Forging traditions: continuity and change in the mid 2000s Australian Hip-Hop scene

Negotiating Hip Hop persons: Authenticity, participation and Breaking in Perth, Western Australia

“…More broadly this article contributes to a body of scholarship, in North America (Alim et al, 2009; Forman and Neal, 2004; Harrison, 2009; Schloss, 2009) and beyond (Condry, 2006; Henderson, 2018; Maxwell, 2003; Pennycook and Mitchell, 2009; Rodger, 2019, 2020). Similar to the writings of Bennett (1999), Maxwell (2003), Condry (2006), Alim et al (2009) and Rodger (2019), my work conceptualises Hip Hop as a living, transformative and continually evolving social field, with a focus on how Hip Hop ‘persons’ are constituted within the Perth Breaking scene. And while I acknowledge that many Hip Hop aficionados and practitioners describe Hip Hop as a ‘culture’ or ‘community’, I aim to write against models that conceive of and represent Hip Hop in such reified forms.…”

“…One of the tensions that exists within the scholarly Hip Hop literature has been with the legitimacy of Hip Hop expressions, practices, peoples and their histories outside of the US. Australian Hip Hop scholars, such as Mitchell (2001, 2006, 2008), Maxwell (2003) and Rodger (2019, 2020), have demonstrated how Hip Hop can be understood as a social narrative which exists and is made authentic by those living across many places, not just within the US. Their research of Hip Hop music practitioners, within the Australian context, has shown how people have to continually work to construct and manage notions of authenticity and legitimate Hip Hop expression, no matter where they are geographically.…”

“…However, as both Rodger (2019, pp. 3–4) and Tiongson (2013, p. 2) have noted, for many Hip Hop scholars these global narratives of Hip Hop are problematic because they obscure Hip Hop's ‘rootedness’ in American and African‐American culture.…”

“…However, as both Rodger (2019, pp. 3–4) and Tiongson (2013, p. 2) have noted, for many Hip Hop scholars these global narratives of Hip Hop are problematic because they obscure Hip Hop's ‘rootedness’ in American and African‐American culture. There is, Rodger (2019, p. 4) writes, a disagreement in the scholarly literature regarding whether or not Hip Hop is a purely African American expressive form.…”

“…3–4) and Tiongson (2013, p. 2) have noted, for many Hip Hop scholars these global narratives of Hip Hop are problematic because they obscure Hip Hop's ‘rootedness’ in American and African‐American culture. There is, Rodger (2019, p. 4) writes, a disagreement in the scholarly literature regarding whether or not Hip Hop is a purely African American expressive form. There is a worry that by focusing on Hip Hop peoples and expressions outside of the US that we ignore African‐American critiques of appropriation and disenfranchisement.…”