CivilNet: Rapping Under Fire in Nagorno-Karabakh

CIVILNET.AM

01 Sep, 2021 09:09

Artsakh’s rap scene has been on the rise in recent years. Many of the young rappers in the region have been incorporating the experience of war, trauma, and conflict into their music. In 2017, author and filmmaker Taleen Babayan traveled to Karabakh, where she met Lyovka, Erik and Spartak, three rappers born and raised in Artsakh. “Rapping under fire,” is the story of three young men who have been exploring the intersection of life, music, and adulthood in the unrecognized republic.

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS