\u2018Despite its universality, music is being silenced globally\u2019, writes Index on Censorship<\/em>\u2019s editor-in-chief Sarah Dawood in her introduction to the journal\u2019s current issue. Titled \u2018Unsung Heroes\u2019, it explores how forces such as nationalism and religious extremism are targeting the performance and recording of music around the world, as well as restricting the ability of citizens to listen to music freely.<\/p>\n The issue also looks at how musicians and their supporters are taking a stand against oppression, from exiled Afghan and Cuban singers to a British barrister-turned-activist championing UK drill artists.<\/p>\n The most dangerous place to be a musician right now is Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been tightening cultural censorship since regaining control in 2021 following the US withdrawal, writes Dawood in a feature entitled \u2018The sound of silence\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018Musicians in the country live in fear of discrimination, humiliation, torture, imprisonment, sexual violence in the case of women, and even death\u2019, she reports. A prohibition on the performance and broadcast of all kinds of music is part of new \u2018vice and virtue\u2019 laws that have been condemned by human rights groups and the UN.<\/p>\n The ban on what the Taliban claims to be the \u2018moral corruption\u2019 of music is threatening the livelihoods of musicians and academics across Afghanistan; many have been forced out of their jobs and even into exile. The musical heritage of the country is now under threat. According to its own figures, the Taliban have \u2018destroyed more than 21,000 musical instruments over the past year\u2019, including the national instrument, the rubab<\/em>.<\/p>\n The situation is most perilous for female musicians, whose rights are being comprehensively abused by a patriarchal leadership whose ideology is built upon gender discrimination. Many have gone into hiding to escape persecution from the government and male members of their community.<\/p>\n Dawood reports on initiatives being developed by exiled musicians and friends of Afghanistan to \u2018keep the flame alive\u2019. \u2018There is a real risk that the rich musical heritage of the country will be forever silenced if the world doesn\u2019t continue to campaign for its right to exist.\u2019<\/p>\n In Turkey, musicians, performers and DJs are being targeted for their ethnic background, their political views or just the music they play, writes Kaya Gen\u00e7 in a piece entitled \u2018Murdered for music\u2019.<\/p>\n Describing \u2018a pattern of animosity and violence against Turkey\u2019s musicians over the past half-decade\u2019, Gen\u00e7 presents a list of cases that illustrate the growing risks of picking up an instrument and playing in public. These range from the cancellation of concerts to harassment and even murder of live performers.<\/p>\n While musicians performing to large crowds face censorship or physical assault, street musicians are at even greater risk, as demonstrated by the killing of Kurdish busker Cihan Aymaz by a passer-by in 2023. Aymaz had refused to sing a nationalistic Turkish song.<\/p>\n Violence against musicians in Turkey is \u2018part of a broader culture war in the country\u2019, writes Gen\u00e7, adding that this has placed additional strain on a sector already hard hit by bans on late-night performances during the COVID-19 pandemic. He describes a newfound solidarity between Turkish musicians as \u2018the silver lining of the latest wave of violence\u2019.<\/p>\n Coco Fusco reports on the situation in Cuba, where \u2018dozens of musicians have left the country as repressive measures against cultural producers continue to escalate\u2019. Since mass anti-government protests in 2021, the authorities have waged a brutal campaign against dissidents, banning criticism on social media and barring independent studios and concert venues from registering as small businesses. A number of Cuban rappers and reggaeton artists have been jailed.<\/p>\n In Cuba, writes Fusco, music\u2019s \u2018potential impact as a vehicle for political messages is perceived by authorities as a threat to state control of public discourse and, ultimately, to government stability\u2019. The government is targeting rap and reggaeton, which have \u2018evolved outside state channels\u2019 and have been used to express popular discontent.<\/p>\n The crackdown echoes the repressions of the 1960s\u20131990s, when musicians who were critical of the regime or openly embraced western styles were ostracized, forcing many into exile. Some of the latest wave of exiles have now recorded a rap song criticizing the government for attacking the arts.<\/p>\n Mackenzie Argent shines a spotlight on the controversies surrounding the UK\u2019s drill scene. Drill is a sub-genre of rap that has attracted the attention of London\u2019s police for its associations with gang culture. But in many cases drill artists are being unfairly accused of incitement to violence and forced to censor their own work, she reports, referring to a landmark 2019 case in which a drill duo were given a jail sentence for performing a song.<\/p>\n \u2018The moral panic surrounding drill music means it has become common practice for lyrics to be used in court as evidence of criminal activity amongst drill artists. Rapping about crime and violence is often seen as an admission of guilt rather than musical storytelling\u2019, writes Argent. She says there is an argument to be made that drill musicians are being singled out for censure \u2013 which in the view of one lawyer amounts to systemic racism.<\/p>\n Former barrister Shereener Browne, who has founded a campaign group to fight against the criminalization of drill, believes that the police campaign against gang violence has become \u2018a concerted effort to silence drill artists, and young Black men in particular\u2019. Browne\u2019s project aims to alter the perception of drill, \u2018from a violent and dangerous genre to a form of therapy and creative expression\u2019.<\/p>\n Read more about the issue on Index on Censorship\u2019s website<\/a><\/p>\n Review by Alastair Gill<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.eurozine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IOC-1024x732.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Taliban\u2019s war on music<\/h2>\n
Performers in peril<\/h2>\n
Rap vs. the revolution<\/h2>\n
Demonizing drill<\/h2>\n