Vulnerable Machos: The Globalization of Hip hop and Changing Gender Regimes in Israeli Rap

Abstract

Israeli rappers often feature vulnerability in their texts and performances. In so doing they deliberately challenge a long tradition of hyper-masculinity in both hip hop and Israeli culture. This strategic deviation, I claim, enables Israeli rappers to exhibit a sense of authenticity and hence to claim legitimate participation in the global field of hip hop which sacralizes the ethos of “being real.” In examining texts produced by two generations of Israeli rappers I will illuminate the negotiations whereby global stylistic tropes acquire original local meanings. It is argued that while cross-cultural dialogue has the capacity to destabilize gender regimes at the local level, new perceptions of masculinity generate artistic intertextuality that is the infrastructure of cultural globalization.