Aken performers set comedy and insults to music for Kazakh nomads

Jarhnu Wuhas (right) and his wife enjoy Aken singing performed by their young student. [Photo by Cui Jia / China Daily]

You'd think they hate each other if you just heard them singing.

That's the point.

In Jarhnu Wuhas and his wife Nawat Xiantubay's case, it may at least provide an outlet for family feuding.

Aken performers like them wage wars of words, crooning roasts set to music by and for Kazakh nomads in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

But it's mostly funny business - comedy is key, and gigs pay cash - when the performers insult each other while strumming their traditional instrument tamboura "Your eyes are so small," a jibe set to a soundtrack improvised to affront may say.

The retort: "That's because you're so ugly. I must squint when I look at you."

Ouch!

Burn!

Aken-style.

"Aken songs are the wings to the Kazakhs," said 51-year-old Jarhnu who has been an Aken for more than 30 years in Xinyuan county, Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture. In his case, the traditional Kazakh art form is also a matchmaker because he met his wife during an Aken sing-off.

"I am a much better Aken than him and I beat him all time," 47-year-old Nawat said while making milk tea for the guests. Aken singing normally is a battle between two akens and it's more like a debate than singing.

The winner is determined by when there's no riposte. To beat others, an Aken must have rich knowledgeable on culture, history and even the latest government policies. Most importantly, he or she has to response fast and leave the component speechless.

That can take three days. But typically shorter sessions are staged today, especially in such incidences as weddings. The season for matrimonial bliss accompanied by merciless musical lampooning comes with the colder months.

The tradition thrives in the Ili Kazak autonomous region.

The Akens in Xinjiang are part minstrels, part comedians and fully musicians and sass.

They traditionally staged sessions that could last up to three days - biological needs afforded for, of course - traveling tent to tent over nomadic grasslands.

The lyrics of a single song could fill a whole book.

Jarhnu has written 200 songs over 30 years of competition. Now master like him can make 1,000-1,500 yuan ($161-$242) per show. He is also a teacher of more than 30 students.

"It's a lot like boxing and we're very serious," he said. "I always tell my students that to be a good Aken one needs to be a respectful and knowledgeable person first."

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