US rapper Marcel Cartier marks 40th anniversary of Vietnam War with 'Guns Of Viet Minh'

May 1, 2015
Issue 
Marcel Cartier
Marcel Cartier.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War on April 30, US rapper Marcel Cartier released the track "The Guns Of The Viet Minh".

The backing track is composed by writer and activist Carlos Martinez, who produces music under the name Agent Of Change. For the track, he samples the Red Star Singers' 1974 track "Vietnam Will Win", which he describes as an "amazing piece of music".

"I just came across it and thought it was a phenomenal piece of protest music," he told Green Left Weekly.

"At the musical level it's way better than most of the genre I think, and the lyrics are pretty much exemplary in their anti-imperialism. We wanted to do a track marking 40 years since the liberation of Saigon, and that track really stood out for sampling."

To mark the anniversary, Martinez also wrote a radical potted history of the war on his blog Invent The Future.

"The Guns Of The Viet Minh" is accompanied by a powerful lyric video, below, made by prolific film-makers Global Faction Sixth Sense.

Marcel Cartier has also dropped a new mixtape, which can be heard here.

"I will be releasing my sixth full-length project United States of Hypocrisy in time for this year’s International Workers’ Day events across the globe," he said before its release on May 1.

"The mixtape features 10 exclusive tracks that serve as a warm-up for the LP Invent The Future with Agent of Change that will also be dropping this year."

Check out Green Left Weekly's interviews with Agent Of Change and with Marcel Cartier.

Video: MARCEL CARTIER - THE GUNS OF THE VIET MINH (PRODUCED BY AGENT OF CHANGE) - YouTube/GlobalFaction.

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