Sampling Hip Hop and Making ‘Nóiz’: Transcultural Flows, Citizenship, and Identity in the Contestatory Space of Brazilian Hip Hop Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By David James McLaughlin, M.A. Graduate Program in Spanish and Portuguese The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Abril Trigo, Advisor Ana del Sarto Laura Podalsky Copyright by David James McLaughlin 2015 Abstract The dissertation examines how marginalized Brazilians use hip hop culture as a space in which to build community, demand citizenship and its associated benefits, and contest social, economic, racial, and national exclusion. Special emphasis is placed on how the Brazilian hip hop community uses rap music and visual culture and negotiates urban and digital space to achieve these goals and build connections to similar populations around the globe, taking advantage of increased connectivity through globalization. I also locate Brazilian hip hop in both Brazilian and Latin American musical, historical, and political contexts through a comparative theoretical framework that examines transculturation, antropofagia (cultural cannibalism), mestizaje, and sampling. Ultimately, with hip hop culture and rap music as spaces of contestation, I argue that hip hoppers connect globally to challenge traditional notions of nation and citizenship in an effort to access rights, increase visibility, and build community. ii Dedication To Sarah, who came with me and nearly died for this. To Julieta, who came back for us. To Helder Garmes, who picked us up, put us up, then flew at his own expense to make sure we were okay before our families arrived. To our families for coming to be with us. To Dr. Marco Aurélio Pellon for getting us home. To Viniscius, for inspiring Sarah to live again. To the hip hop community of São Paulo and of Brazil at large. And for Maude Cecilia. A song in your heart, you came out singing. Thank you, my love. iii Acknowledgments Zulu King Nino Brown and Nelsão Triunfo welcomed me to the Casa do Hip Hop in Diadema and have continued to be great inspirations. Derek Pardue suggested I meet Nino at the Casa, and I thank him greatly for that. Richard Gordon introduced me to Derek, and also to Key Sawao, who called her friend BBoy Brenu who then met me at the Casa my first time there. Muito obrigado pela ajuda e pela boa recepção. Abril Trigo has been an outstanding mentor and advisor, pushing me to develop my ideas, offering words of encouragement and focus, supporting me on every grant application, and easing back when I needed some serious headspace to heal. I have appreciated your guidance over these years and will continue to draw on it throughout my life and career. Laura Podalsky stuck with me when I needed someone to stick with me and helped me hone my writing and develop in many aspects of the field, most notably in film studies, music studies, and youth culture studies. Laura, thank you for always making time, for the great teaching and research opportunities, and for keeping tabs on Sarah and Maude. Ana del Sarto has offered important insights about my work that have and will continue to help me develop my research and future work. Her support both academically and personally has been invaluable and an important example for me. iv Richard Gordon’s spirit of collaboration, guidance, and support have always been an important factor in my continuing in these studies. His encouragement in going to conferences and introducing me to other scholars in Brazilian Studies, and in helping me connect broadly in São Paulo and Rio are much appreciated. I thank Fernando Unzueta, Lúcia Helena Costigan, Rebecca Haidt, Pedro Schact Pereira, Lisa Voigt, Terrell Morgan, John Grinstead, Ulysses Juan Zevallos, the late Maureen Ahern, the late Samuel Amell, Judy Manley, Melodie McGrothers, Susan Farquar, the late Melinda Robinson and the rest of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, as well as Carol Robison of the Center for Latin American Studies for the consistent support and encouragement throughout my MA and now through the PhD. Joanna Kukielka-Blaser of the Office of International Affairs was instrumental in my winning the Fulbright-Hays and I thank her for her dedication and support. My thanks also to Barry Shank in the Department of Comparative Studies, to Ryan Skinner of Ethnomusicology and African and African American Studies, and to Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Librarian Johanna Sellman for their encouragement. Thank you, Emerson Inácio da Silva at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) for hosting me during my research and offering on-the-ground direction. Thank you to the Fulbright Commision of Brazil for hosting me during my Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad grant and for helping assist us and our family during our hospitalization. Thank you, also, Dustin Salveson of the United States Department of State for your assistance during that time as well. v Josh Kun, Charles A. Perrone, and Christopher Dunn have inspired me through their work, dedication, and encouragement. In some ways, this project began in my undergraduate years at Ohio Wesleyan University. My thanks to Rebecca Steinitz for encouraging my initial scholarly investigations into rap and hip hop and to my undergraduate advisor Conrad Kent for encouraging me to follow my gut as a scholar and as a person. I have always appreciated that confidence. Sandra Harper, Patricia DeMarco, and Helmut Kremling were likewise encouraging and nurturing of my work and scholarly inclinations. Thank you all. Steven Hyland has been my academic older brother and is my great friend. He has offered excellent feedback and suggestions along the way and, always a few years ahead of me, has consistently shared insights and encouraged me from the first time we met in Abril’s Latin American Cultural Studies course. Thank you, brother. Alejandro Jacky and Elizabeth Bell have likewise been great friends in the field and outside of it, along with Katherine Parker-Horrigan from Folklore Studies. Thank you for the many hours of writing critique and all the support. I look forward to continuing our working group. The same to Justin Acome and Lindsay Bernhagen, my co-conspirators in the Popular Music Working Group at Ohio State. I look forward to our future collaborations in listening, reading, writing, and musicking. Many thanks to my other peers and friends from Ohio State and elsewhere, without whom I am not sure I would have made it to this point. Thank you Thaddeus Fortney, Rebecca Carte, Ryan Kowalski, Tom Stovicek, Ian Tippets, Christopher Dennis, Hugo García, Stephany Slaughter, Christopher “Crit” Minster, Kirt Komocki, Meghan vi Armstrong, Ryan Walker, Amy Walker, Maggie Harrison, Bryan Brookes, Lynn Healy, Jeff Courtright, Matt Barton, Ricardo “Zetta” Iazzetta, Mauricio Espinoza, Samuel Cruz, Stephen “Kip” Tobin, Steven Lownes, Augusto Rodrigues, erin trapp, Rachel Johnson, Ryan Sarni, Sarah Sarni, Phil Hampe, KaTanya Ingram, Luke Herren, John Quiroz, Alejandro Escalante, Greg Bober, Paul Levar, Dan Hammer, Dave Kaminski, and Ryan Kelly. You all have provided so much support during good times and bad. Much obliged. Much love. Um grande abraço. Of course the same applies to our families. My parents always encouraged us to pursue our interests and dreams, and gave us a place to make music, for me starting when I was two when my mom stuck me in front of the speaker, to which I latched on and in one way or another have never let go. Thank you, Mom. And thanks, Dad for sticking a guitar in my hands and for always being a constant source of guidance in times of stress or calm. My brother Joshua McLaughlin and my cousins Patrick Duplaga and Eli Cesaletti have been inspirations musically and otherwise. And to mis tíos Marie and Art Couture and my in-laws, Patty McLaughlin and Sharon, Jeff, and Brian Lowry, your consistent enthusiasm, support, friendship and nurturing have been much appreciated. My partner Sarah Lowry and I have had deep connections to both space and music from the beginning. She has always inspired me personally, emotionally, intellectually, musically, and professionally. She has seen this project through every step of the way, nearly dying in a manhole explosion that severely burned us in Rio de Janeiro, supporting me before and since then as we’ve worked to forge on. We’ve been through five advanced degrees together, and five serious illnesses and traumas. I am vii looking forward to getting to know you outside of those contexts as we shift into a new phase after almost eleven years together. Grad school sweethearts. As you would say, ever onward. Thank you for all your amazing work with Maude. She has brought us so much joy and is awakening us to insights and emotions we never imagined. Your nurture and wisdom have been a great guide for our family. Lastly, to Maude. You were born with a song in your heart and have shared your music with us. Thank you for your joy and light. viii Vita June 1997 ...................................................... North Olmsted High School 2001 ............................................................... B.A. Spanish, English, Ohio Wesleyan University 2006 ............................................................... M.A. Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University 2006 to present ............................................. Graduate Teaching Associate/Graduate Student, Department of Spanish and Portuguese,