Rapper uses Sámi language to express defiance (fwd)

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Rapper uses Sámi language to express defiance

By Jaana Laitinen
http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/english/article/1101978492530
     
      Inari native Mikkal Morottaja has a low voice. When he begins to
sing his rap lyrics, it changes almost into a growl.
      "Kolle Aksu, tääl lii puattam veelkij maksu", he growls into the
microphone. The Sámi language of the Inari region suits rap music just
like a beanie suits the head of a hip-hopper. The lyrics are intense,
and they can be understood by only a few hundred people in Finland.
      Maybe it is better that way - at least the grannies will not be
shocked. The song is about a golden axe and the demon of fire, and even
Satan is mentioned in the lyrics a couple of times.
     
Morottaja, 20, also known as Amoc, is a newcomer in the rap world, who
sings in one of the planet's rarest languages.
      The Sámi language of the Inari region [Inari is actually the
Finnish name for the community; in Sámi it is written Ânar] was already
under threat of extinction. It is spoken by only 300-400 people in
Inari and in the villages surrounding Lake Inari.
      But better times are on the way: children are learning the
language in day care, it is used in school, and now it can be listened
to even in rap songs.
     
Amoc just held a concert in Helsinki, and his songs can also be listened
to over the Internet.
      "Imposing as Hell", the host of the website describes the Kolle
Aksu song. "It is shouting and yelling, but not incomprehensible."
      "Melancholy, fictitious, and psychedelic" , the Lapland rapper
himself maintains.
      "Rap is one way to vent your aggressions and pressure. On stage I
am Amoc, but I am Mikkal everywhere else."
     
Morottaja says that he has no actual message, and he is not trying to
influence anything - except perhaps to bestow some belief in the
language.
      "I want to show that the language is good for anything, for
example for rapping."
      Inari Sámi is Morottaja’s second native language. His father,
Matti Morottaja, is a teacher and language activist. His mother hails
from Turku.
      At home, Mikkal spoke Sámi with his father and Finnish with his
mother.
      In the matriculation exam at the end of high school, he took the
test for Sámi as a second native language.
     
"The tones of Inari Sámi fit heavy rap well", Morottaja says.
      There were certain difficulties in writing the lyrics, however.
The vocabulary of the language describes nature in rich, intricate
detail, and there are around one hundred words for different types of
snow, but a street-savvy youthful vocabulary has not been needed in the
fells.
      "I had no older friends who would have taught me all the bad
words."
      In fact, Morottaja needed to invent some words himself. His father
Matti also took part in the project. In one Amoc rhyme, the rapper
growls njamma, njamma, or "tit, tit", in the voice of someone close to
passing out.
     
The same story depicts Friday-night partying and drinking among friends
in Inari Sámi. In the last line of one verse, the rapper proclaims that
he has given his listeners a crash course in Sámi.
      "Older people have stopped to ask themselves what I said. I have
been forced to ponder whether it is appropriate to use those words. On
the other hand, I want to stir emotions and discussion."
      The good thing about a strange language is that you can say
anything, and no one will understand.
      "You can use sarcasm as well, you can slam other rappers in
secret. When you rap you can express what you happen to feel, even
criticise someone’s mother, and you are not supposed to take it
seriously."
     
Amoc, or the Master of Ceremonies from Ânar, had his first concert in
Helsinki a couple of years ago. At an event arranged by a poetry
society, he performed “rap poetry in Sámi”. There were barely twenty
people present.
      "I completely forgot the lyrics to one song. I started to speak in
pig Latin. The only real word I could recall was shoe. They clapped a
lot. It was the only song that drew applause."
     
Rap evoked strong emotions in Morottaja already in primary school. In
junior high school he wrote his first lyrics, and noticed in high
school that good rhymes come out of Sámi.
      In high school, a group of boys interested in the same type of
music got together and formed a band that eventually received the name
Guerra Norte, or Northern War.
      One of its members, Edorf, won the Finnish championship in rap in
2003. The three-man band Ambassa was also formed from the talented
Northern rap group, and it is currently recording its first album.
     
Amoc is now aiming for a solo career with his feet firmly placed on the
ground. At the same time, he will possibly seek to begin studies in
either education or radio work.
      "I will be happy if I get to record a couple of CDs. I am not that
interested in commercialism. Background work interests me more. You
could even make money on some songs."
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 6.2.2005