Sheikh Arif Bulbon :
Rap music is called the language of protest. Rap musicians play
a role in protesting all the irregularities around the world. Bangladesh’s rap artistes are also vigilant against irregularities. They have been seen protesting by singing songs against secularism, high price of commodities and corruption.
However, after the attack on the students in the quota reform movement, a new generation of rap artistes has emerged in the country.
About 30 rap songs were released about this movement of the students. At the centre of the discussion were Hannan Hossain Shimul’s song ‘Awaaz Utha’ and Mohammad Sezan’s song ‘Kotha Ko’.
Both Hannan and Sezan’s home town is in Narayanganj. The two are contemporaneous in their journeys in rap music. They officially started their journey in rap music in 2018.
Hannan’s first song was ‘Discount’, while Sezan’s debut song was ‘Side Lo’. Since then they have been with regular in rap music.
During the anti-discrimination movement, Hannan and Sezan were scarred by the attack on the students. After that they decided to protest through music.
In the words of Hannan, “My brothers and sisters were dying in the streets in the movement. Many students like Abu Sayeed were shot dead. At that time, I was not in a state to be silent. I was thinking of doing something from my position. From that effort, this ‘Awaaz Utha’ song was created. After starting to write, the lyrics of the song came to mind automatically. I wrote the song in just two and a half hours.”
On the other hand, rapper Sezan told this correspondent, “In fact, I wrote the song ‘Katha Kao’ out of insistence. Any human can have claim. If it is tortured, then where is our freedom? I wrote my song from that insistence.”
Since the release of the songs, Hannan and Sezan have been getting great support from everyone. These two rap artistes hope that this love from everyone will give them a lot of inspiration in their future journey.
Sezan said, “Rap music listens more to young generation people. But several songs including ‘Awaaz Utha’, and ‘Katha Ko’ have also been accepted by senior citizens. That was our goal, let the songs not be limited to one generation, let them spread among all.”
Both of them want to be in the front line against any injustice in the future.
While talking in this regard, Hannan told this correspondent, “We have a lot to learn from this movement of students. Hopefully, we will be at the forefront of any protest in the future.”
Rapper Hannan had to face punishment for singing this revolutionary song. Police arrested him on July 25. When the news of Hannan’s arrest spread widely, everyone from artistes to ordinary people started protesting. After 13 days in prison, Hannan was released on August 6.
He said, “When I was arrested, I did not understand what would happen to me. After being sent to prison, I realised that hard times are ahead. After leaving the prison for 13 days, I came to know that people have come down to the streets for my release; they have done graffiti on the walls. My eyes were full, I am very grateful to everyone.”
On the other hand, although he did not go to jail, Sezan was under pressure from various quarters. He told this correspondent, “We realised that pressure can come after releasing songs. But in that situation of the country, we cannot remain silent.”
Speaking about his expectations about this new Bangladesh, Hannan said, “Now that Bangladesh is free, let it stay like that. Let there be no pressure on the writers, let there be no obstacles on the singers. As all the people have been united during the bad situation of the country, we must always remain united. Never let anyone lead our country to a bad situation.”
Rapper Sezan shared his expectations by this way, “The country is free today because of everyone’s protesting from different places, we can speak freely. People of all communities including Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians should be united. We will fight for everyone’s equal rights through music. We hope that we can say our words openly.”