(Un)conscious (popular) underground: Restricted cultural production and underground rap music

•Rap music proves a worthy art form to examine Bourdieu's field of cultural production.•Popular underground rap artists blur line between restricted and large-scale production.•Content analysis finds underground lyrics are primarily misogynistic and violent.•Few references to politically/socially conscious themes vis-à-vis misogyny and violence.•Popular underground rappers make appeals to commercial labels and underground fans.

Alternative (or “underground”) rap music proves a worthy site for applying ideas associated with Bourdieu's field of cultural production. I examine how underground rap music blurs the boundaries of restricted and large-scale production, as represented by noncommercial and commercial rap respectively. Artists identified as “underground” deploy anti-corporate, politically-charged, and socially-conscious lyrics, which can be viewed as restricted production. However, these lyrical themes are relatively scarce compared to themes of misogyny and hyper-masculinity found in this sub-genre and predominately found in commercial rap. This study thus reveals that large-scale and restricted fields of production may intersect (Craig and Dubois, 2010, Elafros, 2013, Hitters and van de Kamp, 2010 and Sapiro, 2010). In this case, a symbiotic relationship may exist between major record companies and underground artists (Lena, 2006, Watkins, 2005 and Watts, 2012) that demands further analysis. Rappers’ habitus may inform and interact with rap music production, especially for “second-go-round” artists, compelling them to cooperate with commercial rap market imperatives (i.e., by using misogynistic and violent lyrics, as well as politically-oriented and socially-conscious rhymes) to maximize their appeal to both alternative rap consumers and large, mainstream record labels.