Clandestino Festival spring edition 4 May Stora Teatern

It is about raising one’s voice and speaking up. Maktskiftet want to rewrite the rules for whose voice should be heard and whose story counts. It’s about those who have tried, tried, been good. Who were born in Sweden and speak Swedish, pay Swedish taxes, vote in Swedish elections but are still told that they should go home. That they should be grateful. For all the initiatives and projects out in the projects. Thankful that you get to be here, in Sweden. Maktskiftet is in a sense an expression of despair and lost illusions, but it is also a call to wake up and smell the coffee: Here we are today, this is how far outside the mainstream of society thousands of young Swedes feel. It’s about no longer putting up with being second class citizens. It is music that wants to inform and report on social exclusion, social isolation and injustice.

Maktskiftet is a project consisting of Haval “Ammo” Mullah Nazar (Wordsilah), Karwan Faraj (Wordsilah), Ali “Prince Ali” Gorgulu, Abbi “Flame” Tsegaye and Black Ghost. All five are rappers from different backgrounds in the Gothenburg hip hop scene, collaborating on an album released this summer. The first video to be released was Tro, Hopp & Utanförskap, which was sent to both media and politicians. The video highlighted bribery scandals, and other suspicious business in the corridors of power. It also showed how a group of masked people crashed into the Gothenburg City Hall and took some employees there as hostages. This aroused strong reactions from Gothenburg politicians (one of which called the video “an attack against democracy”) and got several mainstream media to interview Maktskiftet. The artists deny that the video encourages violence, which some politicians have argued, but instead it is an artistic expression of the frustration that exists in society. “The truth is that they are afraid of what we represent. They do not want to know we exist, and do not want to hear what we have to say,” explains Karwan Faraj.

In addition to their live performance at Clandestino Festival 4 May, Stora teatern, Maktskiftet will also take part in Aktivistsalongen (The Activist Lounge), which takes place the same day between 1pm and 7 pm, also at Stora Teatern. A miniature marathon will be held where an opportunity to discuss their video “Tro, hopp och utanförskap” with the group will be given to politicians, scholars, and others. | Activist Lounge