Newsletter
A letter from the HD editors
Once a week, we send the best stories, events, and cultural discoveries from Central Asia.
"Crazy B, we're from Karakalpakstan": a dastan about the Karakalpak rap scene — you listen, we spit.Karakalpak aitys is the same rap battle, only under the chime of a dutar, not rhythmic beats. The Karakalpaks had all this long before rap; a microphone just appeared, and akyns turned into MCs. Now their tracks are heard by thousands of listeners, they dream of collaborating with Scriptonite, speak three languages, but choose to rap in Karakalpak. Let's read the story of how rap from Nukus became a distinct subculture.Feride Mahsetova#Music and Audio Art#Ideas & Analysis