Mozambique: Azagaia, the “people's rapper”, dies.
Mozambican rapper Azagaia has died aged 38, Television of Mozambique (TVM) announced today, citing a family source, without clarifying the causes of death.
Azagaia was the artistic name of Edson da Luz, author of intervention lyrics that earned him, among others, the title of “'rapper' of the people”.
“I am extremely shocked. Undoubtedly, Mozambican music and culture are in mourning. The world has lost a one-of-a-kind rapper.”
The Mozambican Minister of Culture, Eldevina Materula, told Lusa in reaction to the news.
Azagaia
Azagaia became famous for his open criticism of the country's governance, so much so that in 2008 he was even questioned by the Attorney General's Office (PGR).
Three days after violent demonstrations that paralyzed the capital, Maputo, due to price increases, launched the theme “The people in power”.
“I was asked if music cannot incite people to violence”, he told Lusa, after being heard at the PGR, where he replied that “no”, because “an artistic work is susceptible to interpretation”.
“We no longer fall into the old story / We went out to fight the scum / Thieves / Corrupt / Shout at me for these people to go away / Shout at me because the people no longer cry”.
Azagaia recited to the microphone.
The rhymes were not broadcast on public radio and television, and deputies from the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), in power since independence, pointed him as an interpreter of the opposition.
Controversy
In 2014, he aroused controversy when he appeared on a television program rolling a cigarette with 'cannabis', justifying it with therapeutic purposes and after having already been detained by the police on two occasions.
A few months after the scandal, he announced the end of his career on the Internet.
“I think I'll give what could cost me my life and prevent me from seeing my children grow up”.
He referred, without clarifying what threatened him, and saying that everything was already said in the two albums “Babalaze” and “Cubaliwa”.
He moved to Namaacha, his birthplace, 75 kilometers south of Maputo: “If it's for me to die, I prefer it to be there”, concluded the 'rapper', son of a Cape Verdean father and a Mozambican mother.
Also in 2014, he announced that he was suffering from a brain tumor and a fundraising campaign was created that raised 20.300 euros to pay for surgery in India.
The campaign gathered contributions from fans in Mozambique, South Africa and Angola.
Edson da Luz returned to the stage a year and a half later, in a concert at a Maputo nightclub in April 2016, but since then he has remained in a much more discreet position in the Mozambican artistic scene.
Among other titles, fans called him “the 'rapper' of the people” and many identified him as the author of the theme “As Lies da Verdade”.
The track came from his album “Babalaze” (which means “hangover” in the Changana language) an adaptation of the poetic work “Babalaze das Hienas” by the late Mozambican poet José Craveirinha.
“What if I told you/ That the opposition in this country is hopeless/ Because the people were taught to be afraid of change/ But what if I told you/ That the opposition and the government are not different/ They all eat from the same plate/ And everything is as they want”.
Prays the lyrics of one of the iconic themes of Azagaia.
Did you know Azagaya? Do you think these “response movements” make sense these days? We want to know your opinion, do not hesitate to comment and if you liked the article, share and give a “like/like”.
See also:
Rapper Kiernan Forbes, AKA AKA, Was Murdered
Ilha de Moçambique gives new life to plastic
Mozambique in the presidency of the UN Security Council
Image © 2023 DR
