Image from Darkroom Posse's Facebook fan club.

Editor’s note: Turkmenistan may be second only to North Korea in its self-imposed isolation, but this hasn’t stopped the global phenomenon of “urban culture”, especially in the form of Hip Hop.  neweurasia’s Annasoltan has some exclusive comments from the biggest name in Turkmen rapping — Zumer Chas of Darkroom Posse.  Read her previous entry in this post series here and here.  Also, read Chris Schuepp’s 2008 guest post on underground pop music in Turkmenistan here.

Okay, for those of you who don’t know, the music form “Hip Hop” or “Rap” originated in 1970s Bronx, New York City, and has since spread across the world.  That’s a lot because it’s more than music, but a whole lifestyle.  Some (American) names you’ve probably definitely heard of: Eminem, Queen Latifah, Sugar Hill Gang, Salt’n'Pepper, 2Pac, Snoop Dog, NWA, etc. etc.  But unless you’re in Turkey or Turkmenistan, I bet you’ve never heard of Zumer Chas.

Zumer is the biggest name from the Turkmen Hip Hop group Darkroom Posse, the most popular Turkmen Hip Hop operation of our time to reach stardom.   For example, in 2008 when Zumer gave a concert together with RuDe, 1600 people came — a remarkable number.  I caught up with him recently to ask him his thoughts about why the music form is spreading in Turkmenistan, and what it means to be a rapper in this country.

Darkroom Posse performing in Turkmenbasy, 2008. Photograph from the Darkroom Posse Facebook fan club.

The influence of Turkish and Arabic music has been immense in the Turkmen pop scene.  However, these influences have failed to strike a deeper chord with society here.  Hip Hop, however, seems to have brought something that hadn’t existed before.  What precisely is it?

To answer the question, let’s first look at Hip Hop’s opposition in Turkmenistan.  Music professionals don’t take it seriously, and conservatives think it’s contributing to the moral decay of society.  Here’s Zumer’s response to their criticisms:

If culture is allowed to prosper from all sides, then the youth will grow in thinking, and the will to serve the homeland will  increase, too.  But there are still people who think about the worst when they see the youth liking Hip Hop, rap, and break dance; they tend to think negatively. That attitude has not been eliminated. But actually rap and Hip Hop can be used in many different ways, depending on the people.

But what about the sex, violence, and drug use so associated with Hip Hop globally?  Well, for one, drug abuse, which was widespread among the “old guard” of Turkmen music artists, seems to have lost its appeal among much of the younger generation.

As Turkmen rap is maturing, the more extreme forms of lyrics with rude language are falling away.  Zumer notes that Turkmen lyrics have come a long way from very childish, even silly, beginnings:

When I started there were no rap no Hip Hop songs in Turkmen.  So, when we began writing [lyrics] we had not [many] ideas, we just put together coincidentally what rhymed well in the beginning.

You’ve also got to think about what Zumer is saying in context: during the 20 years of Niyazov’s rule, the only songs allowed in the country were those in praise of him.  Music artists who did not conform were banned from state television and radio.

So, I think it’s pretty clear that music consumers eventually got fed up with the situation and have been hungering for something of real art value.   It probably also helps that rappers show no interest in supporting official political lines with their music — doing so would simply be against the principles of Hip Hop.

Darkroom Posse performing in Turkmenbasy, 2008. Photograph from the Darkroom Posse Facebook fan club.

Now, consider that much of the fan base, and indeed, many of the rappers themselves, are university students and active members of the Turkmenet — people with futures.  Zumer himself is a student in a Turkish university intending to go on to Master’s studies.

Indeed, Hip Hop syncs well with the profile of the newly emerging Turkmen youth who is neither dormant nor slow to react.  The Guardian newspaper interviewed a Western diplomat in Ashgabad who remarked,

I have never seen such resentment among people as with the students… You can see the people are not asleep.

Take for example the song “Palestine”, which Zumer made with fellow rapper Syke.  The lyrics called attention to the plight of Palestinian children living under the Israeli occupation and as a result has spurred debate in the country and on the Turkmenet.  I think one day this song’s success will be seen as symbolic of when Turkmen youth began finding their own voice.

Zumer told me about how “Palestine” came into being:

The ‘Palestine’ song came as it came and there was nothing planned about it. My band partner Nazar had sent me some beats to consider for our album ‘1 Galam 1 Deprek EP’ and suddenly dispute and struggle crossed my mind. It was the time when Palestine, a Muslim country, was being bombed.  So, I began to write the [lyrics] with Syke.

There are two things about the song. First, Syke and I were not in a good relationship earlier. We were attacking each other with ‘disrespect’ songs publicly. But some time later we decided to give it up and became friends. There was a surprise reaction to ‘Palestine’ with the listeners [in which they asked] ‘What’s happening to these guys?’ when in fact we were trying to send out a message of peace, as I say at the end of the song, ‘with this song we are calling upon the people to peace.’ We intended to show to them the result of a fight in an intelligent way.

Secondly, with this song we wanted to contribute to the end to tribalism [among  Turkmens] as people from Teke and Yomut and other tribes in chat forums are attacking each other. We did a lot of work on writing the lyrics of the song and out came a good result. Our listenership increased and we got a lot of attention from Turkmenistan.

Darkroom Posse album art. Image from Darkroom Posse's Facebook fan club.

So, why rap?  Zumer’s answer to this question goes straight to the heart of why Hip Hop is taking off in Turkmenistan:

My aim is to tell about my life and to share my experiences with the people.  I think everyone has got a problem somewhere.  The more you share those things the more life becomes easier, it helps to foster thinking. By singing about them, we [the rappers] are turning these life experiences into artwork.  It’s a different feeling, it’s a kind of self-realization and boosting self-confidence. And the people have got interest in those real life experiences.