Global Story. Issue 2 (1st September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: LeVine, Mark
• Is Part Of: Cyber Orient. Volume 7:Issue 2(2013)
• Page Start: 109
• Page End: 125
• Publication Date: 2014-09-01
• Subjects: Internet -- mobile phones -- satellite TV -- cultural studies -- Middle East -- music -- Arab Spring -- rap music; Digital media -- Middle East -- Periodicals; Digital media -- Arab countries -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Middle East -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Arab countries -- Periodicals; Middle East -- Civilization -- Periodicals; 306.0956
• DOI: 10.1002/j.cyo2.20130702.0006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1804-3194

Abstract

Abstract: Hiphop has long been described as a quintessentially globalized music. Similarly, it has been understood as a unique window into the lives', fears and dreams of young people across the Arab and larger Muslim worlds for most of the post-September 11 era. Since young Tunisians revolted against long time dictator Zine El Abidin Ben Ali to the music of El General (or so the story goes), the music has been considered equally central to understanding the dynamics underlying the revolutionary upheavals that have shaken the Arab world during the last three years. This article reviews the history of hiphop across the region and attempts to provide a theoretical grounding for the role of artistic production in the revolutions using the work of Frankfurt School theoreticians Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin on the production, circulation and consumption of culture.