‘I don’t have a choice’: hip-hop artist in Cambodia deletes song after police pressure
- Dymey-Cambo was a little-known rapper in Cambodia until his song was shared on Facebook by Cambodian opposition-leader-in-exile Sam Rainsy
- Under pressure from Cambodian authorities, who visited his parents and his workplace, he removed the track, This Society, from social media
Chhun Dymey was a little-known rapper in Cambodia until he received a boost from a prominent political figure who shared one of Dymey’s songs on his Facebook page this month. The musician, who goes by the hip-hop handle Dymey-Cambo, first posted the track online months ago.
Videos of the song have been viewed tens of thousands of times online.
The post by Cambodian opposition-leader-in-exile Sam Rainsy may have helped promote his song to a wider audience, but also put Dymey in a precarious spotlight. Titled Sangkum Nis, or This Society, the song references injustices such as corruption, economic inequality, land disputes and police brutality, while suggesting that the Cambodian government is to blame.
A week after Sam Rainsy, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s perennial rival, shared the track online, the 24-year-old rapper was pressured by authorities to delete it from his social media accounts when police visited his parents’ home and his workplace, Dymey says.
“I feel upset because I don’t have a choice,” Dymey said about removing the song from his YouTube and Facebook pages. “My best choice was to just delete it,” he adds. “[Maybe] I can stop the trouble.”