They Reminisce Over You II: Negotiating Identity, Citizenship, and Cultural Memory
Day and time: Friday (March 20) · 09:15–10:45
Location: Job Lounge
Format: Talk
Good Evening, I Am your White Friend, Negros Tou Moria: Athenian Hip-Hop’s Disruption of Hegemonic Visions of Greekness
Presented by: Ifigenia Kortesi
In 2015, Greece passed Law 4332, granting citizenship rights to children of immigrants born and/or raised in the country. This marked a turning point for second-generation youth who had long lacked legal recognition. Within a social climate often marked by exclusion, many of these young people—particularly those of African descent—turn to hip-hop as a medium to express their complex identities as Third Culture Kids (TCKs). This study examines how a second-generation African artist in Athens, Negros Tou Moria, has used hip-hop to articulate their experiences, challenge dominant narratives of Greekness, and assert both local and national belonging. One of the most prominent artists of his generation, examination of this case study illustrates how performances of Athens as a multiracial city function as acts of resistance and redefinition. Drawing on theories of identity, race, and cultural production from scholars such as Stuart Hall and Arjun Appadurai, this paper argues that Greek hip-hop not only rearticulates Greekness to include people of color but also foregrounds local, urban identity as central to claims of citizenship and belonging. The study highlights the role of music in negotiating racialized identities and spatial belonging in contemporary Greek society.
You Get Me?: Nottingham's Hidden Hip-Hop History
Presented by: Claude Money
"The core objective of my research is to recover the overlooked contributions that Nottingham has made towards Hip-Hop since its emergence in the UK in the early 1980s, perhaps even late 1970s. I aim to establish the significance of Nottingham’s Hip-Hop community within UK Hip-Hop culture and create an archive of oral history recordings and ephemera which can be referred to for further research by other scholars in the future."
Sonic Reclamation and Cultural Survival: Indigenous Sampling in Urdu Hip Hop as Anti-Colonial Method
Presented by: Hammad Rashid
As hip-hop continues to expand through global platforms and music markets, it reveals unequal flows of power and culture. In Pakistan, a country shaped by its colonial history and complex language politics, Urdu-language rappers and producers are increasingly drawing inspiration from traditional music, including folk melodies, Qawwali vocals, regional instruments, and classic Lollywood songs. This paper explores how these indigenous sounds are used not just for style, but as tools for reclaiming identity, resisting Western influence, and preserving local memory through music.
Case studies include Eva B’s Kana Yaari, Abid Brohi’s Sibbi Song, Adil Omar’s Transcendence, Iqbal’s Charha Lo, and my track Bookal De Wich Chor, which samples Punjabi folk material within an Urdu trap framework. I argue that sampling acts as a form of sonic repatriation and a way to bring cultural memory back into the present and reframe identity within hip-hop. Drawing on sound studies, postcolonial theory, and memory studies, I propose that this method offers new directions for understanding hip-hop’s global future. It challenges the dominance of Western aesthetics and opens space for localised, decolonial sound practices in the years to come.
