APRIL 20 “THIS WEEK IN THE MUSIC OF NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE”

Burmese resistance has used music as protest and anthem against a governmental regime which attempts to censor any kind of expression seen as too subversive.

On April 22, 2010, a major profile of Thxa Soe, a Burmese electronic artist and rapper, appeared in The Guardian. Soe performs concerts such as this in Burma–risking arrest and censorship. His music connects to youth with call and response lyrics.

Just by playing music, Soe challenges the Burmese government. For instance, on a  recent album, three-quarters of his songs were censored. Nevertheless, Soe remains in Burma as the voice of a pro-democracy movement. His work has helped spawn like-minded artists such as “Generation Wave,” a group of artists which anonymously drops anti-government albums at tea shops across the country.