Turkmenistan bans recorded music (Dictatorships in Central Asia)

Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has banned the playing of recorded music at all public events, on television and at weddings. In a decree, Mr Niyazov said there was a need to protect Turkmen culture from "negative influences".

This is the latest move by the authoritarian president to minimise foreign influence in the isolated former Soviet state, analysts say.

Mr Niyazov's decree was published in the official daily newspaper Neitralny Turkmenistan (Neutral Turkmenistan).

It banned sound recordings "at musical performances on state holidays, in broadcasts by Turkmen television channels, at all cultural events organised by state... in places of mass assembly and at weddings and celebrations organised by the public".

The president was quoted by the newspaper as saying the move aimed to "protect true culture, including the musical and singing traditions of the Turkmen people".

"Unfortunately, one can see on television old voiceless singers lip-synching their old songs.

Mr Niyazov - known as Turkmenbashi, or father of the Turkmen - has ruled the desert state since the Soviet times.

He has created a vast personality cult around himself, issuing decrees regulating behaviour in all walks of life.

In 2001, Mr Niyazov - proclaimed the president for life - called for youths not to get gold tooth caps, also urging a crackdown on young men wearing beards or long hair.

Pictures of the president adorn public buildings and his book - intended as a moral and spiritual guide - is compulsory reading throughout Turkmenistan.

To many, his rule is alarmingly authoritarian, BBC Eurasia editor Catherine Davis says.

People who know him say he appears to believe he was sent by God to lead his nation into what he calls a "Golden Age", our editor says.

Beyond the elaborate building projects in the capital lies an impoverished country, where surveillance is commonplace and any public opposition a rare event, she adds.

I'm not a rap fan, but I have come to the conclusion that the above statement is not true. There are rap artists with a lot of talent, but it is talent with words not music. Especially impressive are those who do "freestyle" rap, in which they must come up with witty responses to others on the spur of the moment. Those who excel at this are showing a lot of mental agility.

Fine. Then DON'T call it MUSIC.
Call it "rap-poetry" or whatever....but not MUSIC. MUSIC is supposed to have MELODY, you know, TUNES.

Also, there is no place for the filthy, violent, anti-white, anti-women garbage that is called "mental agility," "witty responses" or whatever. Where's the talent? Where's the "artistry" there.

If they are SO talented, then why go to a medium which smears itself, rolls in, delights in the most disgusting, the lowest and the most racist, sexist and anti-family garbage that this country has ever produced?
Have you ever SEEN some of those videos, DVD's and album covers? They show women, especially white women, in the MOST degrading, humilitating, profane, submissive, semi-clothed, sado-maso-costumed "sets" with, coincidentally, African-American males as the "superior" beings. It is really appalling.

The KIDS of all races LOVE the filth; it THRILLS them. They LOVE the violence; it also thrills them. They make the lame excuse that the violence and filth "reflect" their lives. Well, that's baloney or a lie. It's not the way most lives are. Besides, why glorify and revel in the VERY WORST of our lives and human nature? Why?

Girls and very young, stupid women are simply giddy with the thrill of the degredation of their own gender. Yes, it IS sick. Not all young women buy into it, either.

Young, very stupid white males buy into the filth, sex and degredation with impunity. They buy into the self-hate with way too much enthusiasm. THAT is a product of 30 years of women's lib. Not all young white men buy into it, either.

Young black males? Hey, they love it. It's a ticket to more money, status and fame than they could get anywhere else. Not all young black me buy into it, either.

The MONEY-makers behind this "music" and "art" form are behind it 100%. THEY are the ones who insist that it is "music" and "art" and that there is just SO much talent. It's a profit-LOAD (of bull-butter), just like the porn, pro$titution and gambling bu$in$$e$.

Tell me, would rap "music" fit into the "accepted" column of ANY religion, any morality we know of? No, and you know it. The really fithy, violent, racist, sexist, sick rap sells the best. The mild stuff and the "contests" are just there to try to legitimize the REAL money makers--the filth, sex, racism and violence.

Charlton Heston was a stockholder in one of the biggest music companies in America. He stood up at a stockholders' meeting once time, several years ago (before the Alzeimer's) and READ ALOUD the "lyrics" of some of the "best" sellers.
He read aloud all the filth that passed for "artistry," "talent," "witty responses" and "mental agility."
Needless to say, Heston never, ever, ever worked for Time-Warner again. He KNEW it would be that way but he had to let that company, for which he was a stockholder, KNOW just how far they had gone into worshipping the golden calf.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.