Natural Hazards Review "Now it time to bounce back": New Orleans Bounce Rap, Hurricane Katrina, and Re- Creating Sameness --Manuscript Draft-- Manuscript Number: Full Title: "Now it time to bounce back": New Orleans Bounce Rap, Hurricane Katrina, and Re- Creating Sameness Manuscript Region of Origin: UNITED STATES Article Type: Case Study Manuscript Classifications: 56: cultural preservation; 77: disaster recovery; 78: disaster resiliency; 79: disaster response; 82: disaster studies Funding Information: Abstract: Connections between place and cultural expressions are well established. This is true for New Orleans where multiple forms of music like jazz and brass bands are both unique to the city and representative of social conditions there. While there have been a number of studies on the importance of New Orleans musical practices, little attention has been paid to those native to the city's most disenfranchised areas. Bounce rap is music born of public housing projects, and is a patently local form of expression that gave voice to life in very poor areas of the city. Since Katrina, the landscape of black New Orleans—especially the projects—has changed significantly. Long-standing communities essential to bounce were dispersed by the storm. Little is known regarding what bounce demonstrates about perspectives of project life before and after Katrina. We examine this through a thematic content analysis of bounce rap music lyrics both before and after Hurricane Katrina. We discover that major themes within both temporal periods of lyrics reflect the production of a sense of sameness that reimagines communities shattered by disaster. Findings question current notions of disaster resilience. Corresponding Author: Natalie D Baker, PhD Virginia Commonwealth University New Orleans, LA UNITED STATES Corresponding Author E-Mail: [email protected] Order of Authors: Natalie D Baker, PhD Charis Kubrin, PhD Suggested Reviewers: James Kendra [email protected] He has expertise in the concept of sameness within the experience of disasters. Lori Peek, PhD [email protected] Dr. Peek has experience studying cultural aspects of disaster. Zenia Kish, PhD [email protected] Dr. Kish has written on rap music, New Orleans, and Hurricane Katrina. Opposed Reviewers: Matt Miller, PhD We worked with Miller in helping us identify sources of data for this paper. Additional Information: Question Response Is the article being considered for more No than one journal? The Natural Hazards Review does not review manuscripts that are being Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation submitted simultaneously to another organization or ASCE journal for publication. 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If yes, did you report on these in your cover letter? Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation Cover Letter Click here to download Cover Letter Cover Letter.docx Natalie D. Baker, PhD Assistant Professor L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs Program in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Virginia Commonwealth University Scherer Hall, Room 218 923 West Franklin Street, Box 842028 Richmond, Virginia 23284-2028 April 7, 2016 Drs. Kathleen Tierney and Nasim Uddin, Editors Natural Hazards Review Dear Drs. Tierney and Uddin: Please find enclosed a manuscript entitled: ‘“Now it time to bounce back”: New Orleans Bounce Rap, Hurricane Katrina, and Re-Creating Sameness. We are submitting the paper for consideration of publication in Natural Hazards Review and confirm it is not submitted or published elsewhere. Your journal was selected for due to its emphasis interdisciplinary studies of disaster. Our research was a thematic study of rap music lyrics, and makes a contribution to disaster research through its understanding of how local community is created and/or re-created through music in the context of both extreme institutional neglect and major catastrophe. As such, we felt the paper fit the journal’s major orientation. Thank you for your consideration. Please address all correspondence concerning this manuscript to the lead author, Dr. Natalie D. Baker through e-mail at [email protected]. Sincerely, Natalie D Baker, PhD Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript Now it time to bounce back submission - Natural Hazards Review 4-7-16.docx Now it time to bounce back 1 2 “Now it time to bounce back”: New Orleans Bounce Rap, Hurricane Katrina, and Re- 3 Creating Sameness 4 5 Natalie D Baker, PhD (corresponding author) 6 Assistant Professor 7 Virginia Commonwealth University 8 Charis E Kubrin, PhD 9 Professor 10 University of California, Irvine 11 12 13 14 15 Abstract 16 Connections between place and cultural expressions are well established. This is true for New Orleans 17 where multiple forms of music like jazz and brass bands are both unique to the city and representative of 18 social conditions there. While there have been a number of studies on the importance of New Orleans 19 musical practices, little attention has been paid to those native to the city’s most disenfranchised areas. 20 Bounce rap is music born of public housing projects, and is a patently local form of expression that gave 21 voice to life in very poor areas of the city. Since Katrina, the landscape of black New Orleans—especially 22 the projects—has changed significantly. Long-standing communities essential to bounce were dispersed 23 by the storm. Little is known regarding what bounce demonstrates about perspectives of project life 24 before and after Katrina. We examine this through a thematic content analysis of bounce rap music lyrics 25 both before and after Hurricane Katrina. We discover that major themes within both temporal periods of 26 lyrics reflect the production of a sense of sameness that reimagines communities shattered by disaster. 27 Findings question current notions of disaster resilience. 28 Keywords 29 Hurricane Katrina, Disaster Response, Bounce Rap, Thematic Analysis, Place-based Identity, Sameness 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 1 Now it time to bounce back 37 INTRODUCTION 38 “5th Ward Weebie, he back and we soldiers. I’m reppin’ New Orleans till the day 39 that I’m over. Mississippi people, y’all feel me where I’m at. Same shit, same 40 story, now it time to bounce back.” - Katrina Song (Fuck Katrina) – 5th Ward 41 Weebie 42 43 These lyrics from “Katrina Song” by New Orleans rapper 5th Ward Weebie tell two 44 stories. The line “I’m reppin’ New Orleans till the day that I’m over” demonstrates an 45 internalization of the city as part of the artist’s personal identity. And “same shit same story, now 46 it time to bounce back” constructs the disruptive experience of Katrina as nothing new. Implied 47 here the “we,” reflecting the community created within the song lyrics, is accustomed to struggle 48 and like always, the “soldiers” the artist refers to will go on. 49 Fifth Ward Weebie is a bounce rapper. Bounce, often referred to as project music, is a 50 sub-genre of rap that comes from New Orleans’ poor black neighborhoods.