A blend of reality and fiction, rap music is a contemporary response to conditions of joblessness, poverty, and disempowerment (Smitherman, 1994:45), which continue to be the norm for the Black US working class. A cultural critic, describing himself as from the "front lines of the White Struggle," provides this description of rap music: "It is a rebellion against white America's economic and psychological terrorism against Black people" (Upski, 1993: 135). Morgan expresses it this way: "Petulant, raw, and screaming with vibrant and violent images… rap music 
represents people who are angry that the power apparatus tried to bury it alive" (Morgan,1989:24). 
    Given its mission - "disturb the peace" - much of rap music has a moral edge. As Poor Righteous Teachers (“Five Percent Nation” rap group) says, “The gods are ruling up in hip hop". This music has become a - or, perhaps the - principal medium for Black youth to "express their views of the world"  and to seek to "create a sense of order" (Alien, 1996:159) out of the. turbulence and chaos of life.  Despite the 1990s' emergence of guns, violence, misogyny, and overused taboo lan-guage in rap music, the founding mission of rap remains that clearly reflected in 
Rapper Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's 1982 hit song, "The Message." Here they decry, for all the world to hear, the deplorable conditions of the hood: 

Broken glass everywhere, 
People pissin on the stair, 
You know they just don't care, 
I can't take the smell, I can't take the noise 
Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge, 
I'm trying not to lose my head. 
It's like a jungle sometimes 
It makes me wonder 
How I keep from going under. (“The Message”) 
 

 Rap Music Is Black Folks 

   The communicative practices of the Hip Hop Nation are firmly rooted in the African American speech community. Hip-hop's rappers are both in and of this community, sounding the clarion call, arousing the dead citizens of America, showing the culture of the U.S. ghetto and representing the case of America's still dispossessed slave descendants. 
    Chuck D., of Public Enemy group, summed it up on the CNN this way: Rap music is Black folks 
(Morgan, 1992: 83). 
    Rapping about their pain and the violence they live with has rescued several rappers from thug life and given them legitimate, productive careers-such as Ice Cube and Ice-T, both former California gang members, and Notorious B.I.G., former drug dealer. In fact, it is no secret that 
the culture of hip-hop has created a multi-billion-dollar industry. What is a secret, however, is that the big paper (lots of money) in this multi-billion-dollar industry goes to big business. For instance, out of every album, CD, or tape sold, the artist gets only 5.7%, the songwriter, only 3%, but the recording company gets 43.4%, and the record store, 31.7% (Vibe, 1995:151). 
 The Hip-Hop nation employes African American communicative traditions and discursive practices to convey the Black struggle for survival in the face of America’s abandonment of the descendants of enslaved Africans, though of course in the absence of a national movement to provide a cohesive political framework, this Nation lacks the political experience. Today rap-singers claim, that their elders, those who have made it, now offer not very much guidence to African American artists. 
Nevertheless rap music of the Hip-Hop Nation simultaneously reflects the cultural evolution of the Black oral and music tradition and the construction of a 
contemporary rethoric and music habbits. 
 

Its specific virtue that has been transfered even to our modern rock groups is absolute lack of aggressiveness. Whether it is joyful or thoughtful it flows in a peaceful and good willing way. The Belarusian word for this is "Lahodny". It describes the patient and kind attitude of Belarusians to life and people. There are a lot of real ancient Slavic melodies and songs still left in Belarus, especially in Palesse. 
We must say that during Soviet times folk art was strongly supported by government. Only in one Grodno region there were more than 800 clubs and "houses of culture", in which most of folk art(choirs, dancing ensembles, painting, ceramics et.c.) were practiced. We doubt that folk art will be this much supported now. Hundreds of art groups are vanishing in Belarus this very moment, giving way to westernized mass-culture. Thus hurry up if you want to see and hear Belarusian folk art. 

Belorussian Rock 

Unfortunately, many Belarusans, even nationally conscious Belarusans, do not know much about Belarusan Rock. The music market, CDs and cassettes are absolutely dominated by former Soviet rock in Russian language. Yet we venture to say that over the past ten years or so Belarus has developed her own traditions of rock in Belarusan language, which is expressive and diverse enough to embrace all traditions of modern rock. Both the 
trailblazers for that process - the bands "Mroja", "Ulis", 
"Bonda", and today's stars "Krama" and "Novaje neba" are in every way equal to the bands of the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) rock clubs, which are famous all over theformer Soviet Union. 
Unfortunately the current situation in Belarus' and the policy pursued by its government - which can hardly be called anything else but fiercely anti-Belarusan - stand in the way of any development of the Belarusan culture. The outlawing of Belarusan schoolbooks, history books, literature, music - these are all links of the same chain these are all links in the same chain. Many of the songs given below are banned from Belarusan state television and radio by state censorship.  
Belarusan rock is almost completely cut off from its potential listeners. I think everybody is aware of how powerful words, poems and particularly songs and good music can be, what a strong impression a video clip can produce. The campaign in support of Boris Yeltsin launched by Russian rock bands prior to the latest presidential elections can be seen as an example for this. 

Pesnyary 

    The folk-rock group Pesnyary was  founded in Belarus in 1969. Their repertoire is based on the Belorussian  folklore music. The musicians's approach to folklore is thorough, their skill to play various music instruments and to improvise, the pure sound of  their voices as well as their capabilities to perform songs of various peoples in the original language account for their continuous success with the public in all countries of the world. 
     During the last tour of Pesnyary in 1991 the American public got acquainted with their new program, which was presented at the UNO in New York. 
     Pesnyary was the first group who got "The Golden Disc" of the USSR for recording 10 long-playing records (the so-called "giants"), with an edition of  approximately 12 million copies. The composer and guitar player Vladimir Muliavin has been the founder and constant leader of the group for 25 years. 
     After the great success Pesnyary at  the10th anniversary MIDEM at Cannes, the group reived an invitation for a tour across the United States of America. The media called this tour "the Russian invasion at theWestern rock front". 
The Washington Post wrote: "the group, which is very original, distinctive, musical with  terrific voices, will find their admirers among the American youth by all  means. The audience applauded standing at their feet".