Generation Next: Gypsy rapper

Documentary by Karin Wells and David Gutnick

Romanian Hip Hop Star Nikifor Dragosh, a.k.a. Grasu XXL, at the sound controls in his basement studio in Bucharest. (CBC/David Gutnick)

David Gutnick met 28-year-old Romanian Hip Hop Star Nikifor Dragosh—his stage name is Grasu XXL—in his basement studio in Bucharest. He was just finishing the final touches on his next CD. This is a text transcript from the CBC Radio Sunday Edition documentary "Generation Next: Young Minds, Bodies and Souls after Communism. From Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary"

Transcript

I am doing concerts like every other weekend and I see the young folks not listening, they are looking at you and they are dismissing you, like "who the hell are you?" There is a lot of anger, a lot of frustration in the young Romanian people because of the parents and the way the parents were brought up. Because they were used to communism and that way of thinking, the safe way of thinking, even the teachers in school do not try and arouse in young people the need to dream, to do something they love.

That is the thing we have to change.

You have to understand this: the political class, they are like 50 or 60 years old. They were communists and all they do is lie, lie, lie. So nothing has changed, over twenty years they should have done a lot for this country. They should have made us proud of being Romanian. That is what the communists killed: the pride, the identity.

I told you before that the Romanian public are trying to dismiss you. When Madonna came—with the Gypsy band that she had—said something about the Gypsies. Can you believe that the whole stadium began to boo Madonna for saying something about the Gypsies? Why? I bet you they did not know why they booed, they just booed because she said Gypsies, and they cannot stand the Gypsies.

I am a Gypsy.

I hate narrow-minded people; I cannot talk to them, so maybe that is my problem. Maybe I will get in trouble for this interview, I do not know, maybe I am a frustrated guy. I am a frustrated guy.

It is frustrating to live in Romania. Even the teachers are frustrated. The teachers in Romania are paid so poorly, maybe the poorest after [people who work in] the hospitals, which are the two most important things: health and education. They [politicians and new upper classes] are putting money in oil tanks and so on, only thinking about the money. A month ago they took away half the salaries of the teachers, and all the teachers in Romania went on strike. I have colleagues of mine—from high school—that today have one or two kids and live in a one-room apartment.

In our country moral values are upside down. I am going to do my part but it is not going to be enough. There is a lot of grey in my life. There is a lot of grey in Romania.

About the radio documentary

Stone cold: statue of Communist leader Vladimir Lenin looks into a democratic future for Ukraine. (CBC/Karin Wells)

On Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was smashed. That marked the beginning of the end of a dream — for communists. For many people who lived under Soviet domination, it signaled the end of a nightmare.

Almost overnight, capitalism bloomed. Whole economies were redesigned. Free speech flourished. Unemployment soared. So did interest in organized religion. Billionaires popped up. Social safety nets were shredded. Neighbours found out who had been spying on whom. Real elections were held. Here was democracy, or something like it.

Now, from the ashes of the old — still warm, still combustible — the young are building new worlds in Eastern Europe. Theirs is the first post-Soviet generation. They carry the weight of the past, its secrets and lies. And like the young everywhere, they dream about a different future.

This the third of three CBC Radio Sunday Edition documentaries that bring us the sounds, experiences, ideas and dreams of a special generation in a series called "Generation Next: Young Minds, Bodies and Souls after Communism, from Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary" produced by Karin Wells and David Gutnick.

Listen to the CBC Radio Sunday Edition documentary (Runs 51:06) | AUDIO