Conspiracy Theory and Consciousness in Hip-hop Music

Abstract

Conspiracy theory has a persistent presence in US hip-hop music and culture. It is especially prominent in the context of social crises which have disproportionately affected African Americans. Conspiracy theories which linked the crack cocaine crisis and HIV/AIDS epidemic to notions of racially-motivated genocide in the 1980s set important precedents for conceptions of knowledge and power in the music. I contend that these narratives arise from a sense of pessimism and paranoia invoked by a history of racial repression and exploitation exemplified in events such as the CoIntelPro political assassinations (1969-71) and the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment (1932-72). Such events not only engender paranoia but demonstrate how it can function as both a survival response and a legitimate aspect of political discourse in a racist society. I argue that hip-hop music built upon a lineage of 20th century African American expressive culture which explores notions of paranoia, pessimism and racial genocide, from early Civil Rights era political tracts through to novelists of the 1960s and 70s such as Ishmael Reed and John A. Williams. Hip-hop music emerged as the ideal expressive form to crystallise, exaggerate and expound upon these ideas. As such, it provides an excellent opportunity to examine how conspiracy theory functions in the context of expressive culture. Hip-hop’s proclivities for humour, misdirection and signifyin(g) mean that it can provide a more nuanced perspective on how such discourses actually function in pop-cultural practice, moving beyond the caricatured notions of conspiracy theory and conspiracy theorists which have too often shaped academic perspectives on the subject. Furthermore, it addresses the role of race in conspiracy theory – and what discourses are delineated and/or discredited as conspiracy theory – which forms another significant shortcoming in existing literature.

Date of Award	24 Jan 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Justin A Williams (Supervisor) & Carlo Cenciarelli (Supervisor)