Ibn Thabit (Libyan musician)
Encyclopedia
Ibn Thabit is an anonymous hip hop
musician from Libya
known for his anti-government songs. Thabit has been living in Libya where any form of dissent is banned by law in Muammar Gaddafi
's regime and could result in his being arrested and imprisoned, the primary reason for his using an epithet to preserve his anonymity. Ibn Thabit's music is considered to have given a voice to Libyans who wish to express themselves politically and non-violently despite being disenfranchised. Dissenting cultural figures have been arrested and tortured in a number of countries during the Arab Spring
.
Ibn Thabit considers himself to be an ordinary Libyan who is "speaking the thoughts of many Libyan youth". He claims that he is inspired by the people, telling a journalist from the Danish newspaper Information that he was more affected by conversations with fellow Libyans than by anything else. Not much is known about him other than that he is young, male and Libyan. He is thought to be from Tarhunah. Ibn Thabit was one of the early critics of Gaddafi, the nascent movement building upto a full-fledged civil war, part of the Arab Spring.
Popular music of kind produced by Ibn Thabit represents the cultural face of the 2011 Libyan Civil War
. One of his works praises the city of Benghazi
.
Ibn Thabit has his own website with support from people abroad on which many of his own songs and others produced in collaboration are freely available for download. On his website, Ibn Thabit claims that to have been "attacking Gaddafi" with music since 2008, when he posted his first song, "Moammar - the coward", on the internet.
Lyrics of a song "Al-Soo'al" released by Ibn Thabit on YouTube on 27 January 2011, weeks before the riots began in Libya are indicative of the rebel sentiment. Ibn Thabit's music is featured in a compilation of Arabic Spring resistance rap songs by Khala labelled Khala’s Mixtape Volume 1.
Ibn Thabit has also podcast about reconciliation, an important though controversial subject on the Free Libya Podcast. Ibn Thabit uses the internet and social media such as Facebook
, YouTube
, Twitter
, webcasting, podcasting and other means to spread his music and message. He regularly tweets about his music, news and broadcasts messages to the general populace. Ibn Thabit is the first Libyan blogger to blog in Amazigh, a language spoken by the Berber people
s of North Africa
.
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
musician from Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
known for his anti-government songs. Thabit has been living in Libya where any form of dissent is banned by law in Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
's regime and could result in his being arrested and imprisoned, the primary reason for his using an epithet to preserve his anonymity. Ibn Thabit's music is considered to have given a voice to Libyans who wish to express themselves politically and non-violently despite being disenfranchised. Dissenting cultural figures have been arrested and tortured in a number of countries during the Arab Spring
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
.
Ibn Thabit considers himself to be an ordinary Libyan who is "speaking the thoughts of many Libyan youth". He claims that he is inspired by the people, telling a journalist from the Danish newspaper Information that he was more affected by conversations with fellow Libyans than by anything else. Not much is known about him other than that he is young, male and Libyan. He is thought to be from Tarhunah. Ibn Thabit was one of the early critics of Gaddafi, the nascent movement building upto a full-fledged civil war, part of the Arab Spring.
Popular music of kind produced by Ibn Thabit represents the cultural face of the 2011 Libyan Civil War
2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...
. One of his works praises the city of Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
.
Ibn Thabit has his own website with support from people abroad on which many of his own songs and others produced in collaboration are freely available for download. On his website, Ibn Thabit claims that to have been "attacking Gaddafi" with music since 2008, when he posted his first song, "Moammar - the coward", on the internet.
Lyrics of a song "Al-Soo'al" released by Ibn Thabit on YouTube on 27 January 2011, weeks before the riots began in Libya are indicative of the rebel sentiment. Ibn Thabit's music is featured in a compilation of Arabic Spring resistance rap songs by Khala labelled Khala’s Mixtape Volume 1.
Ibn Thabit has also podcast about reconciliation, an important though controversial subject on the Free Libya Podcast. Ibn Thabit uses the internet and social media such as Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, webcasting, podcasting and other means to spread his music and message. He regularly tweets about his music, news and broadcasts messages to the general populace. Ibn Thabit is the first Libyan blogger to blog in Amazigh, a language spoken by the Berber people
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
s of North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
.