Bocafloja

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Aldo Villegas, also known as Bocafloja, is one of the most popular independent rappers in Spanish. Bocafloja (which means “loose mouth”) has been active in Mexico City’s hip hop scene since its inception in the mid-1990s and, as Mary Stucky reports, over the years he’s acquired a huge following in both Mexico and the United States.(Chris Wilson contributed to this report. (Photo: Bocafloja/Myspace) Download MP3

• Multimedia: See a slideshow of Chris Wilson’s photos at a Bocafloja concert
• Video: See a video of Bocafloja concert
• Listen to Bocafloja’s music on Myspace
• More of The World’s Global Hits

Kreyol rap in Haiti

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Haiti is the birthplace of many musical genres: accordion-led troubadou, Vodun racine, high-energy rara, and so on. Many Haitians would argue that rap does not belong on this list. Then rap kreyol hit the scene a few years ago. Like everything else in Haiti, it was hit hard by the January earthquake. Some of its rising stars were killed. But, as Amy Bracken reports from Port-au-Prince, the music’s very much alive. Download MP3

• Reporter’s Notebook: Return to Haiti
• MySpace: Jimmy O
• MySpace: Sak Pase Records
• Subscribe to our Global Hit podcast

The rapping monk

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Today’s Global Hit take us to Japan where a Buddhist monk is using rap and hip hop to spread the word of Buddha to young people. Download MP3

Boomer Da Sharpshoota

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
We close today with the story of Cambodian-American rapper Boomer Da Sharpshoota. He grew up in the US but he was deported seven years ago after serving a two-year prison sentence on gun convictions. Boomer now lives in Cambodia and he’s been learning to rap in Khmer. That’s no easy feat since it’s not the language he grew up speaking. Corey Takahashi has his story.

• Boomer on MySpace

Immortal Technique

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Judith Sloan profiles a Peruvian-born rapper and political activist known as “Immortal Technique.” He’s on a mission to help orphans in Afghanistan. That’s quite a contrast to his wild years as a teenager and the 12 months he spent in prison.

Guru

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
The World’s Emma Kwesiga Lydersen meets up with US hip-hop legend Guru. He’s been touring the world and bringing home some musical souvenirs.