BANGKOK — A new track dropped by Thailand’s foremost dissent rap group has been watched at least 2.6 million times as of Monday.
“Reform” was released on Friday by Rap By Dictatorship, the same group of artists that grabbed headlines around the world with the anthem “My Country’s Got” in 2018. The new song boils over with rage at the country’s most powerful institution – the monarchy.
“I don’t have a calendar at home, ‘cause I want reform,” underground rappers Liberate P, HOCKHACKER, Zo9, Jacoboi, Numba9, SBSB, ZHLN, 3฿one, Protozua say. “I don’t want to prostrate, I raise three fingers.”
Much of the music video was filmed at pro-democracy protests, with some scenes of the police crackdown on demonstrators. One of the band members was also arrested on Aug. 20 for attending the protests.
“You wait and arrest me in front of my house, then claim I’m the one inciting unrest,” the lyrics say.
Audio from the rallies feature heavily in the song – protest’ chants of “get out” punctuate the beats. The water cannons police used on protesters on Oct. 16 make an audio cameo that takes one right back to Rama I Road.
Chaiamorn “Ammy the Bottom Blues” Kaewwiboonpan, a singer-turned-activist who threw blue paint at police, also features in the video and splashes paint on the camera.
“It’s your business how many wives you want to have. But don’t take my taxes,” one line says. “Let it end with our generation. I won’t be a serf any longer.”
Official English subtitles will be available soon on the YouTube video, Rap Against Dictatorship wrote in a comment.
Related stories:
With ‘My Country’s Got,’ Thai Rap Voices Rare Dissent Against Junta
Artists Should ‘Speak the Truth,’ Says Director of Anti-Junta Rap Video