Abstract
The article focuses on the complex and sometimes contradictory relationship between Roma youth and Czech rap music. During our long term involvement in the study of youth subcultures we noticed that in the Czech Republic, rap music does not serve primarily as a platform for the marginalized (Roma) groups.
Or, in other words, our main research question aims at exploring why Roma youth did not take rap as a vehicle for expression and, in consequence, what role does rap music play in their lives. The research is based on in-depth interviews with Czech rappers and activists, on content analysis of selected lyrics and on participant observation on different hip hop events.
The article is divided in three different sections. (1) First we are focusing on the attitudes towards Roma minority as expressed by the "white" (majority) rappers (in their lyrics and interviews). (2) The second part describes the situation of Roma rappers and their involvement in Czech rap music. In this part we explore the connection between rap music and political activism, especially the way activists and youth workers use hip hop and rap music when working with Roma youth. (3) Finally we analyze specific "incidents" within hip hop subculture that exemplify the racial tensions and often "anti-gypsy" attitudes of Czech rappers in particular and Czech society in general.
In Czech rap music the "Roma issue" is an invisible one. The majority of Czech rappers tend to express racist and xenophobic attitudes towards the Roma minority most often relying on stereotypes about the Roma ethnicity.
In our article we explore the power relations, the hierarchies within the Czech hip hop subculture, the role of gender and the different expectations that are placed on Roma rappers.