Abstract
One of the consequences of the turmoil of 2003 was the revival of patriotic music in crisis since the emergence of new groups such as Nass El Ghiwane that changed the Moroccan music scene in the 1970s. This chapter examines patriotic rap songs, looking closely at lyrics as well as images to suggest that some rappers use them as tools for social control by the state because they endorse its agenda. It suggests that rap cannot and should not be essentialized as a culture of opposition, showing at the same time that rap can stage difficult conversations that challenge the overwhelming power of unquestioned patriotic narratives. Resistance appears here in two forms: in patriotic rappers resisting any attack on the status quo of the country, and in the will of others to resist the symbolic gain of patriotic narratives, to shed light on the country’s disenfranchised youth.
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Moreno Almeida, C. (2017). Rap and the Revival of Patriotism. In: Rap Beyond Resistance. Pop Music, Culture and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60183-0_3
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