Between Rebellion and the Spectacle: Analysis of the Songs of the Hip-Hoppers of Bogotá

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the lyrics of the songs of hip-hoppers from Bogotá. Such analysis privileges the way such songs are staged, as well as the tensions that emerge between their proposal of social mobilization and the show. In effect, the spectacle is constituted at the same time, in a tool of mobilization, as in an obstacle that deactivates the hip-hoppers’ discourse. There are three key narrative axes: the presentation of street life; the critique of social order; and the memory of hip-hop itself in Bogotá. Through these narrative strategies, young people build a representation of themselves, their reality, and their work.