In June 2023, in reaction to the tense Senegalese political environment, the hip-hop artist Xuman released “Ça a pété!” (It burst). Reacting to the protests that started in March following the fake accusation of Ousmane Sonko, a political opponent of President Macky Sall. Xuman expresses his support for Ousmane Sonko and called on people to keep fighting for their political rights!
Indeed, Ousmane Sonko had been wrongly accused of rape and death threats against a young hairdresser in Dakar. These accusations sparked protests as people opposed Macky Sall’s strategy to stay in power. If Sonko was acquitted on June 1 by the Dakar criminal court, he was still charged with bribery of the youth and condemned to two years in jail. Protests thus kept going, and police violence erupted.
Born in 1976 in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) but of Senegalese origin, Xuman entered the musical scene by meeting with the pioneers of Senegalese hip-hop as Didier Awadi. After starting his career in the late nineties within the group Pee Froiss, Xuman started a solo career.
The song and video clip “ça a pété!” are part of an initiative he launched in collaboration with the Wolof hip-hop singer Keyti in April 2013: le “JT Rappé” (the rap TV news). Tired of fake news and disinformation and highly politically active, they aimed to provide people with true and entertaining information by singing the news.
In “Ça a pété !” Xuman recalled why Ousmane Sonko has been arrested and explained the origin of the street protests:
“Macky veut empêcher le projet
La solution c’est “Dent pour dent”
Pendant 2 ans Ousmane le clamait partout
Il est innocent on veut juste le déscriditer
Finalement la justice lui a donné raison
Il n’est plus accusé de viol
Mais de corruption de la jeunesse
N’empêche qu’il est condamné à deux ans
Ce verdict a mis le feu au poudre
On veut l’empêcher de se présenter aux élections
Pour combattre l’injustice les jeunes sont en masse”
“Macky wants to prevent the project
The solution is “A tooth for a tooth”.
For 2 years, Ousmane has been proclaiming it everywhere
He’s innocent, we just want to decriminalize him
In the end, justice ruled in his favor
He’s no longer accused of rape
But the corruption of youth
Nevertheless, he was sentenced to two years
The verdict set off a firestorm
They want to prevent him from standing for election
Young people are out in force to fight injustice”.
Throughout the video clip, street fights are exposed, and Xuman denounces police violence as well as damages caused by protests.
He also again reasserted the importance of fighting disinformation.
“Avec toutes ces fakes et manipulations
Faudrait bien vérifier avant de partager”
“With all these fake news and manipulations
You’d better check before you share”
The song ends with Xuman warning Macky Sall of potential consequences if he tried to keep his grip on power
“Macky a le palais
Mais le peuple a le pouvoir
S’il ne me croit pas qu’il essaye un troisième mandat pour voir”
“Macky has the palace
But people have the power
If he doesn’t believe me, let him try for a third term and see”.
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