'Ghetto presidents': musicians risk all to take on authoritarian rule in Africa
Artists taking on political roles from Algeria to Zambia have been beaten, detained and killed
They call him the “ghetto president”, and his ambition is to bring the dreams and the sounds of the streets to the corridors of power.
Bobi Wine, a popular reggae star and prominent opposition MP in Uganda, will release a new album next month that addresses what he calls “the real issues people are facing – the injustices, corruption, high taxation, misrule, abuse of human rights, dictatorship.”
“Rise up, African musicians, and we can accomplish the task,” Wine said in an interview. “We can’t be defeated. The more they oppress us, the stronger we become. No dictator in history has ever defeated the artists and
