Marcel Cartier is an American hip-hop artist, journalist, filmmaker, writer, and political commentator based in Germany. His music features themes such as anti-colonialism, socialism, feminism and imperialism. He has reported on Kurdish nationalism and recording the experiences of anti-ISIS fighters belonging to the YPG and YPJ militias during the Rojava–Islamist conflict.[1] His first book Serkeftin became one of the first major accounts by an English-speaking journalist to gain access to the civil structures created by Kurdish militants in Rojava. In Spring 2017 he witnessed the Syrian civil war while travelling with an international delegation to Syrian Kurdistan, his journey facilitated by filmmaker Mehmet Aksoy who was killed by ISIS later that same year. While in Kurdistan he heavily interviewed and collected the experiences of anti-ISIS fighters belonging to the Women's Protection Units and People's Protection Units.
Marcel Cartier | |
|---|---|
 Marcel Cartier at London's 2016 MayDay rally. | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 4 October 1984 Heidelberg, West Germany |
| Genres | American hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | rapper, journalist, author, activist and songwriter |
| Years active | 2007-present |
Currently Cartier is a contributor to RedFish Media and has created 10 short documentaries with them since 2018.
Early life
editMarcel Cartier was born in Heidelberg, West Germany on October 4, 1984. His mother is Finnish and his father is American.[2] Much of his childhood was spent on military bases across the globe, traveling with his father while he worked for the US military. In his teenage years, Cartier was introduced to the music of Dead Prez and KRS-One, both of which influenced his own music later into his adult life.[3] Between 2002 and 2005 he was a member of the Communist Party USA and between 2009 and 2016 a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.[citation needed]
Cartier's music often focuses on themes of Anti-Colonialism, Feminism,[3] racism,[4] Palestinian statehood,[5] and Labor rights.[6] Artists he has collaborated with include Akala, Lowkey, and Immortal Technique. For his music's contribution to the Palestinian solidarity movement, he was awarded the honour of contributing to Lowkey's event 'Long Live Palestine' concert in 2011, organised by 'Sounds of Liberation' in Brooklyn, New York.[7] Teaming up with the Palestinian solidarity group Existence is Resistance (EIR), he co-created the documentary Hip Hop is Bigger than the Occupation[8] while taking part in an international delegation to Palestine[9] alongside other hip-hop artists including Lowkey, Nana Dankwa, Mazzi, M1, and Dead Prez[10] who happened to have been one of Cartier's teenage idols.
Journalism in Kurdistan
editIn Spring 2017 he witnessed the Syrian civil war while travelling with an international delegation to Syrian Kurdistan, his journey facilitated by filmmaker Mehmet Aksoy who was killed by ISIS later that same year. While in Kurdistan he heavily interviewed and collected the experiences of anti-ISIS fighters belonging to the Women's Protection Units and People's Protection Units. Describing the environment in Rojava as “a feeling, a spirit, the life and soul of a revolution”,[11] he began centering much of his journalism and music around Kurdish issues. He recorded these experiences in his first book Serkeftin: A Narrative of the Rojava Revolution, published by Zero Books.[12] The Morning Star gave a positive review,[13] while Publishers Weekly gave a mixed review describing the book as a "valuable and revealing account of the nascent institutions of Syria’s Kurdish warriors" but criticised it for its overuse of "uneven, utilitarian prose" and described him as having a "rose-coloured" outlook.[14] Cartier later expanded his ideas on Kurdish nationalism within his second book, a self-published collection of essays that were originally published by TheRegion and titled Berxwedan: Writings on the Kurdish Freedom Movement.[15] He was the U.S. West Asia Policy editor for TheRegion.org before the project's closure after the death of its lead editor.[16]
Works
editDocumentaries
edit- Exarchia: Resisting Gentrification
- Oury Jalloh: Death in Cell #5
- Not In Our Hood: How People's Power Beat Amazon, Part 1 & 2
- Humanitarian Crisis In Hollywood
- Battleground France: Who is Behind The Yellow Vests?
- Freeing Santa's Slave
- The New Battle For Nicaragua
- Romaphobia: The Invisible Racism
- War for Export: Germany’s Bloody Secret
- The Forgotten Colony: Puerto Rico
- Nazis & Nationalists: The Rise of Greece’s Far-Right
- Hip Hop is Bigger than the Occupation (Co-creator, directed by Nana Dankwa, 2011)[17]
Studio albums
edit- A World to win (2020)
- Act X: War on the Palaces (2019)
- Revolutionary Minded Vol. 5 (2018)
- Red Flag Revival (2017)
- Invent the Future (2015)
- United States of Hypocrisy (2015)
- Invent the Future (2015)
- Revolutionary Minded Vol. 4 (2014)
- History Will Absolve Us (2012)
- Revolutionary Minded Vol. 3 (2011)
- Revolutionary Minded Vol. 2 (2009)
- Revolutionary Minded Vol. 1 (2007)
References
edit- ^ Cartier, Marcel (24 May 2017). "Rojava: revolutionaries or pawns of the Empire?". Ballast. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Green Left interview with Marcel Cartier and Agent of Change". Beat Knowledge. September 1, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
- ^ a b Sharifi, Arash (14 March 2015). "Inside the Mind of Rapper and Activist Marcel Cartier". I Am Hip-Hop. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ Dhaliwal, Rishma (13 March 2015). "White Life Me - review". I Am Hip-Hop. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ Malandra, Gata (30 April 2015). "Guest: Marcel Cartier - I Am Hip-Hop Radio Show". I Am Hip-Hop. p. 41:15 seconds. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ "Marcel Cartier - Artist Profile". broadjam.com. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ "Long Live Palestine - LIVE - Lowkey, Marcel Cartier, Immortal Technique, Shadia Mansour, and more". YouTube. 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ Tubman, Harrabic (25 March 2011). "TRAILER: Existence is Resistance Presents: Hip Hop is Bigger Than the Occupation". YouTube. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
- ^ Jensen, Kim (31 January 2019). "Existence is Resistance celebrates 10-year anniversary in New York". Mondoweiss. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
- ^ Billet, Alexander (29 September 2011). "Film review: Can hip hop be "bigger than the occupation"?". Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
- ^ Simon, Ed (3 November 2019). "A History of Why Trump Abandoned the Kurds". Columbian College of Arts & Sciences: History News Network. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Serkeftin - Blackwells Bio". blackwells.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ Elidemir, Gulistan (13 February 2019). "Books: Acute insights on the Rojava revolution". The Morning Star. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: Serkeftin: A Narrative of the Rojava Revolution". Publishers Weekly. 2 June 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ "Barnes & Noble - bio". barnesandnoble.com. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ Cartier, Marcel. "Marcel Cartier - Bio". theregion.org. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ Maureen Clare, Murphy (13 May 2011). "World premiere of film "Hip Hop is Bigger than the Occupation" May 30 in NYC". The Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 15 May 2020.