New spirituality, atheism, and authenticity in Finnish underground rap

Abstract

In this dissertation, I study the discourses of new spirituality, atheism, and authenticity in Finnish underground rap in the twenty-first century. The study maps the worldviews and audiovisual aesthetics of four Finnish artists, Ameeba, Khid, Julma Henri, and RPK (the latter two forming the duo Euro Crack), while exploring larger issues such as contemporary Western religious trends and the relationship between artists, their audience, and the music industry. The study’s data consist of field research (ten interviews, observation at concerts and in social media 2013–2017), and sonic and audiovisual material (recordings, three music videos). Theoretically, the study draws from religious studies theories on Western alternative spirituality and atheism, popular musicology, hip hop studies, and theories on musical authenticity. Methodologically, the study relies on ethnographic data collection, discourse analysis, and close reading. The study indicates that while the four Finnish rappers emphasize the individuality of their worldviews, their views reflect a mixture of ideas and traditions present in contemporary Western religious landscape, including non-dualistic Eastern religions, New Age environmentalism, and scientific atheism. The artists also outline an aesthetic for their music and underground rap more generally as defying rap music, pop music, and music industry norms, as independent music making, and as drawing from alternative electronic genres and deeper philosophical content. The artists construct authenticity by claiming that their music reflects their personal worldviews and aesthetic preferences. Further, the study increases understanding about the interrelationship of rap and postmodern worldviews and advances research on the connections between popular music and religion.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 20 citations exist upstream.