“Mi hijo sera presidente de este pinche país”: Chicano rap

and the politics of language choice

Cece Cutler Cecelia.Cutler@lehman.cuny.edu

NWAV 41 October 26, 2012

Globalization to Glocalization of hip-hop culture

•  English as language of rap in the US

•  Early 2000s, move towards rapping in local, indigenous languages and dialects i.e. (Alim 2009, Alim, Ibrahim and Pennycook 2009; Pennycook 2007 )

•  Bønder i kamp (rap in a northern, rural dialect of Norwegian) (Røyneland 2008)

•  Caparezza raps in Apulian dialect (Androutsopolous & Scholz 2003)

Research questions •  What linguistic choices are Chicano rappers

making and what is being signaled by those choices?

•  What stances are Chicano rappers taking in terms of identity, politics, and world view?

•  Are these stances connected to recent social and political events in the US?

2008 Interview with Akwid

Sergio: Some people argue that English is the language of rap, and that that is one of the reasons it's hard for a Spanish-language movement to really take off.

Francisco: I don't believe that.

(Cobo, Leila; Billboard Magazine, Sept. 6th, 2008, p. 31)

Chicano rap/“urban regional” 1990s - West coast acts like Cypress Hill, Kid Frost 2004 - Univision Music signed several Chicano rappers including Kinto

Sol, Akwid, and Jae-P 2008 - Kinto Sol and Jae-P were finalists in the Latin Music Awards in

the Latin rap/hip-hop album category. –  Spanish rap performed over beats infused with the sounds and melodies from

popular Mexican music styles such as banda, cumbia, norteño, etc. –  Low-rider, “cholo” culture; norteño/a vs. sureño/a rivalry (Mendoza-Denton) –  Themes: racial and ethnic pride, personal stories of struggle, references to

indigenous Mexican culture

2006-present – cult following in Japan

Chicano rap groups Group Origins Language of choice in

music Language of Website

Kinto Sol (Javier "DJ Payback" Garcia, Manuel "Skribe" Garcia, and Eduardo "El Chivo" Garcia)

immigrated from Iramuca to Milwaukee/Chicago

Spanish Spanish (some English) http://www.kintosol.com/

Akwid (Sergio Gomez and Francisco Gomez)

immigrated from Jiquilpan, Michoacán > S.Central LA

Spanish; some English Spanish http://akwid.com/

Jae-P (Juan Pablo Huerta) born in Los Angeles of parents from southern Mexico

Mostly Spanish with a few English words; some English tracks.

Spanish http://www.jae-p.com/site/cms.php?id_cms=8

Kemo the Blaxican Born in Los Angeles; of Mexican and African-American descent

Code-switching (Inter and intra-sententially)

English (with Bio available in Spanish) http://www.kemotheblaxican.com/

Methodology

•  Content, orthographic, and linguistic analysis of lyrics, YouTube viewer comments, and artists’ official websites – political and social stances – alternative orthographies –  language use, code-switching, stylization,

heteroglossia.

Corpus

Data type Description

Rap song lyrics 5 per artist = 20 songs

YouTube videos still and moving image; 5 per artist = 20 videos

Viewer comments 3,397 viewer comments (500-1100 per artist)

Articles in popular press mentioning rap groups (mainly Billboard, New Musical Express, New York Times) 186 articles

Lyrical Themes •  Alienation and confusion about identity. •  Chicanos as an up-and-coming social force. •  Pride in Mexican/Indigenous identities (“raza”

and “brown pride”) •  Problems facing Latinos, ie. alcoholic,

abusive fathers; poverty, police harassment… •  Hybridized identities; re-presentations of

Mexican identity

Mexicans as up-and-coming Jae-P (No soy de aqui, ni de allá)

Aun que hablo el idioma, No creas que ya la hice Para al gringo soy un wet back, Un pinche chiste me vale lo que dicen o piensen de mí Mi hijo sera presidente de este pinche país, El Latino hoy en dia no es un simple lava platos, Hey Loretta Sanchez quien te limpia tus zapatos

Though I speak the language, don’t think that I did it. Gringos think I’m a wet back, a sorry joke .I (don’t) care what people say or think about me. My son will be the president of this fucking country Latinos today aren’t just simple dishwashers. Hey Loretta Sanchez who cleans your shoes…

Posted in 2008 197,413 Views on 10/24/12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qu8dmmprO0

Viewer comments (n=199; M & F 13-17)

•  100% Wetback aqui_ •  tejanalover1001 8 months ago •  es una buena rola •  thetopoyiyo31 8 months ago •  esta chilla esta rolilla arriba_ mexico •  checopc 9 months ago •  jajaja when i whent to mexico an shet visit tha famila. then i when i was rappin to em

she like ester wey no sabe ablar jajaj i still_ hit tho •  duke505ify 9 months ago •  pri mero es tu colturam i_ segundo es comer. •  Jonathan Vazquez 9 months ago •  Este Guey_ es Racista pero tiene talento •  syleroo1 10 months ago •  como es racista?? por que_ habla de gringos? es la verdad abre los ojos! ellos son

los mas racistas! •  turomeoedgarcolombia in reply to syleroo1 10/23/12; http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=2qu8dmmprO0

Mexicans as victims but also inheritors of a great patrimony

Chorus A los hijos del maíz A los hijos del maíz los hijos del maíz Los han hecho sufrir Los han hecho sufrir y los quieren ver morir

(Ignorance, materialism, and racism) have made the children of the corn suffer… And they want to see them dead..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GaNTBdqi5A 540,065 Views 10/23/12

Overcoming parental alcoholism and abuse

siempre es lo mismo tener que soportar el mal del enemigo veo cosas raras buenas y malas me la paso en la calle pa’ evitar las batallas voy a jugar con mis amigos, (son …) igual y esten pasando por lo mismo pero yo no les cuento nada igual y en la escuela se rian a carcajadas.

(coro) Por borracho perdí yo a mi hijo y a mi esposa que tanto adoraba Yo les quiero pedir a los padres que no le hagan un mal a sus hijos.

Akwid, La Novela (ft. Voces del Rancho)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qyr13WLJ4U 764,358 Views 10/24/12

All Comments (328)

Bonito Fuera que en estos Tiempos las Mujeres se fueran asi como en el video... Ahora no_ se la complican solamente nos corren... U.U Lt7Leon 4 days ago Akwid_ ♥ Jazmin Garcia 2 weeks ago Story_ Of My Life. S1LV3RAD069NL 2 weeks ago Muy ciertoo :( gracias a dios no pase por esto pero al oir esta cancion me pongo triste por k_ se ke hay muchos niños y madres sufriendo por el vicioo del alcohol k ellos no tienen la culpa Dios padre cuida y protege a estos niños!! lumidepera2pac7 2 weeks ago Real.. Akwid speaks truth_ darkoduarte 3 weeks ago True_ shit story of my life bver35 1 month ago Pura pinxe_ verdd PTM!!! neniitha azolog 1 month ago in playlist Más videos de AkwidVEVO THIS SHIT WENT_ HARD...INSTANT FAVORITE!!! cylon74 1 month ago

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=6Qyr13WLJ4U

Hybridized Identities •  Kemo the Blaxican (El

Negocio)

•  …from the girl that walked in with the achin’ heart and the world fucked up, ‘bout to fall apart, it ain’t a game, but a ( ) el enemigo dispara before you start ay cabrón ya llegó el negrito de los angelito with my people every body come on hecha un grito I’m gonna do it ‘til ya feelin it ya te a dicho…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExcPYDxIjb4&feature=related 270,122 Views 10/24/12

All Comments (179)

im a JAPXICAN!!_ XD sayuking12 1 year ago 24 @sayuking12 ay cabron, un japones mexicano, i_ like it saulsmith21 in reply to sayuking12 (Show the comment) 1 year ago 13 Dude that's an_ awesome combo :P SAVAGEDAWG23 in reply to sayuking12 (Show the comment) 4 months ago Are you kidding me!_ Thats so COOL! Chaibiskut19 in reply to sayuking12 (Show the comment) 3 weeks ago @bigfour35 No the guy from Cypress is Sen Dog. Kemo is from_ the Delinquent Habits FdG69 1 year ago Taka sobie_ fajna moja ulubiona pioseneczka:))) JDLMO 1 year ago no_ widze że w Polsce też niektórzy znają, pozdro :D. dansol55 in reply to JDLMO (Show the comment) 1 year ago respect from Romania !_ 07bufu 1 year ago 10 respect from_ Romania 07bufu 1 year ago 3 Mexicoooooooooooo respect from here, Romania!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_ dreacul 1 year ago 14 I_ like the funky trumpits....neva been to Mexica but I sure will once I get a chance. MrRussianSamurai 1 year ago I like the funky_ trumpits.... MrRussianSamurai 1 year ago

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=ExcPYDxIjb4

Language use in YouTube viewer comments (N=3,397)

96% 87%

71%

47%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Kinto Sol Akwid Jae-P Kemo the Blaxican

Spanish

English

Eng/Sp CS

Language use in song lyrics Artist Song lyrics Language of viewer

comments Akwid 100% Spanish 87% Spanish (N=936)

10% English 4% Mixed Eng./Sp.

Kinto Sol 100% Spanish 96% Spanish (N=1,196) 3% English 1% Mixed Eng./Sp.

Jae-P Spanish with superficial English loans (e.g. “wetback” or “hey”)

71% Spanish (N=763) 24% English 5% Mixed Eng./Sp.

Kemo the Blaxican English verses, Spanish chorus; mixed English and Spanish verses

47% Spanish (N=503) 48% English 4% Mixed

Alternative orthographies A ESOS ENVIDIOSOS K NO MAS S LA PASAN CRITIKANDO AY PASAR LOS POR LA VERGA_ Marcos Hernandez 2 weeks ago (10/23/12) http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=SehIDqSTqlA

esta rola les queda ala gente bibora y criticona.......k no tienen nada k aser k chingar su madre_ ...dise la berdad.....akwid......t.k.m...-.....ers genial......♥...=) theyesica95 3 months ago (10/23/12) http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=SehIDqSTqlA

Coded language?

•  masii sii kriitiikaran tu fo0rma de vestiir y de camiinar siin darsee kuenta ko0mo0 so0n_ lo0s pu... vastardo0zZ so0lo0 te kriitiikaan a tii y e ello0s kiien lo0s criitiikara :/

•  maria notaro 2 weeks ago

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=SehIDqSTqlA 10/24/2012

Social forces

•  2006: millions demonstrate across the country against a proposed law to raise penalties for illegal immigration and classify illegal immigrants and their anyone who helped them enter to stay in the US as felons.

•  2010-11: Four U.S. states (Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina) passed so-called “show me your papers” legislation.

•  2011: Arizona lawmakers passed a bill giving unilateral power to the state superintendent of schools to abolish ethnic studies classes. (Thanks Norma!)

Conclusions

•  20 songs > 8,598,085 views from 2007-12 as a strong indication that there is an audience for rap in Spanish and for messages that bespeak the Chicano experience.

•  Use of Spanish ties into global trends towards the use of local languages and dialects (glocalization); renewed pride in heritage languages.

•  Confronts hegemonic position of English in US society and in US rap music.

•  Suggests that anti-immigrant legislation gets passed may play a role in the hardening of ethnolinguistic boundaries (Giles 1979).

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Japanese Chicano Rappers

•  http://www.tofugu.com/2012/05/11/japanese-chicano-rappers/

•  See article above and comments following it.