Armenia, which used to be a republic of the Soviet Union,  borders Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Armenian Hip Hop has a strong underground community, largely located in the United States. Emcees rap about the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917. R-Mean (Myspace page), from California, is one such artist (download his songs, including "Genocide" here). Shakro has a song called "1915 Never Forget." Twinz have a song called "Bones 1915." Though this tragedy understandably shapes Armenian identity, Armenian Hip Hop is more diverse.

In Armenian, groups include Hay Tgheq (Myspace page), who employ energetic beats and Armenian lyrics, here's their video for "Menk Enk Mer Mashneqa"; Erevanski (Myspace page) raps in Armenian over thumping beats; HayEli Project raps thoughtful lyrics in Armenian (download their songs here). Another artist, Super Sako (Myspace page) is from Yerevan.

Juree (Myspace page) resides in Poland and his music, particularly the song "Efekt Pracy" resembles the wondrous piano funk that characterizes Polish Hip Hop.

California is an important spot for Armenian Hip Hop. These emcees generally rap in  English. R-Mean and Capital Z are two among many emcees from Cali. Capital Z (Myspace page) challenges society through his fiercely motivated lyrics. He put out an album in 2006 called "Unsigned Hero."

Armenian Hip Hop sites:
Check out more Armenian Hip Hop artists at ArmenianRap.net, where you can download songs.
Armenian Hip-Hop (Myspace page) is a cool site. She discusses all things Armenian Hip Hop.
Armenian Rap.net's Myspace page.