TURKISH RAP MUSIC WITHIN THE GRIP OF POPULAR CULTURE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY İREM ELBİR IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA AND CULTURAL STUDIES JUNE 2021 Approval of the thesis: TURKISH RAP MUSIC WITHIN THE GRIP OF POPULAR CULTURE submitted by İREM ELBİR in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Media and Cultural Studies, the Graduate School of Social Sciences of Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Yaşar KONDAKÇI Dean Graduate School of Social Sciences Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış ÇAKMUR Head of Department Department of Media and Cultural Studies Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış ÇAKMUR Supervisor Department of Media and Cultural Studies Examining Committee Members: Assist. Prof. Dr. Özgür AVCI (Head of the Examining Committee) Middle East Technical University Department of Political Science and Public Administration Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış ÇAKMUR (Supervisor) Middle East Technical University Department of Media and Cultural Studies Prof. Dr. Burak ÖZÇETİN Istanbul Bilgi University Department of Media PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name: İrem ELBİR Signature: iii ABSTRACT TURKISH RAP MUSIC WITHIN THE GRIP OF POPULAR CULTURE Elbir, İrem M.S., The Department of Media and Cultural Studies Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış ÇAKMUR June 2021, 166 pages Hip-hop has become one of the omnipresent and popular form of cultures in the present-day, which spreads across the world and the most known elements of this culture has always been rap music. This music becomes a way of expression to raise a voice against the social problems throughout its history. This study examines how the resistance in Turkish rap music has transformed within the grip of popular culture. In this context, the formation of Turkish rap music will be discussed and analyzed through the analysis of in-depth interviews. Before the analysis of the interviews, this thesis firstly attempts to focus on the history of hip-hop culture and rap music along with the link between the resistance and rap music. Then, it aims to discuss journey of rap music from Germany to Turkey. Finally, the study aims to reveal the different aspects of resistance in Turkish rap music by referring to the individual and social components of this music. This thesis also argues that resistance in Turkish rap music is ambiguous in terms of how it expresses itself. Keywords: hip-hop, rap music, resistance, music industry, rage iv ÖZ POPÜLER KÜLTÜR KISKACINDA TÜRKÇE RAP MÜZİK Elbir, İrem Yüksek Lisans, Medya ve Kültürel Çalışmalar Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış Çakmur Haziran 2021, 166 sayfa Hip-hop, günümüzde her yerde karşılaşabileceğimiz popüler kültürlerden biri haline geldi. Tüm dünyaya yayılan ve bu kültürün en bilinen unsuru ise her zaman rap müzik olmuştur. Bu müzik, tarihi boyunca toplumsal sorunlara karşı ses getirmenin bir ifade aracı olmuştur. Bu çalışma Türkçe rap müzikteki direnişin popüler kültür içerisinde nasıl dönüştüğünü incelemektedir. Bu bağlamda Türkçe rap müziğinin oluşumu derinlemesine görüşmeler yoluyla tartışılacak ve analiz edilecektir. Röportajların analizinden önce, bu tez öncelikle hip-hop kültürü ve rap müziğinin tarihine, direniş ve rap müzik arasındaki bağlantıya odaklanmaya çalışacaktır. Ardından, rap müziğin Almanya'dan Türkiye'ye geçiş sürecindeki yolculuğunu tartışmayı hedeflemektedir. Son olarak, bu çalışma Türkçe rap müzikteki direnişin farklı boyutlarını bu müziğin bireysel ve toplumsal bileşenlerine atıfta bulunarak ortaya çıkarmayı amaçlamaktadır. Ayrıca, bu tez Türkçe rap müzikteki direnişin kendini nasıl ifade ettiği açısından belirsiz olduğunu iddia etmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: hip-hop, rap müzik, direniş, müzik endüstrisi v Dedication To my family and my love vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Barış Çakmur for his constant support throughout the research. I wouldn’t make it without his valuable knowledge and advices. I learned a lot from him during my education. I would express my gratitude to Assist. Prof. Dr. Özgür Avcı who always appreciate and encourage his students. I am also thankful to other committee member Prof. Dr. Burak Özçetin for his valuable contribution to my work. I also owe a debt of gratitude Prof. Dr. Necmi Erdoğan for his immense knowledge. I would like to thank deeply Assist. Prof. İlgar Seyidov for his solidarity. I would like to express my gratitude to my friends and all the Whatsapp groups that make me motivated. Thank you Yasemin Demircan, Esra Güngör and Anıl Sayan for your friendship and patience and the members of room 321 became my mood booster during this crazy time. Special thanks to Nilce Bıçakcıoğlu who help me a lot to find my interviewees. I really thank my interviewees, without them I couldn’t succeed this. I am indebted to my family who have always supported me, despite all the difficulities. I also feel lucky to have my love. Lastly, I also thank all the radio stations that kept me awake while writing this thesis. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................. v DEDICATION ............................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………..…viii CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 2. HIP-HOP, RAP, AND PRACTICES OF RESISTANCE ...................................... 11 2.1“Hip is the knowledge, Hop is the movement.” ................................................ 11 2.2. Voicing Dissent in Popular Culture ................................................................ 15 2.2.1 Frankfurt School and Critical Cultural Theory ......................................... 19 2.2.2 “The Rediscovery of the Ideology”: The British Cultural Studies ............ 22 2.2.3. Music and Popular Culture ....................................................................... 28 2.3. The Link Between Hip-Hop and Resistance ................................................... 30 2.3.1 Hip-Hop as a Resistance Tool .................................................................. 30 2.3.2 Importance of Place in Hip-Hop Culture and Rap Music ......................... 42 3. A JOURNEY FROM KREUZBERG TO TURKEY ............................................. 46 3.1 Turkish Rap in Germany .................................................................................. 46 3.1.1 Appropriation of Turkish-German Rap Music in the Diaspora ................ 47 3.1.2 Government Sponsored Hip-Hop: The Youth Centres ............................. 51 3.1.3 The “Storytellers” Dilemma ...................................................................... 53 3.1.4 “Voice of The People and The Street”: Cartel and Islamic Force ............ 58 3.2 Impact of the Place in Hip-Hop Culture: Case of Kreuzberg .......................... 62 3.3 Historical Background of the Turkish Rap Music ........................................... 64 3.4 Turkish Rap Music in Turkey .......................................................................... 66 4. TURKISH RAP MUSIC AND HIP-HOP CULTURE: RAGE HAS NO ............ LIMITS! ...................................................................................................................... 73 viii 4.1 Locating Turkish Rap Music ............................................................................ 74 4.2 Hip-Hop That Leads Life ................................................................................. 83 4.3 Dissent Has No Limits! .................................................................................... 95 4.4 The Bermuda Triangle of Turkish Rap Music: Music Industry, Popular........ Culture and Authenticity Debate ...........................................................................104 4.5. “Flip The Scene Into Reverse”: Female MCs in Turkish Rap Music ........... 118 5. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................... 130 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 138 APPENDICES A. APPROVAL OF THE METU HUMAN SUBJECTS ETHICS COMMITTEE…………………………………………………………………...153 B. LIST OF INTERVIEWEES .......................................................................... 154 C. TURKISH SUMMARY/TÜRKÇE ÖZET ................................................... 156 D. THESIS PERMISSON FORM/ TEZ İZİN FORMU ................................... 165 ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION “Yo, hip-hop is a way of life. It ain’t a fad, it ain’t a trend. Not for those of us who are true to it.”1 Hip-hop has come to one of the omnipresent