“PAY ATTENTION, POLITICIANS, I AM THE KNIFE THAT RIPS YOUR SKIN”:

THE DAILY LIFE POLITICS AND THE BRAZILIAN RAPPERS

Abstract

This article analyses songs and positions (also to be found in their discourse, speeches, interviews, etc.) of Brazilian rappers, stressing mainly their sociopolitical dimension. Based on a wide definition of what is political, I try to show how these players’ cultural production can be thought as a critical counterpoint to prevailing values and practices in a certain historical context; in this instance, it is the rise of neoliberalism in Brazil, stressing the 1990s and the first decade of the 21th century.