São Paulo – MC Swat, a rapper from Benghazi, Libya, will play a concert alongside Brazil’s MV Bill next Wednesday (7th) during the International Literary Festival of Pacifying Police Units (Flupp, in the Portuguese acronym) in Rio de Janeiro. MC Swat became known as the rapper who provided the soundtrack to the popular uprising against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator who was overthrown and killed last year.
It was the song “Hadhee Thowra” that made MC Swat popular during the revolution in Libya. The song’s title means “This is a revolution.” MC Swat began singing in 2007. He even performed with a band in 2010, but then went back to working solo last year. In 2011, he was named the best artist in Libya at the Benghazi Music Festival, according to information from his Facebook page.
The Flupp takes place at the Casarão on Morro dos Prazeres, Santa Teresa, and MC Swat and MV Bill will perform at 8:35 pm. Besides him, another Arab will participate: the Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish, who has been translated into ten languages. MC Swat and Darwish will also participate in a debate on Friday (9th), at 3:00 pm, about “art among bombs, oppression, and spies.”
The festival is inspired by the Paraty International Literary Festival (Flip) and will include performances from Orquestra de Vozes Meninos do Rio (Boys from Rio Voice Orchestra), a talk from Ariano Suassuna, and several writers and artists. Playwright João Emanuel Carneiro will discuss his soap opera, Avenida Brasil, whose final scenes Brazil stopped to watch last month. The Flupp will continue until November 11th.
See the full Flupp programme at www.flupp.net.br/programa.htm
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
