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 So when Ninety One, a popular
local band, released a song and a music video
titled "Taboo" in the final days of 2020, it was
likely to attract attention from beyond their
usual fanbase.
Having garnered more than 3 million views on
YouTube, the song appears to have struck a chord
with Kazakhs fatigued by the pandemic, economic
woes, corruption and a lack of meaningful
political competition.
Written mostly in Kazakh, the song uses
intricate wordplay to make references, among
others, to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and
powerful former President Nursultan Nazarbayev,
before listing some popular grievances.
"Orwell would not have been surprised by our
country, Huxley would have been silent and in
full agreement," go the lyrics, referring to the
authors of the dystopian science fiction novels
"1984" and "Brave New World".
The song mentions the endless depreciation of
the tenge currency and the "dementors" of state
procurement - twinning the wraithlike
soul-suckers from the Harry Potter books and
movies with an area of public life commonly
regarded as the domain of corrupt officials.
"Say 'Neo, wake up!' and you're a dissident," it
goes on - a nod to the Keanu Reeves cult movie
"The Matrix" - before making an apparent
reference to a widely criticised decision to
celebrate Nazarbayev's 80th birthday last July
with fireworks amid a spike in COVID-19 cases
and deaths.
Authorities of the capital city Nur-Sultan -
named after the ex-president - defended the move
by saying the fireworks had been prepared in
advance, paid for by private sponsors and meant
to lift the spirits of medical workers.
Kazakhstan held a national day of mourning for
COVID-19 victims a week later.
'SELF-CENSORSHIP'
Ninety One, whose name refers to the year
oil-rich Kazakhstan gained independence, have
always been mavericks on the former Soviet
republic's pop scene.
Shunned by local TV stations, the band have
relied on YouTube and social media to establish
themselves as mainstream trendsetters of the
"Q-Pop" - the country is spelt "Qazaqstan" in
its own Latin script - genre.
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 Also unusually, Ninety One
never perform at the private parties that are a
key source of income for many Kazakh performers.
The band's producer, Yerbolat Bedelkhan, said
while the idea of releasing a song focusing on
social issues has been on the table for a long
time, the band was guided to a large extent by
what they were hearing from fans.
"Our fans are young people and the voice of the
youths must be heard," he said in an interview.
"Music is soft power." According
to band member Zaq, the song, produced in
collaboration with local rap band Irina
Kairatovna, also highlights self-censorship
adopted by Kazakh society in general and
showbusiness in particular.
"Why 'Taboo'? Because it seems we are not
allowed to say many things," he said. "But
nobody has actually said that this is not
allowed... It is people themselves who think
that they must not say certain things."
Fellow band member Ace described the track as an
exercise in "musical journalism".
In contrast to the rest of the lyrics, the
song's chorus is optimistic, with lines such as
"dark days are over, there is no limit ahead".
However, at the end of the music video, in which
all performers are sat at a round table,
everyone angrily leaves the meeting, refusing to
shake hands with the two chorus performers - who
some viewers saw as symbolising Tokayev and
Nazarbayev.
 The band and its producer, however, won't
comment on the song's allegories, referring to
its own lyrics: "The meaning is in your head and
these are just letters".
(Editing by Alex Richardson)
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