The globalism hip hop is a phenomenon that has been studied from many different angles, and it can be pretty tough to encapsulate in one book. Narrowing the focus can certainly help, and in the case of this book, the field of linguistics provides us with an interesting entry point. The collection, edited by Marina Terkourafi, Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, explores how different languages interact with each other within the context of hip hop, and what this can tell us about the greater culture.

While the book promises to explore “global hip hop,” the majority of the book focuses on Europe, with the exception of one chapter on South Korea, one on Egypt, and two on the U.S. That said, there are still plenty of interesting discussions to read, many of which won’t be that familiar to an American audience. For example, unless you’ve spent time there or have studied modern Europe extensively, you might be surprised to learn about the substantial number of Turkish immigrants who have taken to hip hop in Germany, and the controversy surrounded their linguistic choices. The book can get pretty dry and academic, and therefore a little taxing to read at times, but the information contained within is fascinating, and with exception of the chapters dealing with the U.S., most of the information was new to me. Ideally, I would have liked the book to have included something about South America and more about Africa and Asia as well, mostly just to broaden the scope of the book so it felt more “global” than “Europe with a couple of exceptions.” I’m sure Terkourafi was just working with what she had, and maybe if this collection does well enough, we might get a second volume in which to explore more areas and the linguistic issues they’re facing within hip hop. The inclusion of the U.S. is an interesting choice, and I’m not quite sure of how the last chapter in particular dialogues with the rest of the book, but as a stand alone article, I’m fascinated by it. In “‘She’s So Hood’: Ghetto Authenticity on the White Rapper Show,” by Cecelia Cutler, the reality show produced by Ego Trip is examined in terms of the linguistic choices made by the contestants. This particularly focuses on one contestant in particular who uses the “n” word, and all the different interpretations and implications that arise out of the situation. It was definitely the piece I had the most personally invested in, and would recommend it to everyone.

Languages of Global Hip Hop has it’s problems, the biggest being that it probably won’t appeal to a large audience, due to it’s style and tone, which at times can get a little tedious. However, I have to say I was presented with a lot of new perspectives, and it propelled me to think about some issues that I wasn’t aware of, and that’s always a good thing.