Advertisement

“That was my truest voice”: Rap Identities Between Authenticity and Fame

  • Ana SobralEmail author
Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

This chapter looks at negotiations of identity in rap music, using the example of Somali-Canadian rapper K’naan. Rap is an established performative practice based on set formulas, characters, plots and frames. Additionally, and most importantly, rap relies on a subtle combination of words and images which are propagated via music videos, live performances, Internet platforms and so on. How did K’naan employ different media and modalities to construct his apparently authentic rapper persona? The chapter looks at a selection of (multimedial) performances that reflect K’naan’s transition from underground Somali rapper-poet to commercial Somali-American pop star.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Adrejewski, B.W. 2011. The Literary Culture of the Somali People. Journal of African Cultural Studies 23 (1): 9–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Akehurst, F.R.P., and Judith M. Davis, eds. 1995. A Handbook of the Troubadours. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
  3. Armstrong, Edward. 2004. Eminem’s Construction of Authenticity. Popular Music and Society 27 (3): 335–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Assmann, Aleida. 2012. Authenticity: The Signature of Western Exceptionalism. In Paradoxes of Authenticity: Studies on a Critical Concept, ed. Julia Straub, 33–50. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.Google Scholar
  5. Auslander, Philip. 2004. Performance Analysis and Popular Music: A Manifesto. Contemporary Theatre Review 14 (1): 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Bradley, Adam. 2009. Book of Rhymes. New York: Basic Civitas.Google Scholar
  7. Bradley, Adam, and Andrew Dubois. 2010. Introduction. In The Anthology of Rap, ed. Adam Bradley and Andrew Dubios, xxix–xivii. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
  8. Cloonan, Martin, and Reebee Garofalo, eds. 2003. Policing Pop. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
  9. Cloonan, Martin, and John Street. 1997. Politics and Popular Music: From Policing to Packaging. Parliamentary Affairs 50 (2): 223–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Collins, Victoria E. 2012. Dangerous Seas: Moral Panic and the Somali Pirate. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology 45 (1): 106–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Dyson, Michael Eric. 1996. Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  12. Forman, Murray. 2004. Represent: Race, Space and Place in Rap Music. In That’s the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader, ed. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal, 201–222. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  13. Gilroy, Paul. 1993. The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
  14. Hall, Stuart. 1997. Old and New Identities, Old and New Ethnicities. In Culture, Globalization and the World-System: Contemporary Conditions for the Representation of Identity, ed. Anthony D. King, 41–68. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
  15. Hall, Perry A. 2015. Soul to Soul: Hip Hop, Globalization, and Africa. In Globalization and Socio-Cultural Processes in Contemporary Africa, ed. Eunice N. Sahle, 229–273. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
  16. Hitchcock, Peter. 2007. Postcolonial Failure and the Politics of Nation. South Atlantic Quarterly 106 (4): 727–752.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Johnson, John William. 2006. Orality, Literacy, and Somali Oral Poetry. Journal of African Cultural Studies 18 (1): 119–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Johnson, Bruce, and Martin Cloonan. 2009. Dark Side of the Tune: Popular Music and Violence. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.Google Scholar
  19. K’naan. 2012. Censoring Myself for Success. The New York Times, December 8. Accessed April 4, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/opinion/sunday/knaan-on-censoring-himself-for-success.html.
  20. Keyes, Cheryl Lynette. 2002. Rap Music and Street Consciousness. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
  21. Kitwana, Bakari. 2004. The Challenge of Rap Music from Cultural Movement to Political Power. In That’s the Joint! The Hip-Hop Studies Reader, ed. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal, 341–350. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  22. Mitchell, Tony. 2001. Introduction: Another Root – Hip-Hop Outside the USA. In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, ed. Tony Mitchell, 1–38. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.Google Scholar
  23. Moore, Allan. 2002. Authenticity as Authentication. Popular Music 21 (2): 209–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Mudimbe, V.Y. 1988. The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy and the Order of Knowledge. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
  25. ———. 1994. The Idea of Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
  26. Negus, Keith. 1999. The Music Business and Rap: Between the Street and the Executive Suite. Cultural Studies 13: 488–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Osumare, Halifu. 2007. The Africanist Aesthetic in Global Hip-Hop: Power Moves. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Pallady, Richard. n.d. Haiti Earthquake of 2010. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed August 14, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/event/Haiti-earthquake-of-2010.
  29. Perry, Imani. 2004. Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. Durham: Duke University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Rose, Tricia. 1994. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.Google Scholar
  31. Smith, Caspar Llewellyn. 2010. K’naan: “My Success Is Their Success”. The Guardian, February 28. Accessed August 14, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/feb/28/knaan-interview.
  32. Straub, Julia, ed. 2012. Paradoxes of Authenticity: Studies on a Critical Concept. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.Google Scholar
  33. Taylor, Charles. 1991. The Ethics of Authenticity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
  34. Terkourafi, Marina. 2010. Introduction: A Fresh Look at Some Old Questions. In The Languages of Global Hip Hop, ed. Marina Terkourafi, 1–18. London: Continuum International Publishing.Google Scholar
  35. Williams, Raymond. 1983. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Rev. ed. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar

Music Videos

  1. K’naan. 2007. Introducing. YouTube, September 5. Accessed August 14, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG-hr1o8ZbQ.
  2. ———. 2009. Soobax. YouTube, January 12. Accessed August 15, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVY30buW4Q.
  3. ———. Wavin’ Flag (Celebration Mix). Universal Music. Accessed August 14, 2017. http://www.universal-music.de/knaan/videos/detail/video:226379/wavin-flag-celebration-mix.

Copyright information

© The Author(s) 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options