Amani Yahya, Yemen’s first female rapper: I will find a way, I will shine
It’s day three of the Liverpool Arab Arts festival, but one of its performers hasn’t yet been to a single event. Amani Yahya – billed as Yemen’s first female rapper – is still thousands of miles away.
With her homeland on the brink of civil war, Yahya, along with her family, has had to flee to Saudi Arabia, where the kingdom’s strict rules mean her fledging musical career has come to an abrupt halt. On top of this, her visa to attend the UK festival has been denied.
“I was so excited to be coming to the UK,” says the 22-year-old, who started rapping in her bedroom while at high school. “It was a little bit of hope – that I could come to the arts festival and meet new people. They said the invitation to the festival didn’t have an official stamp, but I think it was my nationality. They think everyone who comes from Yemen is looking for asylum.”
But, if exile and war would be enough to crush most people, the disappointment at missing the festival is the only time her upbeat tone falters. And, she points out, this is not the first setback she has faced. Her first public performances, while low key, sparked outrage in the increasingly conservative Yemeni society.
Schooled in Saudi Arabia, where her father worked, it was only when she returned to Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, to study dentistry that she first considered following her musical ambitions. “There was a small coffee shop beside my house, where people would gather to talk about music and books. It was new to me because you don’t find people who want to talk about those things everywhere here. So, I used to go there every day.”
Source: www.theguardian.com