loving President Erdogan is emulating, even surpassing Spanish dictatorship-loving ex-Prime Minister Rajoy who had rapper Valtónyc convicted to 3,5 years in prison for criticizing the king.

Erdogan and Rajoy are also both corrupt.

The Rajoy regime last year helped the Erdogan regime by arresting a Turkish German author.

Fortunately, Rajoy was sacked recently. That should happen to Erdogan as well, as soon as possible.

The rapper, whose real name is Ömer Sercan Ipekçioglu, encourages drug use according to the Turkish authorities.

The 28-year-old rapper was arrested in Istanbul last month. The public prosecutor will provide a photograph that has been placed on social media as proof. On it, the rapper can be seen with a cannabis plant. Also the video below of his song Geceler, in which he raps that light under the influence of marijuana looks fiercer, was a pretext for the rapper be arrested.

This Turkish music video is called Ezhel – Geceler (Official Video) 2018.

“In Turkey Ezhel is a big name”, says NOS correspondent Melvyn Ingleby to NOS Radio 1 News. “His videos are viewed millions of times.”

According to Ingleby, he was not arrested because of drugs, but for the comments that the rapper made on the government. “He has been making music about drugs for years, as many other Turkish rappers do.” Ezhel also has many political texts in his music. “Eg, he rapped that there is no future in Turkey, that the newspapers are full of lies and that if someone writes the truth, then that person wil go to jail.”

If the rapper is found guilty, then he can get a prison sentence of five to ten years. Amnesty International calls for the release of Ezhel. On Twitter, the human rights organization writes that the arrest of the rapper is a violation of the freedom of expression.

In the Netherlands the rapper is popular among Turkish and Moroccan youths. In April, Ezhel gave his first performance in the Netherlands in TivoliVredenburg. The hashtag #FreeEzhel is used on social media to draw attention to Ezhel. There is also an online petition, which has now been signed more than 125,000 times.

Spanish rapper flees incarceration for rapping

This 2012 Spanish rap music video is called La TuerKa Rap – Valtónyc (NO AL BORBÓ). In this song, rapper Valtónyc is not very flattering about Juan Carlos, then king, now ex-king, of Spain. The rapper mentions the king killing elephants and other, corruption etc. scandals. Scandals which led to forced resignation of Juan Carlos as honorary chairman of the WWF conservation organisation, and then also as king.

Ex-King Juan Carlos is not the only well-known person in Spain in a corruption scandal. So is Prime Minister Rajoy and his right-wing minority Partido Popular government. Some media like the New York Times expect that the Rajoy government may fall soon because of its corruption scandals.

To distract attention from its scandals the Rajoy government starts repression reminiscent of the Franco dictatorship. Repression in Catalonia for voting in a referendum. And repression for lèse majesté. Reminiscent of the military dictatorship in Thailand, where so-called insults of the king, or of a king who died 400 years ago, or of the king’s dog, are pretexts for harshly imprisoning critical voices.

Now, back to Spanish rapper Valtónyc, born in Mallorca.

Mañana es el día. Mañana van a tumbar la puerta de mi casa para meterme en la carcel. Por unas canciones. Mañana España va a hacer el ridículo, una vez más. No se lo voy a poner tan fácil, desobedecer es legítimo y obligación ante este estado fascista. Aquí no se rinde nadie.

— Josep Valtònyc🎗️ (@valtonyc) May 23, 2018

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

“Tomorrow is the day, tomorrow they will come to get me to lock me up. But I’m not going to make it easy, disobedience is allowed, an obligation even in this fascist state.” These are the last words of the Spanish rapper Valtónyc in public before he fled on Wednesday.

Since the tweet [see above] nothing has been heard from the 24-year-old artist, who was supposed to have started serving his prison sentence of 3.5 years yesterday. The Spanish police have issued an international arrest warrant against him.

Valtónyc, who is actually called Josep Miquel Arenas Beltran, was convicted in February for lèse majesté …

Valtónyc claimed it was a case of freedom of speech, but the judge did not go along with that. …

Valtónyc receives a lot of support on social media. His last tweet has been shared almost 40,000 times and the hashtag #FreeValtonyc is frequently used on Twitter.

Spain’s new laws turn peaceful protesters into terrorists. Ignasi Bernat and David Whyte report that Spanish central government has introduced new police powers to crack down on radical movements in Catalonia.

McDonald Trump, Lowkey’s new music video

This music video from Britain says about itself:

15 April 2018

Official Video for Lowkey – McDonald Trump

Produced by Nutty P

Mixed by Guy Buss

The lyrics of this song are:

McDonald Trump, Mc-McDonald Trump
McDonald Trump, Mc-McDonald Trump
McDonald Trump, Mc-McDonald Trump
El pueblo unido jamás será vencido // shut him down
McDonald Trump, Mc-McDonald Trump
McDonald Trump, Mc-McDonald Trump
McDonald Trump, Mc-McDonald Trump
يا مجرم يا فاسد القدس تاج راسك // Shut him down!

[Verse 1: Lowkey]
700 billion a year to the fossil fuelers
750 billion a year to the rocket launchers
This monster’s morbid mob is sordid more than what’s reported
While this song’s recorded, hope a hundred humans cross the borders
Words of MLK, greatest violence purveyor
See ourselves in the afflicted, the environment decayer
Do it for Puerto Rico and Ibrahim Abu Turaya
He’ll get Ahed Tamimi while he’s tweeting London’s mayor
Harbingers of doom, they let the Trump comittee galavant
Passport not accepted, it’s a London City travel ban
Dystopian future like Amazon‘s camper vans
Merely an apprentice to the corporate gangster glamour gang

[Bridge: Lowkey]
ExxonMobil are writing this Trump script
The Koch brothers are riding this Trump ship
Wall Street is writing this Trump script
Raytheon and Lockheed riding this Trump ship, shut him down

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