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Economies of Resistance

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Rap Beyond Resistance

Part of the book series: Pop Music, Culture and Identity ((PMCI))

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Abstract

While many journalists and scholars have praised youth cultural resistance, little effort has been made towards understanding how the economies of culture are related to narratives of opposition. Time spent in Moroccan home music studios, conversations with rappers, and following one of them on the journey to get his music registered at the Moroccan Copyright Office were invaluable in unravelling the intricacies of royalties. This chapter argues that the authority’s ineptitude with regard to paying royalties is yet another tool to control culture. It also shows how rappers have tried to overcome this issue, including by enabling monetization through digital media networks such as iTunes and YouTube. In this sense, digital media may play an important role in disseminating artists’ work as well as its monetization. However, social media revenues are not available to everyone. Weaving a network of solidarity becomes an important factor in overcoming economic hurdles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deparment of Digital Humanities, King’s College London, London, UK

    Cristina Moreno Almeida

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  1. Cristina Moreno Almeida
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Correspondence to Cristina Moreno Almeida .

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Moreno Almeida, C. (2017). Economies of Resistance. In: Rap Beyond Resistance. Pop Music, Culture and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60183-0_6

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