When musicians tune in to politics

Kleber Mendonça Filho's Oscar-nominated 'The Secret Agent' uses the language of spy films to confront Brazil's dictatorship of the 1970s and its culture of forgetting

- Gayle Sequeira

Balendra Shah after winning the election on 7 March.

(REUTERS)

In January 2020, Nepali rapper Balendra Shah—better known simply as Balen—released Balidan, a scathing, no-holds-barred takedown of the Himalayan country's political elites. In the song, he paints a desolate picture of a political landscape dominated by corrupt government officials, opportunistic politicians, dysfunctional governance and perennial conflict. "All leaders are thieves, looting the country and eating it up," he raps in Maithili over a sparse, shuffling beat. "They're all united in dividing and devouring the nation.

It's a classic bit of agitprop conscious rap that struck a nerve with young Nepalis, who were just as sick of the corruption, nepotism and political instability they saw all around them. The song racked up millions of views and helped propel Balen to national popularity. But Balen wasn't satisfied just being an outsider critiquing the system. He wanted to change it.

In 2022, the former civil engineer and rapper made history by becoming the first independent mayor of Kathmandu, beating out candidates from established political parties with vastly more resources. His image as a politically insurgent rap artist certainly helped, but so did a smart social media campaign that reached out directly to the capital city's young voters and promised real disruption, a decisive break from the political status quo.