The role of rap in countering stereotypes of masculinities of afrodescendant men : a qualitative investigation in French-Speaking parts of Belgium

Abstract

First, this paper will review literature on masculinities and most specifically, described one of the main framework in masculinity studies nowadays, which is based on Connell’s (2005) work on hegemonic masculinities. In this framework, Connell (2005) offered an approach of masculinities that allows to understand the reproduction of social domination through the legitimation and stigmatisation of practices that construct masculinities. The conception of masculinities she proposed is based on an intersectional approach, and the legitimation and stigmatisation of masculinities rely not only on gender but also on other social elements such as race, class or sexual orientation (Connell, 2005). Hence, this paper will afterwards review the specificities of the stigmatisation of masculinities of afrodescendant men through stereotypes. The role of the colonial ideology on the emergence of these stereotypes and the specific case of Belgium in relation to colonisation will be briefly discussed. Then I will present a very short definition of rap, and I will continue with the issues of the commercialisation of this music, and how scholars relate it to the stereotypical masculinities of afrodescendant men in rap. I will also consider the role of record labels in highlighting these masculinities in rap music (Rose, 2008). This last point will indeed be one of the themes addressed in the problematisation: what is the relationship of afrodescendant rappers in Belgium to the commercial demands of the labels and how does this impact, or not, on the representation of their masculinities in rap music? Subsequently, this paper will review the notion of authenticity, which is said to be an important element in the rap world (Oware, 2016). Based on the literature, two meanings that this term covers will be considered. First, authenticity refers to a genre convention, a type of rap : for some, authentic rap is rap as it is without the influences of commercialisation, is a rather committed rap (Belle, 2014). For others, authenticity refers to the codes of more commercial rap, which promotes an image of black men based on stereotypes held by white majority toward afrodescendant masculinities (Freitas, 2011; Rose, 2008). Second, authenticity refers to the correspondence between the narratives that rappers share through their raps and their actual experiences and lives (Freitas, 2011; Randolph, 2006; Rose, 2008). I propose to examine the importance of authenticity for the rappers involved in my research. Indeed, this will allow us to consider the influence of the notion of authenticity on the masculinities represented in their rap: are these influenced by the conventions of the musical genre? Are they influenced by an emphasis on consistency between the narratives of their raps and their lives? The fieldwork for this research was based on qualitative methods of data collection and data analysis. More precisely, online interviews with 4 afrodescendant rappers, as well as on the lyrics of their raps and music videos that are available with some of their songs, were analysed following a qualitative thematic analysis (Bengtsson & Andersen, 2020; Van Campenhoudt & Quivy, 2011).