Call for Papers: The Brazil Issue Words Beats & Life: Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture Hip-hop has grown into a multilingual, multiethnic, intergenerational, global yet localized and regional collection of cultural expressions. In this global hip-hop reality, few scenes are bigger than Brazil. Since the early 90s, Brazilian hip-hop has had a significant musical presence in the country, especially in cities like Rio de Janeiro and S�o Paulo, where in the favelas colorful graffiti decorates every spare surface and hip-hop beats dominate the soundscape. Like the first artists out of New York City, hip-hop in Brazil was born out of 1980s favela street parties, where DJs played the latest American funk and soul records to largely Afro-Brazilian crowds and young people began rapping as a way to express the economic and social problems of their neighborhoods. Today, many celebrate Brazilian hip-hop as the antithesis of the multi-million dollar industry of the United States. And yet, while an important segment of Brazil's hip-hop scene continues to emphasize socially conscious messages and favela realism (especially in S�o Paulo), hip-hop has also diversified and spread across the country. While Rio de Janeiro has become known for baile funk's party style, artists (which now increasingly include women as well) in Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Salvador and other cities have experimented with various musical styles including Afro-beat, reggae, samba, and electronic to create new sounds, dances, artwork, and movements. This special issue of Words Beats & Life aims to represent the vast diversity of hip-hop expressions in Brazil as well as the unique and significant history of thiscountrywide phenomena. We seek well-researched essays, between 3,000-8,000 words including citations, pertaining to hip-hop and hip-hop related movements in Brazil. We are also soliciting personal essays, book reviews, interviews, artwork, poetry, and photography for the issue. Due date: April 15, 2014. Please send all inquires to guest editor Melissa Castillo-Garsow, American Studies & African American Studies, Yale University; [email protected] About the Journal: Words Beats & Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture is a peer-reviewed, hybrid periodical of art and hip-hop studies published twice a year. Inside, you'll find a platform for both emerging and established intellectuals & artists who use this unique medium to elevate hip-hop theory and practice in a common resource. Today, the journal is the world's only peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the subject of hip-hop culture. For more information visit http://wblinc.org/shop/journal/
|