Libya's culture clampdown silences popular rap music

As bitter as it sounds, 2023 and 2024 were prime years for Libyan rap. The country's political instability, economic hardship, ongoing conflicts, corruption, the devastating flood in the city of Derna and no real hope for a joint governmentoffered plenty of material for new songs. 

Libyan rap flourished as authorities were fairly easy going. Last August, the Eastern administration under General Khalifa Hiftar gave their okay for the first Benghazi Summer Festival in 15 years. For the Benghazi-born rapper MC Mansour Unknown, it was the first opportunity ever to perform on stage in his hometown. 

Since then, pop up concerts and other rap events have been attracting ever larger audiences.  Last week, MC Mansour Unknown performed together with the Libyan rap star KA7LA in the city of Derna at a sold-out concert. 

Yet, it seems that this could have been the last time. This week, first the Eastern, and then the Western authorities clamped down on the popular music genre. "The spread of rap songs, some of which contain obscene words, violate the moral values of the Libyan Muslim society," a statement by the Eastern administration said. 

From now on, rap musicians in the East have to obtain permission from the Benghazi-based Interior Ministry, whereas artists in the West have to get this from the Tripoli-based Culture Ministry. Both entities review if the content of the songs encourages crime, sex work, suicide or rebellions against the family or society. Without such permission, performances will be strictly forbidden across the country.

The same rule also applies to "theater shows, acting, musicals, dancing or singing performances in any place or through any means." According to the Eastern Interior Ministry, the new rule is in line with the country's constitution which states that freedom of expression ends where public morals are violated and conflicts with religion. 

"The Eastern authorities frame these restrictions as being Islamic societal rules," Virginie Collombier, professor of practice at Rome's Luiss Guido Carli University and co-editor of the book "Violence and Social Transformation in Libya," told DW.

"This is done in a very skillful way as the authorities make sure that the broader society sides with them," she said, adding that "this however marginalizes those people who would like to express their views in different ways, whether it's through art, music or even more broadly, politically." 

Rap as political outlet

In turn, Libyan rappers who address issues in their lyrics that can be understood as "rebellious" now fear a return to previous patterns of repression. 

During the period under dictator Moammar Gadhafi from 1969 to 2011, rap music was officially forbidden. It only existed underground and among the Libyan diaspora. However, in the run-up to Gadhafi's overthrow in 2011, rappers such as Youssef Ramadan Said, better known as MC Swat, used their rap songs to call on young people to rise up. 

In February 2011, MC Swat released "Hadhee Thowra" ("This is Revolution"), in which he encouraged people to take to the streets and rebel against Gadhafi. The song became somewhat the anthem of the Libyan uprising and kicked off a golden era for Libyan rap. At the time, the then-23-year-old told US broadcaster CNN that his track described the feeling of "touching freedom."

Return to repression

Only, the uprising turned into the First Libyan Civil War from February to October 2011 between forces loyal to Gadhafi and rebel groups who eventually killed him in December 2011. Libya's population and Libyan rappers who had called for democracy and freedom found themselves back at square one.  

In December 2011, MC Swat released his song "Freedom of Speech" in which he rapped: "You were made to believe that the revolution has succeeded, but it has failed because of corruption." After the release of this song, his life took a turn for the worse, he later told  British newspaper The Guardian. 

Armed militant groups didn't take it well that he continued to write rap songs in which he rallied against atrocities, violence and corruption among supporters of the head of the Libyan National Army, General Khalifa Hiftar. His track "Benghazistan" (2013) in particular criticized recent assassinations and bombings in Benghazi, much to the dismay of the ruling forces. 

In 2014, the country's political situation worsened. Since then, Libya has been divided between two rival administrations. The eastern part of the country remains under the rule of General Khalifa and the House of Representatives in Benghazi, while Libya's west is under the administration of the UN-recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) under President Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli. 

For MC Swat, his 2017 track "Exploitation," in which he highlights the pain of the people who continue to be exploited, was the last we wrote in Libya. He fled to Italy, where he has been living since. "I wish every day that everything ends in Libya and I am able to go back home and stay with my mother and father," he told the news outlet Middle East Eye at the time.

Influence of Salafist ideology

Human rights watchdogs and observers don't see MC Swat's dream come true anytime soon. "The recent ban on rap is no coincidence, it is part of a wider trend across Libya," Collombier said.  "Both power centers in the east and west have increased their crackdown not only on personal freedoms but on any discourse that could be interpreted as threat to their control," she added. 

In her view, this trend has accelerated as both political authorities are increasingly relying on security bodies that are strongly influenced by a Salafist ideology, which follows a very conservative reading of Islam.

For Libyan rappers, all of this highly likely means that they will not be able to take to the stage and express views openly anymore. Only the technical advance of social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Facebook has made it much easier to share songs with Libyan followers since the Gadhafi era. 

DW reached out to the authorities in the east and the west with a request for statement, without receiving an answer by the time of the publication. 

DW's Islam Alatrash contributed to this report.