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Uprising – Music, Images and The Tunisia and Egypt Revolution on Youtube

Posted on February 17th, 2011 by martijn.
Categories: Arts & culture, Society & Politics in the Middle East.

Music, images and nowadays video have always been an important part of protest movements. These practices of making and spreading music videos can enhance the solidarity with a movement, its identity and ideas, values and goals. It makes distant sympathizers (feel) part of the movement, in this case global movement’ because they are actually participating in spreading the word (and image) and the express their own political position in public. Some of the music belonging to these videos can be experienced as extremely powerful; if the images are not strong enough to evoke the senses, the combination with the music will. Not only the number of people grows that can engage with the message of the movement, their excitement, anger, grievances can increase at the same time; on the ground creating what has been called by Elias Canetti a ‘rhythmic crowd’; what a movement may lack in numbers they make up in intensity. How this actually works with youtube videos remains to be seen nevertheless it seems clear that musicians and youtubers are inspired by the Egypt revolution.

I have had the pleasure of enjoying two fantastic concert by Muse. One of my favorite songs is Uprising. And now with the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and elsewhere I was actually waiting for these videos to appear:

well, apparently I can’t because the protest videos featuring Muse’s The Uprising have been blocked due to copyright violations…So have a look at the next ones”:

Take a Bow

Map of the Problematique

Thirteen Senses – Into the Fire

Globus – Europe (via Raafatology)

The next video shows photographs of the revolution and using the song Million Man March by Lowkey ft. Mai Khalil:

Of course, Egyptian artists are not silent either. Watch and listen to the next song; a very popular one by Mohamed Mouzir: Ezzay (How come?)

Next one of the first protest songs Sefr (zero) by Haitham Nabil. Hani Almadhoun has the lyrics at Hot Arab Music.

The next song is made by Arab-American and African-American musicians: January 25 or #jan25:

The song is a ‘testament to the revolution’s effect on the hearts and minds of today’s youth, and the spirit of resistance it has come to symbolize for oppressed people worldwide.’

While the videos featuring for example Muse use existing songs as background thereby creating a sort of soundwall that provokes the senses, the videos from Egyptian artists are different. Arabian Knightz recorded this song Rebel in the first week of the protests:

The next one is a very powerful one of Arabian Knightz featuring the Palestinian Shadia Mansour:

And here three videos from and about the Jasmin Revolution in Tunisia from El General:

The next song and video as actually made at Tahrir Square in Cairo:

One of the most well known artists, Sami Yusuf, whose Islamic pop songs aim at empowering Muslim youth and making them proud of their identity, has also released a song: ‘I am your hope’:

Before bringing this to a (sort of conclusion) I want to show you one more, this time by Master Mimz, a female rap artist from Morocco: Back Down Mubarak! (Note the difference in the footage shown in the video?):

See also this relevant piece on Jadaliyya: Imperial Feminism, Islamophobia, and the Egyptian Revolution* by Nadine Naber that refers to the video of Master Mimz.

What youtube and modern computer technology make possible is people using products of the culture industry (such as popmusic) and appropriate them to fit their own values, needs and goals. Youtube does not only enable people to escape the censorship by the Egyptian state but also the formats and models they are exposed to by the culture industry. Youtube therefore has become an important platform for what Fiske (building on De Certeau) has called ’semiotic resistance’and creativity; one that has profound cultural and political significance.

And ok, as an academic one should keep a certain distance but hey: long live the people of Egypt!

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