Turkish rap in The Netherlands: Globalization, Diasporic Identity and Cultural Conservatism

Abstract

This research, first, looks at how rap music and hip-hop culture have become a significant means of imagination of diasporic identity in the Netherlands among Turks in terms of explorations mainly on globalism, multiculturalism and locality. Moreover, this project surveys the relations between Turkish rappers in the Netherlands and Islamophobia, and cultural conservatism, including moral and religious understandings toward the host society. In this context, notions of musical, cultural and national identity are interrogated through the analysis of hybridization in the context of the Turkish Diaspora, predominantly in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Secondly, it interrogates socio-political differences between Germany and the Netherlands in order to illustrate differentiations among rap scenes in both countries. The reason to compare Dutch scene with its counterpart is that the Turkish rap has begun to spread across other parts of the globe from this country. Information for the research is based on ethnographic data gathered through deep interviews and participant observer fieldwork among Dutch-Turks in the Netherlands.