Northern Andean cosmology and Otavalan hip hop

Abstract

In this chapter I examine the persistence of Northern Andean cosmological and symbolic themes in contemporary musical production and praxis in Otavalo, Ecuador. My analysis centers on the musical sensibility of Otavalan hip hop group Los Nin and identifies the ways by which the “situated knowledge” that informs their musical composition, song lyrics, and performance style indexes cosmological tenets and symbolic patterns that appear as key structuring concepts in Otavalan society. In doing so I draw attention to the profound relevance of cosmology as an enduring mechanism for the political and cultural self-determination of contemporary Andean communities.

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