‘The Tunisian rap scene: an intersectional analysis of women rappers’

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on Tunisian women rappers and shows how these artists have carved a space for themselves in the masculine musical genre of rap. This paper highlights the complexity of the issues depicted in female rappers’ songs. The article sheds light on the rappers: Medusa, Sabrina, Tuny Girl and Queen Nesrine. These female rappers defend women’s rights in their songs, while also stressing the multi-layeredness of Tunisian women’s lives and struggles. Their songs target multiple forms of marginalisation relating to sexism, poverty, corruption, classism, security, employment and law and justice. Despite their awareness of and resistance to male dominance, these rappers do not reduce Tunisian women’s problems to patriarchy. Rather, they emphasise the impact of the intersection between geopolitical and socio-economic issues on women and girls. This paper demonstrates that Tunisian women rappers use their art in order to expose women’s intersectional realities and the various challenges they face.