News from the Threshold || rap ||
- Sessions
- 2019
- 2020
Rap, at its core, has always been an instrument for popular education, politicization, and public discussion, especially from voices unheard. Julien Boyer often uses rap and hip-hop as a pedagogical tool to bring together multiple voices, languages, emergencies and to build political/poetic narratives, in a ludic way.
He brought his gear for field-rec sessions to the Threshold Gathering and making a collective rap song became a way to reflect together on the events of the year that we were about to conclude. Which events left deep traces in us? Which of them will carve our potential futures? This exercise arrived also from practice of Polit-Informatsia.
This piece was recorded on New Year’s eve while the group prepared a feast, cooked food, and prepared an Italian-style dinner long table for over 50 people. Guests, friends, family members, comrades from the refugee struggle would arrive and proposed to record their part. Every-one contributed to the piece.
Alessandra Pomarico raps about Fridays for Future, femicides in Italy and all over the world, and the tragedy of those dying as they cross the Mediterrenean Sea.
Nikolay Oleynikov shouts the story of Azat Miftakhov - political prisoner, mathematician, student and activist falsely accused of terrorism.
Emilio Fantin recited the infamous speech of Goebels on Propaganda, as a way to reflect on the dark history of fascism and nazism, as in 2019 we witnessed their reappearance worldwide.
As if balancing with these dark news and rage-driven rhymes, Augustine added a love song. Many sang about solidarity in many languages, including Arabic, Kurdi, French, English, Bambara and Russian.
The beats are produced by Graeme Thomson, who collected the sounds of the house that hosted the Threshold gathering.
More records by Julien please find on his soundcloud channel.