Leiden University Student Repository

Soycengiz, Selin (2023)

High Hopes for Hip Hop: Hip hop as a counter narrative against the forced criminal narrative of African American men in the United States of America

Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)

This paper explores the cultural relevance of hip-hop music in understanding and analyzing the complex social, political, and cultural issues affecting African American men in America. Focusing on the recognition of hip-hop as a legitimate form of culture, it investigates how this art form prioritizes the voices of the oppressed, providing a window for outsiders to grasp the lived experiences of black life. By examining the concepts of double consciousness and structural violence, as theorized by W.E.B. Du Bois and Fanon, the paper delves into the personal and individual complexities experienced by African American men. It further explores the role of the mass incarceration of African American men as a result of the War on Drugs, emphasizing how this perpetuates a forced criminal narrative. Finally, it addresses the role of racial discourse in the critique of violent rap music and its impact on the perpetuation of the criminal narrative.

hip hop

criminal narrative

mass incarceration

race

structural violence

War on Drugs

USA

double consciousness

African American men

Author

Soycengiz, Selin

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Supervisors

Jansen, J.
Boog, I.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en