“Lasciatemi cantare la vita che fa un immigrato vero”: Images and Imagery of the Migration Experience in Italian Rap and Trap Lyrics
“Lasciatemi cantare la vita che fa un immigrato vero”: Images and Imagery of the Migration Experience in Italian Rap and Trap Lyrics

Author(s): Tommaso Sarti, Fabio Bertoni
Subject(s): Migration Studies
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Lasciatemi; cantare; immigrato; vero; images; imagery; migration; experience; Italian rap; trap lyrics; migrant; experience;
Summary/Abstract: Referring to migration as a total social phenomenon, Sayad (2004) underscores the need for a comprehensive assessment of the entirety of its components to grasp the migrant experience fully. Therefore, the production of music within specific genres, such as rap and its variations, constitutes an additional lens through which to analyse migration and its stratifications. Embracing the perspectives of cultural studies (Chambers, 1985; Parmar, 2010) and popular music studies (Kruse, 1993; Bennett, 2000; 2017), we can view both the production and consumption of music as «a means of cultural evocative, capable of narrating stories and embodying narratives of both individual and collective identities» (Midolo, 2008: 153). This expressive and representational potential permits to shape a non-representational space without borders (Frith, 1996).

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