Pussy Riot (photo: Igor Wladimirowitsch Muchin/Wikimedia)

Punk Reflections about Pussy Riot

Short Essay

«This wasn't an act of humanity, this was a publicity stunt» Maria Alyokhina from the punk collective Pussy Riot said, when she came free from the penal camp in the middle of december. Three month before the end of the arrest, two month before the winter olympics in Soschti she and her band member were granted amnesty. The documentary Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin tells what happend before and asks: Who should really be under scrutiny. The musicians or the society? The russian ex-punk Ivan Gololobov follows these thoughts.

Almost two years passed since the famous performance of Pussy Riot in the main Russian Orthodox cathedral on the 21st of February 2012. Subsequent arrest, trial of three, and imprisonment of two of the band’s members in August 2012, but the sound of the Punk Prayer does not seem to go quite. Massive international response and heated debates over what the women did on the altar of Christ the Saviour and what was done to them in the Moscow’s Khamovniki District Court in Russia show the significance of their action.

Lonely Hearts and Landscapes

A court in Russia no longer needs to appeal to a ridiculous in its essence charge of ‘blasphemy’: A new law passed soon after the performance of the Punk Prayer. It allows the prosecutors to charge anyone insulting «feelings of believes» with a prison sentence absolutely legally. Another regulation, adopted in the aftermath of the Pussy Riot case, allows prosecuting anyone for making a public expression with a suspicion in extremism under which, technically, any radical artistic discussion of social and political issues can go. So if you want to be successful in art in Russia nowadays, sing about your lonely heart, paint landscapes, or make abstract installations. But don’t touch upon anything social, which speaks to people directly, or religious. Would Marat Gelman, a Russian gallerist, promoter of contemporary art, and former advisor to Vladimir Putin, expect that even his exhibition ‘Icons’ staged in 2012 in a provincial Russian town of Krasnodar would cause of a fury of Orthodox activists simply because he dared discussing Christian values in an artistic space?

The exhibition «Icons»by Marat Gelman in Krasnodar, May 2012

Freedom and Spectacle

However, the story of Pussy Riot and the film of Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin is not about success. It is about two things, barely related at the first sight: freedom and spectacle. Katya, Masha, and Nadya made it clear in their final words addressed to the accusers: «We are separated by bars but it is you who are locked in, not us. We are free and we will always be free, unlike you, who will always remain in chains of your fears and slave mentality. And the horror of current situation in Russia is that many people chose to be locked in their grey suits because it is safer and it pays well»

The second line of Pussy Right phenomenon, spectacle, is more controversial, and the film adds and plays on this controversy. If freedom is something which is inside, which is in your mind and in your soul, and something which you have to fight for on an everyday life basis, why does it need to be so spectacular? Visual contrast between the girls from the Pussy Riot and their opponents is indeed striking. Uniformly grey suits of the accusers versus bright and ‘provocative’ colours of balaclavas. There is the contrast in speech, too: Educated young women with an impressive knowledge of arts, literature, and philosophy, capable of expressing themselves in an intelligent way versus bullying and awkwardly speaking officials who seem to have no other expertise rather than administrative regulations they are bound by. And yet, for anybody, living through the Pussy Riot story inside of its context, and especially – coming from a punk background, like myself, the question remains: should the protest against the corrupt authorities be so spectacular?

Philosophy and Spirit

Most of the Russian punk and non-conformist scene are far from being so. Back in the 1970s Vassiliy Shukshin, a famous Russian film director wrote: «They have no brains, no truth, no real strength, not a single lively idea! ... But what make them ruling us then? There is only one explanation – our own stupidity. And this is what our art should hit at.» And Russian punk follows that advice. It hits to what makes those who rule remain in power: mediocrity, passivity, and weakness of an individual. Traditional Russian punk-protest is a philosophical, and, however surprising it may sound – spiritual war. It is enough to mention Grazhdanskaya Oborona, probably the most influential band in Russian punk, with their line «there are no atheists in trenches under fire».

Punk and Unpunk

Although Pussy Riot call themselves a punk band and acknowledge influence of British and American anarcho-punk, they do not really belong to the punk scene in Russia. Their performance is too theatrical and their critique is too straightforward for the Russian punk. However, their message is exactly what punk seems to be all about: no Gods, no Masters, just individual responsibility’. And in this regard Pussy Riot, probably, became the most sincere punk band in Russia, taking responsibility for their performance with their own freedom, doing it gracefully and with the courage few of the male punk heroes could show.

Biography

Ivan Gololobov (b.1975) has previously worked as a Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs (1998) and at the Institute of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflicts, University of Bochum, Germany (2004–2006), and taught at the University of the West of England in Bristol (2007). He has participated in a number of international research projects including «Far from the cities: Social transformation of the post-Soviet village» (German Research Council 2002–2005) and «The role of regions in transforming post-communist societies» (INTAS 1999–2002). He is currently teaching and working as a Research Fellow on the AHRC funded project on ‘Post-socialist punk’ at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick. Follow him on LinkedIn.

Published on January 07, 2014

Last updated on April 10, 2024

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On the Occidental Perception of Sha3byton

by Phil Battiekh

The Swiss DJ Phil Battiekh is one of the first to import Electro-Sha3by/Shaaby/Chaabi from Egypt to Europe. In his essay he reflects about the occidental perception, fictitious causalities by the medias and young narratives – and he explains why he uses «Sha3byton» to name the speedy party sound of Cairo's satellite suburbs.

Anyone who has been to Cairo knows the music, even if he doesn’t know its name. Its high-pitched autotune melodies blast out of every scooter whizzing by. Its bass thumps from afar, vibrating from all directions, amplifying the pulse of the city. Every time its high octane rhythm and melismatic synthesizers capture me, I find myself in a mesmerized dancing fit I can only compare to a Tramadol meltdown. I call it Sha3byton and this is what it sounds like:

My name is Phil Battiekh, my home base is in Basel Switzerland and Cairo and I am the second DJ after Cairo Liberation Front from Holland (see Norient-article Missverständnisse erwünscht) to import this explosive sound from Egypt to Europe. The above link is my mixtape. I fell in love with the music during the time I first lived in Cairo.

For most people in Europe the music is known as «Electro-Sha3by/Shaaby/Chaabi» (see Norient-article Electro sha'abi: Autotune rebels in Cairo). I find that the term Electro-Sha3by does not grasp what this music is. Sha3by means folk (music). The term «Electro» holds the connotation of the music genre Electro, which is not similar to this music at all. Arguing that the artists use electronic sound technology also does not suffice, as every modern musician (including traditional sha3by artists) uses these techniques aswell. Within the Egyptian scene it is called mahraganat (which means festival (music)). Non-arabic speakers seem to often struggle with remembering this term though. That is why my crew and I chose the term Sha3byton for our mixtapes and (soon to be released) remixes and productions. As reggaeton is Caribbean music with hiphop influences (or vice versa), Sha3byton is Sha3by music with hiphop influences (or vice versa). Both styles being presented live in a «maratón» style made the name even more obvious for us.

Video not available anymore.

Now what have we done by inventing that term? We created a narrative. Whenever something new is discovered, people seem to have the need to somehow categorize it. In the case of Egypt, the modern day Columbus has found an answer to make any cultural phenomenon more digestible: linking it to the overthrow of Mubarak. To name some examples from recent media:

«The music’s swift rise from the alleys of neglected Cairo neighborhoods to car stereos and high-class weddings and even television commercials reflects the profound shifts in Egyptian society since the revolution. More people are looking for open discussion of social issues and willing to reach across class lines to find it. Like the revolution, the music came from young people who looked at their lives and did not see much to look forward to. So they made noise, spread their ideas through social media and were surprised by the results.»

New York Times, 11. May 2013

Although the rest of this article is generally good and informative, we see here a prime example of a journalist trying to somehow connect the dots. Just because the music grew more popular over time, that does not mean the popularity is related to other events that took place during that time, even if it does make a romantic story. Correlation does not mean causality.

«Electro Chaabi has played an important role as the soundtrack of the revolution, even if only as a side effect. The interesting thing is the fact that the supporters of ousted President Mursi also use Electro Chaabi. This couldn’t be overheard at the numerous protests in recent weeks.»

West-Deutscher Rundfunk, 1. September 2013

This one has to be my favourite. The author tries to establish a connection between the overthrow of Mubarak and Sha3byton. She is then baffled by the fact that Sha3byton is not only listened to by revolutionaries, but also by the Muslim Brotherhood. If the author were to go more into depth with that thought, she would realize that this music – as almost every kind of music – can be a vehicle for any desired content, as its conception as a genre is not linked to politics.

«It's impossible not to look at this music in terms of the Arab Spring, given that it has happened at the same time.»

The Quietus, 23. April 2013

Of course it is helpful as an outsider to a new environment to adapt by first looking at it from the perspective of what one already knows. Its kind of like training-wheels on a bicycle. But as stated before: correlation does not mean causality.

This false narrative is the essence of orientalism: Treating a society as a homogenous object of study and failing to make vital distinctions while doing so. In almost every article I have read about Sha3byton, its core is lost between rationalizations and social constructs, connecting dots to form a falsely socially aware picture to sell in a journal. In the process, they forget the main reason why Sha3byton is spreading so rapidly in Egypt: The music is fucking good.

To not be misunderstood: I am not an anti-sociological purist. There are certain anthropological observations that can be made about Sha3byton, for instance that it can be called an open source platform thanks to various websites where any artist can upload their new tracks and download cracked software and basic music projects. The music sometimes also touches on social issues, but that is not where its roots spawn. The two best, balanced and truthful articles on Sha3byton I know of can be found here and here.

Music is physical energy, vibrations in the air, a vehicle for any person’s mind or message. It seems to me that some people (meaning Europeans) who have been culturally conditioned to «non-oriental» styles of music with fundamentally different tonal origins need narrative rationalizations to obstruct some kind of cultural dissonance. My armchair psychology can be taken with a grain of salt of course. Though I do hope that the coming generation of European Sha3byton DJs and MCs actually become active players in the scene and don’t treat the style of music as an Arab circus.

The current narrative around Sha3byton worries me and my crew. Although it might help the music gain short-term attention, it is not a sustainable concept, as it turns Sha3byton into an exotic novelty. Sha3bytons downfall in Europe will be when it is trapped in the genre «world music» (god, how I hate that term) and is only to be found in state funded cultural exchange programs, served on a silver tablet to rigid, wine-sipping intellectuals. We don’t want this to happen. We want to see the craziness we know and love from Cairo to spawn in every venue in every country. We are convinced that the music will deservedly be a global game-changer in the music industry, as reggae-dancehall from the small island Jamaica was.