5. We’ll be the first they kill: the Tunisian
Rappers taking on Isis
This is a story about young Tunisians.
5 years ago, they were on the frontline of the Arab
spring.
Now, rappers DJ Costa
and Dya Hammadi
are risking kidnap, jail
and death
to fight Isis with hip-hop.
6. Dya’s Story
Dya Hammadi went to school with the man who
kidnapped him.
His kidnapper told Dya he had to stop rapping and took
him to a barbershop where a radicalised 12 year-old
boy forcibly shaved off his dreadlocks. He was then told
he had to join “the true path of Islam.”
When he finally escaped he went to Tunis where he’s
lived ever since.
7. Dya’s story 2
Dya is one of the many rappers who speaks out against
Isis
Dya’s kidnapper joined Isis in 2014 and went to Syria.
Dya has since heard he died there.
Dya has seen the growth of Salafism in the country and
uses his music to point to its hypocrisy.
Dya says the Salafists say he wears the horns of the
devil because he plays music.
Dya says if Isis come he will be the first to be killed.
8. Mehdi “DJ Costa”
Rap music in Tunisia is very political and many rap
artists became cultural icons.
Many young people are radicalised in jail by Isis and
emerge still supporting them.
DJ Costa’s younger brother Youssef was radicalised and
went to Syria where he died.
After this DJ Costa used his music to focus his music on
Isis to counter their propaganda.
He wrote a song called “Brainwashing”
9. Conclusion
DJ Costa says he knows the risks but will remain
a rapper.
“Terrorism is cultural,” he says.
