Negu Gorriak was formed in 1990 by the brothers Fermin and Iñigo Muguruza with Kaki Arkarazo (former members of the band Kortatu).

They were completely committed to the political movement, starting with their choice to sing only in Euskera and continuing through their way of work and the message in their songs.

They performed their first concert in front of Herrera de la Mancha maximum security prison, leading to problems with the government.

[1] Negu Gorriak was formed at the end of the Basque Radical Rock movement of the 1980s, a genre most similar to punk.

[5] Thus, Negu Gorriak not only used their music to express ideas and opinions, they also educated the youth about the reality of the Basque Country situation and the restrictive policies of the new government.

On Negu Gorriak's album Esan Ozenki, the title of the track "Napartheid" (1990) is a pun cross-referencing the discrimination of the Basque culture and people in Navarre to the system of legalized racism in South Africa.

Moreover, connecting the apartheid in South Africa with the Spanish political system draws on themes of injustice, racism, and oppression.

All of these ideas allow the Basque people, like those of other regions throughout the world, use hip-hop music to make the connection between minority communities worldwide and the black experience in America.