Linguistic techniques of the self: The intertextual language of racial empowerment in politically conscious Brazilian hip hop

This article describes the bodily aesthetics, patterns of consumption, and daily linguistic practices undertaken by hip-hop affiliated youth in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1990s. I argue that through their participation in politically conscious hip hop, poor male Brazilian youth attempt to racially transform their bodies into a form of ‘modern blackness.’ I focus, in particular, on the quoting of rap lyrics in daily conversation, a linguistic practice that offers audible evidence of one’s consumption of hip hop style. I suggest that linguistic strategies of racial empowerment constitute forms of ‘techniques of the self’ that allow speakers to manage the racial appearance of the body through an avoidance of the traits that are negatively associated with blackness in Brazil.

► I examine the practices of hip-hop affiliated youth in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
► I examine the quoting of rap lyrics in daily conversation.
► I find that Brazilian youth embrace a form of ‘modern blackness.