Background
Originating from youth cultures in the South Bronx during the late 1970s, the performative musical genre of hip-hop represents âa form of rhymed storytelling accompanied by highly rhythmic, electronically based musicâ (Rose, 1994, p. 2), one frequently portraying narrative experiences born from socioeconomic desperation, structural oppression, and other forms of perceived hardship (Flores, 2012; Neal, 1999). The social conditions lived by the first hip-hop artists were significant in shaping lyrical content. The South Bronx area of New York was known at the time as âAmericaâs Worst Slumâ (Price, 2006, p. 4) with Black and Latino communities facing âhigh rates of unemployment, extreme poverty, and other social structural barriers, such as a change from a manufacturing to a service-sector economy, along with urban renewal programs that pushed many black and Latinos from their residencesâ (Oware, 2015, p. 2). This situation was expediated by the construction of the Cross-Bronx Expressway (1948 and 1972), which resulted in the large-scale displacement of Blacks and Hispanics from razed neighborhoods into the South Bronx. Rose (1994, p. 33) explains how these displaced families were left with very little, and in particular with âfew city resources, fragmented leadership, and limited political powerâ.
From this understanding of the historical context it is apparent that the genre of hip-hop is a product of the non-mainstream and, owing to its origins, offers a performative space for those who perceive themselves to be, or wish to present themselves as being, on the outskirts of mainstream society. Rose (1994, p. 2) affirms the connections between race , culture, and status within society by describing how hip-hop represents a form of âblack cultural expression that prioritizes black voices from the margins of urban Americaâ. In fact, the emergence of hip-hop from this foundation, and in particular the rap element (the other three core elements being breakdancing, graffiti, and DJing) has led to it being termed as an âact of resistanceâ (Ibrahim, 1999, p. 355), one that allows artists to express sentiments of dissatisfaction and dissent on a global and local scale on a range of social and political issues. This is primarily because the emergence of the genre was an act of resistance in its own right.
Despite the somewhat humble beginnings foregrounded above, McLeod (1999, p. 316) documents how in 1988, almost 20 years after the first hip-hop record was released, âthe annual record sales of hip-hop music reached $100 millionâŚBy 1992, rap generated $400 million annuallyâŚThese estimates climbed to $700 million in annual revenues for rap in 1993â. The growth and expansion of the genre has continued and as of 2004 it was generating âover $10 billion per year and has moved beyond, its musical routes, transforming into a dominant and increasingly lucrative lifestyleâ (Watson, 2004, p. 1), and these numbers have continued to climb in the years since. While hip-hop music, and moreover, the hip-hop lifestyle have converged toward mainstream acceptance within popular culture, the identity performances of many artists and consumers remain aligned with its rebellious foundations.
Dissatisfaction and Dissent, Authenticity and Hip-hop Around the World
The young Black people involved in the establishment of the hip-hop genre were finding new ways to entertain themselves, but they remained under-represented, and their status as victims in the politics of abandonment (Chang, 2008) resulted in their new pastime becoming something more than merely a pastimeâit now carried the potential for a kind of cultural renewal based on active resistance to oppression. The movement grew and gathered momentum, and it became an important outlet for these disenfranchised youth, and provided an escape from the financial crisis that had overtaken their neighborhoods and had seen the disintegration of a range of social programs upon which they and their families had come to depend (Persaud, 2011).
The inextricable relationship with its origins saw hip-hop establish itself as a vehicle for expressions of dissatisfaction and dissent as a resistance practice. Variations on these expressions form the central theme of this volume, and we see them as being closely related, although subtly different in the sense that dissatisfaction is often articulated in less overt and emphatic terms than clearly articulated political dissent which can verge on moral outrage (Maira, 2000). What we firmly believe, however, and what is shown throughout the chapters in this volume, is that underpinning hip-hop production in a range of global locations is resistance to oppression in the form of artist, consumer and onlooker expressions of dissatisfaction and dissent. These expressions can range from issues such as migration (see Ross, this volume), to racism/racialization (see Rivers, this volume; Westinen, this volume), to identity construction as resistance (see Gilbers, this volume), to hegemonic postcolonial ideologies (see Nascimento, this volume), among many others.
As the popularity of the genre as a whole continued to grow within the US, it also began to spread to other parts of the world where it was taken up by artists in both underground and mainstream contextsâalthough inevitably the underground and independent artists came first. Abe (2009, p. 264) states that âone unique feature of hip-hop culture has been its ability to translate across cultural, racial, geographic and generational boundariesâ, and evidence of this can be found in the chapters exhibited in the present volume from Germany, Mongolia , Brazil, Finland , Australia , and the US hip-hop heartland. Morgan (2001) takes this sentiment further in claiming that the lyrical content of hip-hop music carries the ability to transcend not only national boundaries, but also linguistic boundaries. When this occurs, the result is the formation of international hip-hop varieties in new locations, where marginalized people are able to adopt hip-hop and use it as their own act of resistance and means of expressing dissatisfaction and dissent.
In appropriating hip-hop as an act of resistance and expression of dissatisfaction and dissent toward the social and political status quo, the genre takes on distinctly local features in a process of establishing authenticity. Within hip-hop, authenticity can be developed in numerous ways including through the use of slang, accent, and phonological features specific to the culture, in addition to reference to cultural markers such as place names, and abbreviations. Further to this, and perhaps more importantly for the current volume, local appropriation can take the form of an engagement with local, social, cultural, and political issues or agendas.
At the core of the concept of authenticity in hip-hop is the idea that artists should remain true to their roots, and should not utilize their cultural expression as a vehicle for presenting themselves as someone or something they are authentically not (Rickford & Rickford, 2000). This is further emphasized in the ideal of âkeepinâ it realâ, which is often quoted in reference to hip-hop artists emphasizing the necessity of authenticity. However, such a definition tends to place the onus on the artist as an individual. This is problematic, as Vygotsky (1986) and others have argued that it is through dialogue with others, and not merely the self, that human language and psychology can be fully understood. Thus, for the notion of authenticity to truly be understood and realized, specific social contexts need to be engaged with. The authenticity of the individual needs to be seen as part of broader âlocal horizons of significanceâ (Taylor, 1991, p. 39) that hold local relevance, but can also be characterized by their interconnectedness with the wider world.
The incorporation of these âhorizons of significanceâ led Pennycook and Mitchell (2009) to the use of the term âglobal hip-hopsâ, whereby they highlight their belief that the localization of hip-hop is not merely a result of global hip-hop (i.e. US hip-hop) taking on local characteristics. Rather, the hip-hops that develop in differing global locations have âalways been localâ (Pennycook & Mitchell, 2009, p. 30). The authors go on to suggest that âGlobal Hip-Hops can thus be highly critical of dominant themes in global hip-hop, in particular, features of violence, consumerism, and misogyny, especially when confronted by very different local conditionsâ (p. 30). Themes such as these can be readily found in samples of US hip-hop (see e.g. Adams & Fuller, 2006; Rebollo-Gil & Moras, 2012), especially in the material of mainstream acts. In these âlocal conditionsâ, artists find the foundation of appropriation and the themes adopted that reflect localized sociocultural and sociopolitical conditions. This has also been noted by Osumare (2001) who introduced the term âconnective marginalitiesâ to refer to the fact that although hip-hop emerged from Black cultural expression in the US, other nations that have experienced similarities in political history and oppression are also characterized by similar cultural dynamics, and thus the connection with hip-hop culture is formed. The idea of connective marginalities includes the full range of culture, class, historical oppression, and generational dissatisfaction, and rap music adopts this to a large degree in addressing local issues as well as extant global sociopolitical inequalities.
The present volume acknowledges the roots of the hip-hop genre, and in particular rap music , in the disenfranchised urban youth of the US who established it as a tool for expression of dissatisfaction and dissent toward their lived realities. However, the volume also provides evidence of the spread of hip-hop to other global locations where the music produced is still very often, and strongly, underpinned by artistsâ expressions of dissatisfaction and dissent on a range of sociopolitical issues. Further, the notion of authenticity in hip-hop is real, and manifests in the chapters of this volume through the specific local contexts and issues addressed in the creation of the music and in the dissatisfaction and dissent expressed.
Overview of the Volume
Through a common focus on the performative musical genre of hip-hop, the nine chapters presented in this volume shed light on its adoption as a vehicle and target for the expression of dissatisfaction and dissent in relation to political and social oppression, injustice, and ideology. Also discussed are the actual or potential implications of these expressions for a range of groups including producers,...