Below is the new Radius 21 (of Qora Bumer fame/infamy) video. It looks like they, like more than a few other Uzbek pop musicians, are doing their damnedest to emulate American hip-hop style. They’ve got the chains, the clothes, etc.
Now here’s a video from the (now apparently defunct) Kazakh (but really Kyrgyz, according to comments at YouTube) band Bangor. They’ve got a bit more of a boy band thing going on, but they’ve got something that one would certainly expect to appear in a hip-hop video set on a beach, scantily-clad women.
Apparently Uzbeks are quite a bit more conservative even when it comes to hip-hop. I guess Uzbek (or, to be fair, Turkmen) hip-hop is a little bit like heavy metal performed by Pat Boone.
P.S. — Bonus Nexia commercial below
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.
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Thank u for that. Nathan why do u think Uzbek artists are more conservative. Is it that they don’t feature beautiful women in this video or something else make u think that way?
talking abaout Nexia, it seems that UzDaewooAuto is soon to become UzHyundai or smth like that. http://bukharainfo.com/blog/2006/06/23/daewoosold/
I don’t think they are necessarily, but I think the culture is relatively conservative and either the artists themselves, the directors of videos, or the people who finance the videos (or all three together) know to package their product accordingly. I’m not saying that they should have women in bikinis in their videos by any means, but their absence in the Radius 21 video jumped out at me for some reason.
Who are these people of African origin in the videos? Were these made elsewhere?
on an unrelated note, the production quality in these videos is far superior to those in the Caucasus, IMHO.
Better production quality? Surely you jest…
To be fair to this Georgian nonsense, it may be a spoof. It is a cover version of a song by the lovely Russian girl band, Via-Gra.
We would need a Georgian to confirm how they have translated the lyrics.
Is it me, or is Radius 21 filming in Turkey? As for the second video, where can I get a few Central Asian fly girls? Whenever my mind is about to explode from too much politics, I can always count on Registan for the most bizarre pop culture out of the Stans.
this georgian video is surely a parody
Bangor = Michael Jackson
Excellent start for my Sunday morning, thanx, N!
For some other sources of bizarre pop (and not only) culture, of anything post-Soviet and Russian-American related (including various stans), go to http://www.ycrop.com/
Bangor is a KYRGYZ group. I know Mamba, he was from “Ayan” and later joined Bangor. Rather funny guys. I actually, almost cried, when they sang in Kazakh, because they are Kyrgyz in all senses. It is a pity that the Kyrgyz cannot support, financially, their talented youth…
Regarding Radius 21: I don’t know about you. I either like combat rap, or a real bling-bling. But these guys, trying to rap, where is the rage and anger (if it supposed to be a combat rap)? Sounds a spoiled teenager trying to rap…Or it is not even a bling-bling, way too conservative, no booty shaking and etc. Adding couple of black dudes won’t make it a rap song…
AHTSALLHAM AL-LEIGUM! UZBEKISTAN
hmm…. watching these uzbek and kazakh video clips i feel happy, because in Central Asia broadcasting is developing !
These videos maybe not in a high quality, but it’s getting better year by year…
Good luck Radius_21 and Bangor !!!