24 Bars to Kill: Hip Hop, Aspiration, and Japan's Social Margins

By Andrew B. Armstrong

Book Overview

The most clearly identifiable and popular form of Japanese hip-hop, "ghetto" or "gangsta" music has much in common with its corresponding American subgenres, including its portrayal of life on the margins, confrontational style, and aspirational "rags-to-riches" narratives. Contrary to depictions of an ethnically and economically homogeneous Japan, gangsta J-hop gives voice to the suffering, deprivation, and social exclusion experienced by many modern Japanese. 24 Bars to Kill offers a fascinating ethnographic account of this music as well as the subculture around it, showing how gangsta hip-hop arises from widespread dissatisfaction and malaise.

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1789202671
• ISBN13: 9781789202670
• Release Date: June 2019
• Publisher: Berghahn Books
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"