Behind the Beats is History

Kurdistan has been cut into four pieces, and for a century they’ve tried to erase our language, our land, our very breath. They want us to forget who we are. But the question still burns: Kîne em? — Who are we?

 

In 1979, the poet Cegerxwîn asked this same question. His verses were dynamite — fire, amber, explosion. He wrote of people who fight, who love peace, who farm and sing, who carry both memory and gunpowder in their veins. He wrote of a Kurdistan torn apart, yet unyielding.

 

And today, we still answer.
We answer with Jîna Amînî, with Arîn Mîrxan, with every name that refuses silence.
We answer with music, with voices that won’t be erased.
We answer: We are the people of Kurdistan. The honourable. The stubborn. The unbroken.

 

Composition: Hêja Netirk & Carlos Andrés Rico
Beats & Synths: Rico Danta
Singing & Rapping: Hêja Netirk
Drumms: Eray Çaylı
Lyrics: Cegerxwîn
Recording, Mix & Mastering: Henning Riez

Kurdisch

Min dixwast ku dilê xwe
Şa’kim bi hatina te
Lê tu nehatî îro
Ez mame tenê

 

Gelê Kurdistan
Şoreş û volkan
Tev dinamêt in
Agir û pêt in
Sor in wek êtûn
Agir giha qepsûn

 

Gava biteqim dinya dihejî
Ev pêt û agir dijmin dikujî
Kîne em?

 

Çend hezar sal in
Kurdistana me
Perçe perçe ma
Bin destê dijmin
Îro ew Lor û Kelhor û Kurmanc
Ji dest xwe berdan ew text û ew tac
Hinek bûn axa

 

Ta ku Kurdistan
Ta ku Kurdistan
Jar û perîşan
Kete bin destan
Ji destê dijmin
Dijminê xwinxwar
Xurt û koledar
Ji Rom, ji Freng,
Bi kûştin û ceng
Parast parast, parast min ev Rojhilat

 

Kîne em?
Gelê Kurdistan
Gelê Kurdistan
Gelê Kurdistan
Gelê serfiraz

 

Dijminê dijmin
Dostê aştîxwaz
Em xweş mirov in
Ne hirç û hov in
Lê çib’kim bê şer
Dijmin naçî der
Bav û kalê me
Dijyan tev serbest
Naxwazim bijîm
Ta ebed bindest

 

Kîne em?

 

Em in ew Kurdê serhişk û hesin
Îro jî dijmin ji me ditirsin
Bîna barûdê
Kete pozê min
Dixwazim hawîr
Biteqim ji bin
Naxwazim bimrim
Dixwazim bigrim
Kurdistana xwe

 

Kîne em?
Gelê Kurdistan
Gelê Kurdistan

 

Tev dinamêt in
Agir û pet in
Gava biteqin dinya dihejî
Ev pêt û agir dijmin dikujî
Gelê Kurdistan
Gelê serfiraz

 

Cotkar û karker
Gundî û rêncber
Hemû proleter
Em dest dirêj in
Serbest dibêjin
Dixwazin bi lez
Gava bavêjin!
Kîne em?
Gelê Kurdistan
Kîne em?
Jîna Amînî
Kîne em?
Arîn Mîrxan
Kîne em?
Gelê Kurdistan

English

I longed to see my heart made happy by your arrival. But you did not come today. Alone, I am left.

 

People of Kurdistan, revolution and volcano, fire and flame, all dynamite, red as amber, the fire reaches the gelignite.
When I explode, the world trembles. This amber, this fire, destroys the enemy.

 

Who are we?

 

For thousands of years, our Kurdistan, in pieces, under the rule of invaders. Today, the Lors, the Kelhors, the Kurmancs, have lost their throne, their crown. Some have become landlords. Until Kurdistan, torn and forsaken, was taken by the enemy, the bloodthirsty, the fat slaveholders. Against the Romans and the Franks, fighting and dying, I have protected the heart of the Middle East.

 

Who are we?

 

People of Kurdistan, the honourable.

 

We are the enemy of enemies, friends of peace. We are kind people, neither beasts nor savages. But if we don’t fight, the enemy will never leave our land. Our ancestors lived free, I will not live forever oppressed.

 

Who are we?

 

We are the stubborn, unyielding Kurds. Even today, the enemy fears us. The scent of gunpowder fills my nostrils. All around, I crave the explosion. I do not wish to die, I wish to hold my Kurdistan.

 

Who are we?

 

People of Kurdistan, all amber, fire, and dynamite. When we explode, the world trembles.
This amber and fire destroy the enemy.
People of Kurdistan, the honourable.

 

Farmers and workers, villagers and laborers, all the proletariat. We have long arms and speak freely. We demand, without delay, that action be taken.

 

Who are we?
People of Kurdistan.

 

Who are we?
Jîna Amînî.

 

Who are we?
Arîn Mîrxan.

 

Who are we?
People of Kurdistan.

Deutsch

Ich sehnte mich danach, mein Herz durch deine Ankunft glücklich zu sehen. Doch du kamst heute nicht. Allein bin ich zurückgeblieben.

 

Volk Kurdistans, Revolution und Vulkan, Feuer und Flamme, alles Dynamit, rot wie Bernstein, das Feuer erreicht den Sprengstoff. Wenn ich explodiere, erzittert die Welt. Dieser Bernstein, dieses Feuer, vernichtet den Feind.

 

Wer sind wir?

 

Seit Jahrtausenden ist unser Kurdistan in Stücke gerissen, unter der Herrschaft von Invasoren. Heute haben die Lors, die Kelhors, die Kurmancs ihren Thron, ihre Krone verloren. Einige sind zu Grundbesitzern geworden.

 

Bis Kurdistan, zerrissen und verlassen, vom Feind eingenommen wurde – von den Blutrünstigen, den fetten Sklavenhaltern. Gegen die Römer und die Franken, kämpfend und sterbend, habe ich das Herz des Nahen Ostens beschützt.

 

Wer sind wir?
Volk Kurdistans, das ehrenwerte.

 

Wir sind die Feinde der Feinde, die Freunde des Friedens. Wir sind gütige Menschen, weder Bestien noch Wilde. Doch wenn wir nicht kämpfen, wird der Feind unser Land niemals verlassen. Unsere Vorfahren lebten frei – ich werde nicht für immer unterdrückt leben.

 

Wer sind wir?
Wir sind die sturen, unnachgiebigen Kurden. Selbst heute fürchtet uns der Feind. Der Geruch von Schießpulver steigt mir in die Nase. Ringsum sehne ich mich nach der Explosion. Ich will nicht sterben, ich will mein Kurdistan bewahren.

 

Wer sind wir?
Volk Kurdistans, alles Bernstein, Feuer und Dynamit. Wenn wir explodieren, erzittert die Welt. Dieser Bernstein und dieses Feuer vernichten den Feind.
Volk Kurdistans, das ehrenwerte.

 

Bauern und Arbeiter, Dorfbewohner und Landarbeiter, das gesamte Proletariat. Wir haben lange Arme und sprechen frei. Wir fordern unverzüglich, dass Maßnahmen ergriffen werden.

 

Wer sind wir?
Volk Kurdistans.

 

Wer sind wir?
Jîna Amînî.

 

Wer sind wir?
Arîn Mîrxan.

 

Wer sind wir?
Volk Kurdistans.

Photo Credits: Savaş Boyraz

Gefördert durch die Initiative Musik gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH mit Projektmitteln der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien