Acid (often written ACID; , ) is a Burmese

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

group often credited with releasing Burma's first hip hop album, ''Beginning'', in 2000. Two of the group's founders were later imprisoned for the group's allegedly pro-democracy lyrics.

Beginning

Acid was founded by

Phyo Zeya Thaw Phyo Zeya Thaw (; , also referred to as Zeya Thaw (; ; 26 March 1981 – 23 July 2022) was a Burmese politician and hip hop recording artist who was detained and executed due to the perceived anti-government messages in his lyrics. Amnesty Int ...

(26 March 1981 – 23 July 2022), Annaga (Born 19 May 1979), Hein Zaw (12 June 1981 – 10 April 2006) And

Yan Yan Chan Yan Yan Chan (, ; born 5 December 1979) is a Burmese hip hop singer, pioneer of Burmese hip hop, and pro-democracy activist. He is a founding member of Acid (hip-hop), Acid, Burma's first hip hop group. He is also one of the coaches from The Voic ...

(Born 5 December 1979). In 2000, Acid released Burma's first hip-hop album, ''Beginning''. Despite predictions of failure by many in the Burmese music industry, ''Beginning'' remained on the number-one position of the Burmese charts for more than two months. A

Democratic Voice of Burma The Democratic Voice of Burma (, abbreviated DVB) is one of Myanmar's largest independent media organisations. DVB was founded as a non-profit media organization based in Oslo, Norway and Chiang Mai, Thailand. Run by Burmese expatriates, it m ...

reporter described the group's music as blending a "combative, angry style with indigenous poeticism". The band's repertoire has been said to contain many "thinly veiled attacks" on Burma's military government, the

State Peace and Development Council The State Peace and Development Council ( ; abbreviated SPDC or , ) was the official name of the Military dictatorship, military government of Burma (Myanmar) which, in 1997, succeeded the State Law and Order Restoration Council (; abbrevi ...

. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' stated that while the band "focused on the mundane, their lyrics inevitably touched on the hardships of life in Burma, drawing them into dangerous territory."

Arrests of Acid members

On 12 March 2008, Phyo Zeya Thaw was arrested at a Yangon restaurant with friends on charges relating to his involvement in the youth pro-democracy movement

Generation Wave Generation Wave () is a Burmese pro-democracy youth movement founded by Min Yan Naing @ Win Htut, Moe Thwe, hip-hop star Phyo Zeya Thaw, and Aung Zay Phyo. This movement emerged alongside a collection of pro-democracy groups following the 2007 S ...

. In April,

was also arrested. Although it was widely reported in English pro-democracy papers that he was arrested in relation to democracy activities, the military junta claims that he was actually arrested on drug charges. Phyo Zeya Thaw was allegedly beaten during his interrogation. On 20 November 2008, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for breaking State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 6/88, "illegal organizing under the Unlawful Association Act". Amnesty International described this statute as "a vaguely worded law whose sweeping provisions can be interpreted as making it illegal to set up any kind of organization". He was given an additional year's imprisonment for possession of foreign currency, as he had been carrying approximately $20 USD in Thai

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

Singapore dollar The Singapore dollar (currency sign, sign: S$; ISO 4217, code: SGD) is the official currency of the Singapore, Republic of Singapore. It is divided into 100 cent (currency), cents (, , ). It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or ...

s, and Malaysian

ringgit The Malaysian ringgit (; plural: ringgit; symbol: RM; currency code: MYR; Malay name: ''Ringgit Malaysia''; formerly the Malaysian dollar) is the currency of Malaysia. Issued by the Central Bank of Malaysia, it is divided into 100 cents ( M ...

at the time of his arrest. Phyo Zeya Thaw served his sentence at

Kawthaung Kawthaung (, ; ; ; , ; , ڤولودوا) is a border town located in the southernmost part of Myanmar, in the Tanintharyi Region. During British rule in Burma between 1824 and 1948, it was known as Victoria Point. As of 2021, it has a population o ...

prison. Amnesty International named him a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

and called for his immediate release. After nearly a year's detention, Yan Yan Chan was released without charges on 7 January 2009. Phyo Zeya Thaw was pardoned and released on 17 May 2011. In November 2021, Phyo Zeya Thaw was arrested by the

Myanmar military junta The State Administration Council (; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing following the February 2021 coup d'état and the declar ...

and charged with planning attacks on junta targets under the Counterterrorism Law and the Public Property Protection Act. Phyo Zeya Thaw was sentenced to death in January 2022, and executed alongside three other democracy activists on 23 July 2022.

References

{{Authority control Burmese musical groups