Roma youth in Czech rap music: stereotypes, objectification and ‘triple inauthenticity’

Abstract

The article examines the position of Roma youth in Czech rap music. We focus on the role of cultural translation of hip hop culture in general and rap music in particular and the accompanying notions of authenticity. The findings challenge the romantic notion of hip hop as a platform for oppressed marginal communities to express their lived experiences and opinions; rather, we analyze the invisibility and misrepresentation of the Roma in Czech rap music. Using qualitative research methods (in-depth interviews, discourse analysis of rap lyrics and participant observation at hip hop events) we first look at the attitudes of ‘white’ (majority) Czech rappers towards the Roma community. In the second part of the article, we focus on the Roma presence in Czech rap music, in particular on two case studies of Roma youth groups, as well as on the roles of youth workers and educators and their appropriation of hip hop as a form of Roma integration. Finally we discuss the threat of the burden of a ‘triple inauthenticity’ of Roma youth in Czech rap music.