The Languages of Global Hip Hop

In the case of hip hop, the forces of top-down corporatization and bottom-up globalization are inextricably woven. This volume takes the view that hip hop should not be viewed with this dichotomous dynamic in mind and that this dynamic does not arise solely outside of the continental US. Close analysis of the facts reveals a much more complex situation in which market pressures, local (musical) traditions, linguistic and semiotic intelligibility, as well as each country's particular historico-political past conspire to yield new hybrid expressive genres.

This exciting collection looks at linguistic, cultural and economic aspects of hip hop in parallel and showcases a global scope. It engages with questions of code-switching, code-mixing, the minority language/regional dialect vs. standard dynamic, the discourse of political resistance, immigrant ideologies, youth and new language varieties and will be essential reading for graduates and researchers in sociolinguistics and discourse analysis.

RESEÑAS:

"This book is a feast not just for hip hop specialists but for all those interested in the interfaces between music, language and society. The chapters illustrate the diversity of contexts where this music is enjoyed, but also the common features found in the hip hop production of various cultures: the expression of both specific preoccupations and universal themes, the affirmation of identity and the opening up to the Other, the combination of local and global outlooks. Above all they offer analyses of how the choice and manipulation of language(s) can serve to advance these ends. Thanks to the range of materials studied (Norway, Egypt, Cyprus, South Korea and more) and the detail provided in the individual analyses, the book represents a key contribution to work in this fascinating field, and will be essential reading for future research" (Abdelali Bentahila, Eirlys Davies,Abdemalek Essaadi Universitiy, Tanger, Morocco).

CONTENIDO:

Notes on Contributors

Introduction: A Fresh Look at Some Old Questions (Marina Terkourafi)
1. Multilingualism, Ethnicity, and Genre: The Case of German Hip Hop (Jannis Androutsopoulos)
2. Kiff my zikmu: Symbolic Dimensions of Arabic, English and Verlan in French Rap Texts (Samira Hassa)
3. "We ain?t terrorists but we droppin? bombs": Language Use and Localization in Egyptian Hip Hop (Angela Williams)
4. Roma Rap and the Black Train: Minority Voices in Hungarian Hip Hop (Sarah Simeziane)
5. Empowerment Through Taboo: Probing the Sociolinguistic Parameters of German Gangsta Rap Lyrics (John Littlejohn, Mike Putnam)
6. Glocalizing "Keepin? it Real": South Korean Hip Hop Playas (Jamie Shinhee Lee)
7. From American Form to Greek Performance: The Global Hip Hop Poetics and Politics of the Imiskoumbria (Frank Hess)
8. Keeping it Native (?): The Conflicts and Contradictions of Cypriot Hip-Hop (Evros Stylianou)
9. Hip-hop, Ethnicity and Linguistic Practice in Rural and Urban Norway (Endre Brunstad, Unn Røyneland, Toril Opsahl)
10. From Chi-Town to the Dirty-Dirty: Regional Identity Markers in U.S. Hip Hop (Jennifer Cramer, Jill Hallett)
11. Realkeepen: Anglicisms in the German Hip-Hop Community (Matt Garley)
12. "She?s so hood": Ghetto Authenticity on the White Rapper Show (Cecelia Cutler)

Glossary of Hip Hop Terms
Index