Politicization through self-education in hip-hop movement: experiences of activist rappers in Brazil

Abstract

This article presents results of research on the political education of rappers activists in Brazil. Rappers are composers and singers of rap music style, one of four elements of hip-hop, artistic and cultural movement that emerged in the ghettos of New York in the 1970s. Sometimes, these artists go beyond the boundaries of music and engage in care and political activities directed to populations of its neighborhoods and the urban periphery. Considering that these subjects generally live in precarious socioeconomic conditions, have troubled life stories and have low and medium levels of education, it is important to investigate how they form themselves politically. It is defended the existence of a self-education process in the scope of the hip-hop movement. Process that would contribute decisively to the political formation of rappers, based mainly, according to them, a) on listening to rap music, b) on the composition of his own rap and c) on the experiences lived in hip-hop movement. Music productions and political-cultural activities would promote significant moments of reflection on the social condition of blacks and the poor in Brazil. Through ethnographic research, materials were gathered coming from individual interviews, informal dialogues, musical lyrics and observations of activities and situations that participated rappers from the city of Marília-SP. Musical lyrics and interviews published on websites, magazines and documentaries composed a set of information about activism and political education of rappers from other Brazilian cities and regions.