Page 28 - IB November 2024

Music
MUSIC AND POLITICS: A PACIFIC STORY

OF POWER AND PASSION

Since the dawn of time, music and politics have long held one of the most powerful and influential weapons known to
many things in common. mankind, music.
Both rely on harmony and disharmony to create tension. Pacific people are pacifists to a large extent until the very
In music, tension creates an atmosphere that yearns for fabric of things they hold dear is threatened.
resolution. And one band that encapsulated that sentiment would have
And when the tension is resolved, there is sweet harmony to be Fiji’s pioneer reggae outfit, Rootstrata.
that fills the hearts and lifts the spirits of the listener. Forged out of the concrete jungle of Raiwai-Raiwaqa in the
In the political arena, tension is created to bring about early ‘80s, the group’s first hit single, ‘Young Generation’,
division, in some cases, and to create an atmosphere spoke about the lack of platforms for youth issues,
conducive to exploitation. Therein lies the difference. oppression, poverty and, yes, you guessed it, nuclear waste.
Both have the power to influence the masses, and to From protesting nuclear fallout and pollution, Rootstrata
motivate people to do things they not ordinarily do. ventured into political ideology with songs that some would
In 1973, an Indo-Fijian boy from Toorak in Suva, composed, suggest, championed ethno-nationalism.
recorded and released an anti-nuclear song titled ‘Destruction The group composed the almost-prophetic ‘Noda Bula
of Humanity’. Dina Na iTaukei’ – a song that expressed the frustrations of
Anil Valera, who was a member of the capital city’s premier the young indigenous community in the lead-up to and in
band Ulysses at the time, said after reading about the then- the wake of the 1987 military coup, and their perception
French government’s indifference to the plight of Pacific of non-indigenous communities benefitting off of their
people affected by nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll, he decided land. The song’s popularity was amplified by the feelings
to do something about it. of disenfranchisement at the time and culminated with
He wrote ‘Destruction of Humanity’, a song which Rootstrata joining the radical iTaukei Movement and preparing
highlighted the negative impact of the tests on the French a lovo (earth oven) as a powerful symbol of their discontent.
Polynesian people and the waters that they relied on for Sadly, the group’s inner politics led its disbanding not long
sustenance. after that.
The song captured the sentiments of Pacific people at the While music produced and performed by Pacific people is
time and hundreds took to the streets of Suva in protest largely for entertainment purposes, it has been and continues
against the French. to be used as a vehicle to make bold statements of protest,
The song featured predominantly on Radio Fiji (now Fijian and is a way of channelling angst and rebellion against the
Broadcasting Corporation) and echoed through the streets of ‘system’.
the capital city during an anti-nuclear march in 1973, which Pacific music has moved past the bread and butter issues
featured Fijian and Pacific Islanders decked out in their hippie affecting families across the region and is now bringing
best. attention to global issues – like the Israel-Palestine conflict in
Almost 10 years later, New Zealand reggae band, Herbs, did Gaza.
the same with their anti-nuclear song ‘French Letter’ in 1982. This year, Hawaiian reggae artist Kai Boy collaborated
The ditty became an anthem for Pacific protestors who used it with The Steppas and Hawane to produce ‘No More War’, a
to fan the flames of a movement that played a significant role song dedicated to the more than 10,000 Palestinian children
in turning the tide against French nuclear tests on Mururoa. allegedly killed by Israeli soldiers since October 7, 2023.
The cleverly written tongue-in-cheek reggae song swept Pacific music has always had a conscience and just as Bob
tsunami-like via radio stations across the Pacific. Marley did in Jamaica in the ‘70s and ‘80s, all it needed was a
Herbs protest anthems —French Letter, Rust in Dust and catalyst.
Nuclear Waste—were some of the most popular songs that About three weeks ago, three young Fijian songwriters
reverberated at the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior Festival released a track titled ‘Pasifika Rising’, pushing for self-
at Mount Smart Stadium in 1986, a year after the infamous determination for West Papua, Ma’ohi Nui, Kanaky, Rapa Nui,
sinking of the anti-nuclear protest vessel, Rainbow Warrior. Guam, American Samoa, Hawaii, Aotearoa, and Australia.
The world was in for a rude awakening. Led by one of Fiji’s emerging musicians in producer,
Westerners who once thought Pacific people were a docile songwriter and artist - Fransisco Bhagwan, along with guitarist
lot who spent their days relaxing in the shadows of coconut extraordinaire Ben Masirewa and iTaukei rapper and Pacific
trees, sipping coconut juice, were very quickly made to Break winner, Ju Ben, the song is a powerful anthem driven by
realise that the islanders had an intrinsic link to the land and a loping reggae beat, interspersed with crunching guitar riffs
the seas that lapped at their shores. courtesy of Masirewa.
Land and sea equalled life and livelihood, and they would Music with a conscience, created with passion, unleashed in
not sit silent while developed nations used it as a dumping or the hope of creating conversation that will lead to a change in
testing ground. mindsets and hopefully, coax policy change in the Pacific.
And once prodded, they could and would fight back with

28 Islands Business, November 2024