“Can’t Tote No Gun but I’m Strapped Right Now”: Hip-Hop as Language and Refuge Amongst Low-Income Black Youth
Date
2022-05
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This project seeks to (1) highlight the importance of hip-hop/rap music in the lives of
low-income Black youth, (2) trace low-income Black youths’ internal processing of
hip-hop/rap music and (3) demonstrate the communicative potential of hip-hop/rap in
understanding the lived experiences of low-income Black youth. To gain insight on
low-income Black youths’ interaction with hip-hop, a select group of low-income
Black youth from the Riverside neighborhood in Wilmington, DE participated in an
online survey and semi-structured follow-up call pertaining to their hip-hop/rap
listening. The youths’ responses indicate that hip-hop is a vehicle for youth to (1)
identify and process their lived experiences and (2) engage in healthy emotional
regulation. In addition, lyrical hip-hop translations provided by youth, alongside
contemporary sociolinguistic framings of hip-hop language, reveal phenomenological
complexities in low-income Black youth’s lived experiences that are otherwise
ineffable. Centrally, the study connects the role of hip-hop among low-income Black
youth to its linguistic potential and offers hip-hop as a valuable tool for youth-centered
researchers and educators.
Description
Keywords
Hip-hop, Rap, Black youth, Wilmington, DE, Hip-hop nation language, YPAR