Race, Class, and Place in the Origins of Techno and Rap Music

Abstract

While the connection between geographic space and art has been thoroughly examined in the case of rap music, the study of this relationship in the case of techno has not progressed beyond the assertion that machine-like techno music with minimal human presence reflected the industrial production which characterized automobile manufacturing in Detroit. However, this ignores the fact that many of the early pioneers of techno, including Juan Atkins and Derrick May, actually grew up outside the city, in the suburb of Belleville, Michigan. This stands in contrast to the story of the origins of rap music, with the musical form and its producers coming out of the South Bronx. This article compares historical accounts of the origins of techno and rap music to show how race interacted with place, as well as with social class, to produce two different musical styles. Using ideas presented by the anthropologist Mary Douglas in her book Purity and Danger, I explain the unique characteristics of the two musical styles as ritualistic attempts to preserve or create social order in the face of these conditions.

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