Mekh man daje” is a traditional Romani song, recorded and danced by Roma young  people from Warsaw’s South Praga, in which they tell of themselves and their identity. The idea grew from over four years of work with a group of Romani adolescents at the  

Fundacja Dom Kultury (Culture House Foundation). Jointly developed on basis of the  participants’ interests, skills and passions, it became an opportunity for them to  communicate with their peers and the rest of the world in their favorite medium. The form  of the project evolved over time, having originally begun with children who are now  youngsters. 

After nearly three months of intensive work, our kids recorded and danced a hip-hop song  “Mekh man daje”. The stunning video recording was adapted to a music video.  Unprecedented in Poland. 

The main authors of the success are the project participants: 

Alwaro, Angela, Dawid, Edmund, Olivia, Kamil, Kewin, Niko, Ricardo, Santino,  Wanda, Virginia, Zuzanna. 

In “Mekh man daje” they sing about things of importantce to them: adventure, getting to  know each other, growing up, shared identity. They acknowledge the necessity of both  drawing from the multi-generational experience of their own community and interacting  with majority society. 

Process 

“Mekh man daje” or „Let” is a traditional song sung in Romani houses. This selection was  proposed by Krystyna Perła Markowska, a Romani artist, singer, activist, leader of the band „Perła i Bracia”. Perła carefully ensured that the essential identity of this song was  preserved in the hip-hop arrangement. 

Sound workshops were conducted by Adam Bieliński from the Academy of Sound. Aneta  Woźnicka-Łada, a Zumba instructor associated with the Reggaeton vs Danchall agency, did the breakdance choreography. Leszek Wejcman from Leon Studio directed and edited the  visual material. 

Our participants, young Roma from Warsaw’s South Praga district, are between 12 and 16  years old. On the one hand, they have very strong inter-group ties and Roma self identification. But on the other, in their contact with the outside world they tend to mask  their origin, for fear of rejection by non-Roma peers. As they mature, they experience a  noticeable weakening of bonds with their own tradition and culture. These young people,  brought up on the border between the traditional Roma and metropolitan environments,  are increasingly pressured to adopt new values, which while often seemingly attractive,  threaten to replace those of the family home. 

The „Romano Hip-hopo” project was implemented with funding from the Civic Initiatives  Fund program. Thanks to this grant, the Community Center Foundation was able to  organize activities for young Roma, allowing them to get to know their culture more  deeply. They learned to sing in Romani, rap, create music, gifs, and memes. They made  selfies and learned to breakdance. A unique music video was created, which today we  have a great pleasure to present to you. 

The public task „Romano Hip-hopo” was implemented by Narodowy Instytut  Wolności with funds from the Civic Initiative Fund Program for the years 2014- 2020.