"Of course we listen to American rap," said Meder Kadyrov, also known as L'zeep, who, at 22, is one of the self-described "dinosaurs" of the scene and a judge at the Freestyle League. "We hear all about gangsters and violence. ... But in Kyrgyzstan we have a different kind of situation, and a different kind of people."

Politically, the views expressed at the Freestyle League are middle-of-the-road for Kyrgyzstan: national pride, calls for unity, and contempt for a widely abhorred political class. When the winning rapper - a mop-headed teenager in a black vinyl jacket and Ray-Bans performing under the name Willi - lets loose a riff on "dirty politicians robbing our country," it scarcely drew a reaction from the crowd.

To the extent there is political rap in Kyrgyzstan, L'zeep wrote one of its anthems. In 2008, he was watching parliamentary debate on TV. "It was just ridiculous, how ignorant these people were," he said. "And so I wrote this song."

"Patriot" is a vigorous denunciation of the elite that came to power in the Tulip Revolution of 2005: "To hell with your tulips, screw the revolutions / No one even follows the laws of the constitution." L'zeep combined his pessimistic verses with an optimistic chorus: "Rise up from your knees / Don't fall my people / Because there's folks like me / And I'm a patriot."

In April 2010, after another uprising caused Kurmanbek Bakiyev's administration to collapse, someone took "Patriot" and made a video for it on YouTube using images of the latest rebellion. In those heady days, the clip became a brief sensation.

These days L'zeep says he still feels disdain for the country's politicians. But he thinks the country needs a positive message. "If I wrote the song now, I would speak to the people and tell them they need to believe in something, they need to believe in a better future. I would say, 'You need to love your city and your country,'" he said.

As a city, Bishkek is predominantly Russian-speaking. Though Kyrgyz-language rappers are a minority, there are performers who drop rhymes in the state language.

Double time specialist K.A., speaking at the Freestyle League after a rapid-fire guest performance, is one. "I listen to American, Russian, and Kyrgyz rap. I choose to rap in Kyrgyz," he said, "not out of chauvinism, but because I want to raise up our language and show that it has depth."

There's little that is glamorous about the scene. With music piracy universal, few earn money recording tracks, which are posted on the Internet as soon as they are released. L'zeep works in the Department of Fire Safety; of the two main members of LeeMitT, one works construction and the other is unemployed.

But in a way that is inspiring for a society where young people often feel disempowered: these rappers are building a community where they are the ones speaking and being heard. "I used to listen to American rap - 50 Cent, Eminem, you know?" said Chernetsov, the organizer of the Freestyle League. "But now we want to have our own. We want to have something for ourselves that we can understand."

This article originally appeared at EurasiaNet.org, an Atlantic partner site.