Introduction

Abstract

This book examines the history of rap music expressed in Cape Verdean Kriolu in Portugal. Kriolu is a hybrid language spoken by all Cape Verdeans, either native to the archipelago or located in diasporic communities. It emerged in the late fifteenth century through Portuguese colonialism in West Africa and as a result of the Iberian expulsion of Jews and Muslims under the purview of the Spanish Inquisition. Drawing on fieldwork and archival research in Portugal and Cape Verde, this book offers an account of Kriolu rappers in Lisbon and their roles in challenging and potentially transforming metropolitan Portuguese identities. It extends Christian Joppke's interpretation of citizenship in terms of migration by making the encounter the theoretical focus. To this end, the book highlights Creole and grounds the theory in the unique experiences and histories of Cape Verdeans. Through its study of Kriolu rappers in Lisbon, the book illustrates the importance of creolization to identity formation and cultural production.