By Margareta Astaman
VIENTIANE (Reuters Life!) - Usher’s "Can U Handle It" fills the hall where the teenagers in baggy pants, chains jingling from their necks, greet each other with "Yo" and "Whazz-up". Lao youth have embraced hip-hop with a passion, turning the gritty urban music associated with African-Americans into their own.
Radio stations playing hip-hop and […]

GAZA CITY, Dec. 11, 2007 (MENASSAT.COM) - It’s not often that you get to see musical performances in Gaza these days. Although Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, its security policies have otherwise choked off any hope of cultural normalcy for the 1,5 million plus Palestinians living here. Israel completely controls the […]

By Daniel Flynn
DAKAR (Reuters) - African reggae star Tiken Jah Fakoly, famed for his bitter criticism of the continent’s corrupt leaders, has turned his attention to Senegalese leader Abdoulaye Wade, calling on him bluntly to "leave power".
Fakoly, one of Africa’s best-loved muscians and a campaigner for peace in his native Ivory Coast, added his voice […]

by Kamyar BashariThe Institute for War & Peace Reporting (MCT)
TEHRAN, Iran—The sound of the Iranian revolution can be heard on the headsets worn by young people all across the country. They’re listening to a wide variety of underground music produced by bands and individuals who have no commercial recording deals and no access to professional […]

Washington – When Native Deen took hip-hop music to Jerusalem in fall 2006, the group of Muslim-American rappers was moved deeply by the holiness of the place and the energy of the hundreds of teens who attended their concerts. Yet nothing came close to the connection the performers felt to their faith during their […]

 
In the November/December issue of FP, Jeff Chang’s article, "It’s a Hip-Hop World," described the social, political, and even economic implications of hip-hop’s appeal to young people around the globe. It appears, however, that age is no longer a factor in hip-hop’s growing popularity. In China, the "hip-hop grannies," a 30-member group of retirees, perform […]