Decriminalising Rap Beat by Beat

Abstract

Rap music is frequently summoned to stand trial for glorifying violence, glamourising outlaw lifestyles and causing ‘crime’. Perceived as dangerous, rap is pursued and processed as such by the police, prosecutors and judges without interrogating the prejudicial assumptions that lead to its discriminatory suppression. Taking up two recurring questions in debates on rap – ‘isn't it violent’? ‘isn't it misogynistic’? – this chapter challenges stereotypical associations between rap music and ‘criminality’, reintroducing it instead as music to be appreciated against, beyond and outside law-enforcement narratives that criminalise rap, while normalising violence in other aspects of cultural and socio-political life.

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