Photos: Rap Music Inspires Libya's Opposition

Instead of guns, rebels use microphones to fight Gadhafi.

Rap as Revolution - The rap scene developing in Benghazi shows how much has changed in eastern Libya in the past two months since the opposition demanded the resignation of leader Moammar Gadhafi, writes the Associated Press. Speaking out against Gadhafi before the rebellion used to mean prison and maybe even death. And rap, like other forms of Western culture, was despised by Gadhafi.The hip-hop created by group Music Masters, Revolution Beat and others captures the anger and frustration young Libyans feel at decades of repressive rule under Gadhafi. Many of the songs include lyrics that ridicule Gadhafi and lambaste him for his treatment of the country in the past four decades.Youssef al-Briki, 24, a.k.a. SWAT, center; Mohammed al-Yemeni, 24, a.k.a. Migo, far left; and other members of the Revolution Beat rap group hang out next to a banner of Libya's legendary anti-Italian figh...

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Rap as Revolution - The rap scene developing in Benghazi shows how much has changed in eastern Libya in the past two months since the opposition demanded the resignation of leader Moammar Gadhafi, writes the Associated Press. Speaking out against Gadhafi before the rebellion used to mean prison and maybe even death. And rap, like other forms of Western culture, was despised by Gadhafi.The hip-hop created by group Music Masters, Revolution Beat and others captures the anger and frustration young Libyans feel at decades of repressive rule under Gadhafi. Many of the songs include lyrics that ridicule Gadhafi and lambaste him for his treatment of the country in the past four decades.Youssef al-Briki, 24, a.k.a. SWAT, center; Mohammed al-Yemeni, 24, a.k.a. Migo, far left; and other members of the Revolution Beat rap group hang out next to a banner of Libya's legendary anti-Italian figh...

Rap as Revolution - "Moammar, get out, get out, game over! I'm a big, big soldier!" sang Milad Faraway, left, who started Music Masters with his friend and neighbor, Mohammed Madani, right, at the end of 2010. (Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Rap as Revolution - "Moammar, get out, get out, game over! I'm a big, big soldier!" sang Milad Faraway, left, who started Music Masters with his friend and neighbor, Mohammed Madani, right, at the end of 2010. (Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Rap as a Weapon - Instead of picking up a weapon to fight against Gadhafi, Milad Faraway and Mohammed Madani stayed in Benghazi, the de facto capital of rebel-held eastern Libya, and picked up a microphone."Everyone has his own way of fighting, and my weapon is art," said Faraway, right, a geology student, during a recent recording session in a small room on the fourth floor of an aging apartment building in downtown Benghazi. The room was equipped with little more than a microphone, stereo and computer.(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Rap as a Weapon - Instead of picking up a weapon to fight against Gadhafi, Milad Faraway and Mohammed Madani stayed in Benghazi, the de facto capital of rebel-held eastern Libya, and picked up a microphone."Everyone has his own way of fighting, and my weapon is art," said Faraway, right, a geology student, during a recent recording session in a small room on the fourth floor of an aging apartment building in downtown Benghazi. The room was equipped with little more than a microphone, stereo and computer.(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Free Libya - Milad Faraway wears a wristband and badge in the colors of the opposition flag with writing in Arabic reading "Free Libya."NATO airstrikes targeted the center of Gadhafi's seat of power early Monday, destroying a multistory library and office and badly damaging a reception hall for visiting dignitaries, writes the AP. Gadhafi's whereabouts at the time of the attack on his sprawling Bab al-Azizya compound were unclear. (Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Free Libya - Milad Faraway wears a wristband and badge in the colors of the opposition flag with writing in Arabic reading "Free Libya."NATO airstrikes targeted the center of Gadhafi's seat of power early Monday, destroying a multistory library and office and badly damaging a reception hall for visiting dignitaries, writes the AP. Gadhafi's whereabouts at the time of the attack on his sprawling Bab al-Azizya compound were unclear. (Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Rebel-Inspired Album Covers - About a dozen rap songs that have been recorded since the start of the rebellion in February have been put on CDs with rebel-inspired album covers available for sale in downtown Benghazi, according to the AP. One cover has a drawing of fighters on a captured Gadhafi tank flying the rebel flag. In this image, Mohammed Madani, left, and Milad Faraway listen as a sound engineer plays back their vocals during a recording session. (Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Rebel-Inspired Album Covers - About a dozen rap songs that have been recorded since the start of the rebellion in February have been put on CDs with rebel-inspired album covers available for sale in downtown Benghazi, according to the AP. One cover has a drawing of fighters on a captured Gadhafi tank flying the rebel flag. In this image, Mohammed Madani, left, and Milad Faraway listen as a sound engineer plays back their vocals during a recording session. (Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Recording Studio - The small rooftop studio where Music Masters records on top of a residential building in Benghazi. "Rap is more popular than rock and country among the young people in Libya because it expresses anger and frustration," said Mutaz al-Obeidi, a 23-year-old member of the rap group Revolution Beat.(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Recording Studio - The small rooftop studio where Music Masters records on top of a residential building in Benghazi. "Rap is more popular than rock and country among the young people in Libya because it expresses anger and frustration," said Mutaz al-Obeidi, a 23-year-old member of the rap group Revolution Beat.(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Revolution Beat - Mohammed al-Yemeni, a.k.a. Migo, left, and Youssef al-Briki, a.k.a. SWAT, of the Revolution Beat rap group hang out next to a banner of Libya's legendary anti-Italian fighter Omar al-Mukhtar in their makeshift studio in a room of the rebel media center in Benghazi.(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Revolution Beat - Mohammed al-Yemeni, a.k.a. Migo, left, and Youssef al-Briki, a.k.a. SWAT, of the Revolution Beat rap group hang out next to a banner of Libya's legendary anti-Italian fighter Omar al-Mukhtar in their makeshift studio in a room of the rebel media center in Benghazi.(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Pro-Opposition Graffiti - Libyan youth hang out at night in a street whose walls are covered with pro-revolutionary graffiti in Benghazi.(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Pro-Opposition Graffiti - Libyan youth hang out at night in a street whose walls are covered with pro-revolutionary graffiti in Benghazi.(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Photo By Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis

Subversive Lyrics - "I always wanted to talk about Gadhafi's mistakes and crimes, but we never had the chance for free speech," said Madani, who is the son of a famous local singer in Benghazi and works part-time in his family's cell phone and car parts shops. "All you could talk about was how good Gadhafi's revolution was."(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Subversive Lyrics - "I always wanted to talk about Gadhafi's mistakes and crimes, but we never had the chance for free speech," said Madani, who is the son of a famous local singer in Benghazi and works part-time in his family's cell phone and car parts shops. "All you could talk about was how good Gadhafi's revolution was."(Photo: AP Photo/Ben Curtis)