Chooc Ly
(Vietnam)

CONCEPT

Given my multicultural background, I initially felt lost about which regional ingredients I could use for this project. I grew up in France, so I'm very culturally French. Yet, choosing a French protest song as the primary piece to remix didn't feel natural.

My mother was born and raised in Vietnam to a Vietnamese mother and a Gabonese father. My father is from Cambodia. My parents were refugees who arrived in France in the late 1970s. While my mum hasn't experienced much of her West African heritage—her father, a Tirailleur 1), was sent to Vietnam, and they never met—she was culturally Vietnamese, with Vietnamese as her mother tongue.

At first, I felt unsure how to represent myself through this project. I've always seen myself as a polycultural being with a coexisting cultural heritage, but choosing where to source the protest song sparked a small existential crisis. Eventually, I thought: ‘why not converge all "I know" to be part of me?’

Vietnam came to mind first as the lead for a protest song. Still, I knew I had to include elements from Cambodia and Gabon as well to reflect the whole of my heritage.

It feels important to acknowledge the existence of the colonial and imperialist borders that continue to shape and divide regions in order to overcome them. As such, Pisitakun's "Middle Sound" Project is important, and I'm happy to participate. However, I'm also uncomfortable obeying Western-colonial cartography. Middle Sound’s interactive map links each producer to a specific region, so how do I represent movements of resistance in connection to my history?

For my contribution, I would like to thank songwriter Việt Khang, who kindly gave me permission to use his song "Việt Nam tôi đâu?" (Where Is My Vietnam?) as part of this project; Orchéstre Baka Gbiné and Martin Cradick for letting me use their recording of water drumming (Liquindi), and I would like to honour Cambodian musicians, remixers, and bootleg-makers whose sound and rhythm have found their way into this remix.

The Vietnamese protest song “Việt Nam tôi đâu?” by Việt Khang addresses the contested territory of the Spratly Islands; in 2011, Chinese oil rigs stationed near the Islands escalated tensions over this resource-rich territory claimed by both China and Vietnam. Protests erupted in Hanoi, with demonstrators demanding action against China's aggression, but the Vietnamese government forcibly dispersed them. Witnessing these events from his home in My Tho, songwriter Việt Khang composed "Việt Nam tôi đâu?" where he criticised the government and urged the people to continue protesting, both against China's aggression and against the lack of action from the Vietnamese leaders. Việt Khang was arrested shortly afterwards, sentenced to prison for 4 years and 3 years of house arrest, and has since been released.

While I couldn't find specific recordings from Gabon, I was drawn to the Liquindi sounds of the Baka community, who live in the Congo Rainforest—a region that, according to Western cartography, spans six Central African countries, including Gabon and Cameroon.

I felt the Baka, as an Indigenous people who are semi-nomadic 2) and deeply tied to the rainforest, transcend these colonial borders. I tried to reach out to Orchéstre Baka Gbiné, who is said to be the author of the drumming (Liquindi) featured on the Voice of the Rainforest album. This research led me to be in touch with Martin Cradick, Baka Gbiné’s producer who communicates on their behalf. I'm grateful to Orchéstre Baka Gbiné and Martin Cradick for allowing me to use their work Liquindi 1.

In relation to the map used in this project, I want to acknowledge how Western colonial borders are constructed, and the Baka community's strength in maintaining their connection to nature and the rainforest despite this ongoing power dynamic. Thank you again to Orchéstre Baka Gbiné, Martin Cradick, and Cambodian music-makers.

To the Wretched of the Earth 3). May music continue to empower resistance movements and convey our connection to nature, both here on Earth and with the cosmos.

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1)Tirailleur  were a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army and among the forces deployed to Indochina to combat the Vietnamese uprising against French rule

2) While they still move seasonally between forest camps and villages, external pressures such as conservation laws, deforestation, and government policies have limited full nomadism. Many now engage in farming and wage labour, though their cultural and spiritual ties to the forest remain strong.

3)From Les Damnés de la Terre (Engl. The Wretched of the Earth) by Frantz Fanon (1961)

Lyric