by Alan MacLeod
Through its myriad of agencies, the United States government has recruited and groomed rappers from around the world to further its political interests. Washington has spent tens of millions of dollars funding, training, and promoting artists who foment public discontent, organize protests, and lead color revolutions in nations in its crosshairs.
In Bangladesh and Senegal, U.S.-funded rappers led political movements that toppled governments. Washington-backed musicians were the face of a failed counter-revolution in Cuba, and will likely be called upon again by the Trump administration. And artists in dozens of countries worldwide (including the U.S. itself) are paid to promote American government interests.
This is the story of how the U.S. government uses hip hop, a medium of struggle pioneered by Black artists in New York, as a tool for regime change.
Part 6 - Rap as a pacifying force
While successive American administrations have used rap as a wedge to divide populations against each other and heighten existing contradictions within societies, they have also used it as a uniting force in nations with friendly governments, tamping down tensions and papering over divisions.
That was the case in Colombia, a country ravaged by decades of brutal drug war and mass killings by U.S.-backed far-right militias. In 2020, USAID’s Alliances and Reconciliation Program created an initiative aimed at the country’s youth with a message of coexistence, truth, dialogue, and reconciliation.
It appointed local rappers, Melisa MC, and Ken Zingle, as ambassadors of the program. Together, the pair produced the song, “Rímalo” (Rhyme It), which served as the project’s anthem.
Later, USAID also developed an outreach program targeting youths in conflict-affected areas of Colombia (where it was often the United States itself supplying the weapons). The program aimed to channel young people’s anger and frustration into peaceful co-existence and music creation. USAID published one of these rap songs, “Queremos” (We Want) on YouTube.
At the same time in Kenya, USAID partnered with well-known rapper King Kaka to launch its #16BarsforPeace hip hop campaign, wherein it challenged Kenyan youth to submit videos of themselves rapping about peace and conflict resolution.
Hundreds entered the competition, with the winner getting to rap with King Kaka on his song, “Mbekse” (“Two”: an allusion to the two fingers used to make the universal “peace” sign). Also appearing on the track was U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter, who delivered a short verse in Swahili.
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