Countries got their for cop 25. 00 join us for special coverage. Ok and join the stream. Today swedish hip hop artist red star is here to perform the also discussed how growing up in one of swedens most notorious neighborhoods fuels his work you can tweet us at a stream or leave a comment and i live chat and you too will be in history. Oh my goodness you know. Im an activist and you are in the street. Swedish hip hop artist rap star is more than just want to swedens leading musical exports hes a music mogul weve global heavy hitters such as Drake Trey Songz and the weekend and on top of all that he wants to be known as a human rights advocate mentor and entrepreneur so were pleased to welcome rob starr also known as robin shah to the stream its good to have you here thank you for having me i want to dip right into headlines about the neighborhood you grew up in because this is how theyre often portrayed ill share a few this. 21000 this is november several people were in the sheltered villa and. Another person this from 2018 this is a tweet of an independent article visited some of the worst areas including momos rose the guard where children as young as 14 roam the streets with kalashnikovs and one other this from the local sweden man injured in a shooting there was likely shot in the leg police have said so this is how its portrayed this is how another resident of malmo the city where that neighborhood is located in least someone who worked with a musician himself says bad things happen all around the world its no different here but blaming it all on one neighborhood thats where the media gets it wrong so tell us about the place you grew up in and what would you like to see what it represented like that. That is not an accurate description of at all and the problem is when everyone focuses on the one perspective youre going to rewrite the correct narrative and i think thats whats happening here obviously you know the one headlines make sense but i think center really pointed it out you can skate go do some good its not the root of all evil doubts not it doesnt cause all the all the issues a memo there are a lot of issues but theres definitely problems that need to be handled but i think more so in that then we just take the rap for the growing up have to sit in your parents because as an only child they took every moment of childhood that study here on my laptop. What do you have i faced it oh i dont know could only you know i dont know how you got there. Like i need to the musical genius that starting off well how old were you when you realized that this was important you know its funny i always knew music was important but it wasnt anything id ever consider doing i would always watch m. T. V. Always us my only memory as a kid watching m. T. V. Dancing the music that they would try to mimic what i try to do them walking never managed to pull it off i would sing and then my mom made me take piano lessons when i was maybe 10 to 14 i hated it no one likes doing what they were told so it became more of a chore than anything else but it was obviously you know a lot of fun growing up with a musical inspirations but it was never a career move for me until much much later. So pushing along into that much later i want to share a video comment we got from a freelance journalist who talks about when she 1st became aware of these that have a listen. Well 10 year cycle rep served me this track with 3 songs called without you and living in a small region in the south i was full thing press and curious who those artists. There were definitely other interesting are distinct interesting things that there were something about rob starr that caught my attention. I think it was a combination of mine and him raising the bar for what you could do and also just the fact that he didnt seem constrained within the limits of the small local scene he definitely seemed like someone to keep track of. Stevensons your business or mine there you didnt start out as a musician he started out as an entrepreneur. Yeah i think it was just some so heres the thing my parents had so many different jobs growing up and i think that diverse range of well this is what you got to do this is what you got you move on to the next thing whatever you got to do not just to survive but also to prosper. And theres so much creativity in business at least for me i i love the idea of theres like a little seed has been planted a thought and then you can see that come to fruition. But yeah music like i said i never anticipated becoming an artist. I think i was you know when you see in those old cartoons when theres going to be a stand off and they walk by god and then you got to thats kind of how i saw music where i was faced with are you going to do this because you have a shot and i love making music but never really dawned on me that hey this could actually be a profession. One of the things that you do as an you Entrepreneurial Mind is that you reach out to people and you say hey id like to work if you will hey lets get together and there is a video that goes with the track that youre about to perform for us called someday name frank and the way that the admiration happened is that but simply the way that you operate can you explain that before you actually go before yeah thats so funny because thats exactly what it was it was i found a Graphic Design on instagram who had never done a music video and his focus is on space oriented art but i just have an ear for talent i think and i got it my gut feeling never strays in iraq i knew hed never say never it will never stand me wrong and i just knew that hell be able to pull it off so i got the chance to work with them and crazy enough he just moved to new york from india and we met for the 1st time a little over a week ago after the video was done in that scene. Somebody named frank with rest stop. I know somebody named me from the way you know how to make. Chief is. Really is the little may. Be young is plain old wisdom is drawn to the to what to. Do to see. If we is in this even though we seen. You on the beginning ringback ringback numbers all memorized in his head face time never tell me face to combine talking to me when i leave a list told when he will make the list. For ignore sometimes he knew lips dont have a stitch the. Break was attached to. This to allow for fresh talk to money if we talk in the. Guest room that it still has a. Little somebodys name for me from the way you know how to make. You chief. As it is the little man. I know somebody in a funny. Way you know how to make. Sick in chief. Who is the good old man here for a cause was in his. Ringback mind he why you can is she entrepreneur been indoors ringback not a christian got allowed to do your. Live. Show it was. Printed in construction. Made on laugh not. On the underground robin hood it was talking to. God it is to. Always stay away from church. Like you get it. Done in. Somebodys name for the way you know how to make. She. Know somebodys name. The way you know how to make. She says. This is the middle man. Youve got to be here is. A funny. You were listening to swedish hip hop artists rap star perform one of his newest songs somebody named frank its music like that thats getting him recognition in sweden and beyond so heres one person who gives us that glimpse into why alfonse car but as president of the european composer and Songwriter Alliance robin shore red star is part of the swedish music wonder what defines him from all those is that he didnt aim for an existing spoke he created his own and the over the for all those so says didnt happen for him and he created is about all this is an action record label not good enough well he starts is about complaining about the music business not recognizing talent well you do your own research and you find the talent make sure its not lost to this Important Community work and you have. Several men. So very common where tell us about the music label that you started so today is meant is the name of the label and i created it out of necessity i think sweden has so much talent so much talent but theyre just like the infrastructure and back when i started making music it was way more elite is and there were socalled gatekeepers and i didnt want to wait for someone to discover me and i didnt want to see all these other amazing talents that i knew could be superstars one day be ignored. I love this picture because its not the swedish. Everyone can have a look at. This around. So to my left is from with a bio to my right is leslie its a. Producer songwriter who read in another rocker behind me as well what a swedish hip hop how would i know from any other kind whats whats the special secret it is very wrong theres a lot of emotion that goes behind it obviously most of the rappers in street and rap in swedish so thats the number one tell you can just tell by the language. But the thing is i find swedish hip hop so interesting because we also malmo specifically such a melting pot that you pick youre accustomed to so much different culture that you always have a little bit of you know middle east or or germany is a melting pot for sure so people from all around the world are enjoying that melting pot and i think that theyre picking up on it we got this week from someone who just watched a performance live and then sent this in music is powerful and red star has touched me with his music and coming all the way from south africa and hes bringing a narrative to the world that is hardly portrayed by this country educate us thank you so thats one persons perspective but weve got another person who knows you and worked with you so this is a guy joiner and hes a sound engineer from the u. K. And he did the math mixing and mastering on your recent album and he talks about the song that you just played he says in somebodys name prank i was impressed by the way the themes of prejudice and injustice were woven into one involving narrative and so i wanted to make sure that the vocals were as clear and upfront as possible to help get the story across but you hope people take away from that song in your album you know people are always so shocked when you tell them. Problems in sweden as well. Except of oppression and im not saying what we experience in sweden is the worst kind of approach oppression however this is my story im telling it from where i come from and i think its important for people understand that as well there are issues that need to be resolved and we dig into that just a little bit because i feel that way just on the surface at the moment and i just want to be more candid about words you write about your experiences and write about what you see. Capitol do single or so i went to. School there for a one year and. A half im so glad that i got the chance to transfer because i dont think i would be the person i am today if i would have continued going to school there and dont get me wrong there are so many smart people so most of my closest friends are from some good and thats why i like this video that you guys. Just saw where for example as a for me when i made 30 list told him he will make forbes dirty list is just your intelligence and all your smarts have been applied to Something Else because you never had the Academic Foundation to take another route and i think the big issue that needs to be tackled. Lack of opportunity by going to needy education specifically as well. The lack of resources lack of resources. I think thats a narrative the one that youre bringing is the narrative that people are saying we dont hear often enough from sweden right and so that some people are calling you part of a wave of this Swedish Group of people who are coming to bring that narrative and to bring music that we havent heard before so i want to play a video comment from a journalist who says just that her name is kathy shes the author of a book god save the queens the essential history of women in hip hop and she interviewed rap star. I had the pleasure of interviewing rap star for mass appeal a few years back and in my article i referenced his entry point as the swedish invasion the reason why i did that was you know theres been this influx of swedish talent that has traveled to america but really there has never been hip hop artist to successfully penetrate the American Market and the thing that rock star is doing is hes creating this whole new lane for european hip hop artists to enter the American Music industry everything which i really do credit as being a 1st and the only way to really title it is to call it an invasion. So when people think of swedish music they might think of robin they might think of but do they think hip hop and are you trying to change that yeah i people always make a fuss about you know heres the thing its not about swedish culture its a little taboo to say i want more i to be overly ambitious i am overly ambitious and i love it and i think you should be proud of that so theres always a little fuss about this does he want to be the 1st to swedish rap or to break overseas i just hope im not the last to sweet as a rapper to do so if i knock down a few doors thats what matters to me thats why i work with all these amazing talents in sweden as well im not picking the easiest task there is but that is just something that is very important to me no one gave me any support in sweden when i was coming up thats why you saw the journalist you know school man talk about my 1st record trey songz i found support over here so of course afterwards a Ripple Effect but i think sweden its become very different now but i think thats what we need a support system and. Im hoping to contribute to that somehow. Based now. Does that mean youve just escaped from all of the things that actually influence your music how can you still write the music youve been living in the uk not at all i actually wrote and recorded this album here in the states. And the funny thing is i dont think i could have ever created to some of the album if i would have still been there because youre just so conditioned to just accept everything for what it is the shooting or something all this. Completely unacceptable shocking wave of violence youre. Not necessarily reacting to it the way you should because youre so consumed in it so when i eventually moved to new york and took a step back thats when i realized theres actually something wrong about this and i want to help rewrite the narrative but i think music has the power to inspire people and unite people and thats what im hoping to accomplish with this. Fans this is a money on twitter who says im just a fan from sweden but i love the music because rap star shows the world that there is more than one side to the story so whats next for you musically. I want to definitely show a bit more of a holistic side of juicing god so more videos and i have a lot of interesting records that ive been working on that i cant wait to share with the world youre not telling us anything i dont know if im the type of person to do soon as i record a song i want to release it and share it with the world but im learning to be a little bit more patient so very soon our problem is its becoming obvious were having this conversation that you care deeply about the neighborhood and the part of the world that you come from and you show this in a way that you are a mental and help people who are in 2nd sentence where they could do with some help and they could do with a role model so you are you a role model for lots of people who come from where you grew up and tell us more about that. So i had the privilege of working with a lot of amazing artists who i dont think would have been artists today if we wouldnt have met and thats not to say the reason theyre artists today but i do think people need their support system that i was referring to that i lacked and i have to find it somewhere else and i got the privilege of one of the artist that i work a listener i actually got to know him through one of these. Ad risk used projects that i work on it was a young kid in the city amount more reach out to me and there are a lot of distractions in his life and were hoping that this passion of music that he has can help him focus on something more positive instead and if we Work Together now hes signed to my record label and. Hes changed my life just as much as i hope. It is. Someone else who might be impacted this is christine on twitter she writes you said that your music wasnt your 1st choice of career so what made you make a 360 degree turnaround i ask because i wanted to be a world renowned actress but the environment i found myself in changed my career path so generally. But how do you how would you advise people to seek that support system that you say youre trying to make right now. Its very different but the similarity in the same situation with a lot of people who say what if you have to remove yourself from that environment you need to find a more positive and inspiring environment that will give you the options and opportunities you need youre not going to find that if youre already having trouble there i actually went to law school and in scotland in aberdeen scotland when i decided you know what i need to i need to focus on music this is my calling i dropped out of all school and thats when things started and the message straight how did that happen what does that look like this is before drake was as famous we know him now but so drake was still pretty big the thing was i just knew hes going to be the worlds biggest artist and without a doubt and always the type of person if i want something i have to go out and get it i sent him a message on my space and he replied within an hour i was in my apartment. Studying law my 1st year and the message just call me all caps and a phone number and before i called i had decided im dropping out on the folks obviously. People but if you watch t. V. Listen its telling us that its infused with a feeling from sweden i would love to hear you just say a little bit in swedish because i know when people are in new york and they you say are from sweden they do not believe it so this is what ill say this is the one sentence you both should learn and when you go to know more specifically i want to help you order something called care about pizza night you have a heart and. Blond ourselves i mean as a wife point is i would make sauce thats what swedish youre going to teach only so that is you need all right as you say they are. All right gems of wisdom from red stuff thats all the time we have going to perform one more song it is called imagine and while we let him get set up for that here are 3 swedish Musical Artists some of whom rap star has worked with one of whom we talked about today will tell us why hip hop in sweden matters. Hip hop to me is everything. In my life before we form was skate. Gave me everything so everything to. Give a child to give hope to the hopeless spread love. Try to spread the growth we can always get better never let your circumstances define who you are. A music is about breaking. The traditions its about. Dogs im listening to make a long. Swedish impound as we. Passed couple of years especially if you knew this country is the way we were. And. To respect to those that needed. Year. In year. Somebody. Some of the murders leave. The scene the murder with. The most news in birds you see not afraid to. Talk to bubba girls in the store that as a joke now you mustnt cry or. One a little cold is just me you see you can listen to him by his attempt to live a good choice you got to live up to. Today but youre in a limousine on the right to somebodys scheme of murder. The last chance was begun in a stump but employee nobody heard the. News or done it she explained a slot in the streets now becoming a. Museum with his name the place where they got it. When a good old heard. Somebody screaming. Some of the murder leave the murder. Almost is emerging to. Sue the school the murder of the. Little streams of birds you see. Cycle that is bogus. December on aljazeera as this year comes to an end we look ahead to 2020 and the stories that may shape the year people in power investigates the shocking truth of disabled people in Eastern Europe skakel deciding the future of the u. K. And its place in europe will the general election result the breaks it is shes a story of palestinian women rising above part of the struggle for freedom against all on and the worlds best football teams had to cancel for the fee for Club World Cup 2019 join us for special coverage. December on aljazeera. What kind of care does that provide and is anyone willing to pick up the cost we bring you the stories and developments that are rapidly changing the world we live in so is it possible for trump is actually a little right the economy counting the cost on aljazeera. From the aljazeera london Broadcast Center to special guests in conversation who would have still been in a rich country we use hunger as a weapon im from taits uninterrupted its much more difficult to be left to invent the right wing when people think theyre all really right and ken loach meets edward lee we are have to be subversive if you dont have a level of arguer about you stay at home studio be unscripted its on aljazeera. Aljazeera where every. Dog trump is set to become the 4th u. S. President to face impeachment his political rivals could have charges door knob for then days i demand the see is what is at stake the president leaves us no choice but to act. Im sorry say that this is al jazeera live from dol so coming up police in india kill 4 man accused of raping and murdering a veterinarian people welcome the action