Conclusion

The conclusion considers the value of the partnership between hip hop and diplomacy. Hip hop diplomacy has value in convening groups unlikely to collaborate otherwise; it can be a source of validation for hip hop artists and their communities; and it can generate a favorable view of the United States and good will towards its citizens. Such positive outcomes, however, are not automatic and require that programs be conducted with respect, humility, self-awareness and a willingness to collaborate with local partners. Although the State Department faced severe funding cuts in the first years of the Trump administration, hip hop diplomacy has remained well-funded, although its future is uncertain. Specific anecdotes and case studies come from Next Level programs in Bangladesh, El Salvador, and Morocco.

Songs Instead of Missiles: Agency and Subversive Complicity

This chapter discusses how US hip hop artists justify their participation in State Department–sponsored programs given hip hop’s traditional oppositional, anti-government stance. Many factors motivate artists to participate. Artists cite this work as an opportunity to travel; teach; encounter different cultures; represent their country, culture, gender, race, ethnicity, etc.; and build global hip hop community. This chapter considers whether these artists can be considered complicit with the actions of the government, whether they can act subversively, and whether they can do both at the same time, embodying what can be called subversive complicity.

Operating in a Zone of Ambiguity: Tensions and Risks

This chapter explores the central tensions that animate hip hop diplomacy. One tension is between art and diplomacy, particularly in their distinctive approaches to process and views on outcomes. A second tensions arises because of the asymmetry of power between the United States and the countries that hip hop diplomacy programs visit. This chapter posits that hip hop diplomacy (and cultural diplomacy in general) operates in a zone of ambiguity, a state in which palpable, inescapable tensions and uncertainties hang over one’s every action. Specific examples come from hip hop diplomacy initiatives in El Salvador, India, Morocco, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. The chapter ends by offering guidelines for respectful, collaborative interactions in cultural diplomacy and cultural exchange programs.

Introduction

The introduction explains why the partnership between hip hop diplomacy is unlikely and risky but also potentially productive. Hip hop is a powerful platform for US cultural diplomacy because it is globally popular, widely accessible, readily combined with a variety of artistic styles and practices, and immediately and positively associated with the United States. Hip hop diplomacy can serve US foreign policy objectives by enhancing the image of the United States and promoting US interests abroad. The introduction concludes with a reflection on the author’s identity as a white man and considers its implications for working in hip hop, a genre and culture that arose out of African American communities.

Build and Destroy: Hip Hop, US Diplomacy, and Islam

This chapter focuses on how the State Department has deployed hip hop as a means to engage with global Muslim youth since 9/11. This engagement is revealed to reflect a broad US perspective on Islam, characterized by a mix of anxiety, curiosity, fetishism, and ignorance. The chapter explores how different Muslim hip hop artists view the relationship between their faith and their religion. The chapter concludes that hip hop diplomacy initiatives that focus on engaging Islam risk alienating Muslim participants and can generate resentment rather than good will. It is recommended that these programs focused on shared interests and not overemphasize religion.

History: From Jazz Ambassadors to Hip Hop Diplomats

This chapter chronicles the history of official US cultural diplomacy, starting in the 1930s up until the birth of hip hop diplomacy in 2001 and the establishment of Next Level, the first State Department–funded hip hop diplomacy program, in 2013. National security threats have long been the animating force behind US cultural diplomacy. First, the threat was fascism. Later, it was communism, and then terrorism. The first hip hop “diplomat” was rapper Toni Blackman. Next Level originated in the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Mark Katz was the founding director of Next Level.

Boom Bap Diplomacy: Connecting Cultures, Transforming Conflict

This chapter focuses on the cross-cultural artistic collaboration that takes places in hip hop diplomacy encounters. It reveals that hip hop can foster mutual understanding and conflict transformation across cultures through nonverbal communication and kinesthetic empathy. One case study examines the interactions between US rappers and a Moroccan gnawa ensemble, demonstrating both the risks and rewards of cross-cultural artistic collaboration. Another case study explores how conflict arose and was transformed in a dance workshop in Bandung, Indonesia in 2016 in which hypermasculine b-boys (breakdancers) and queer dancers (voguers) performed together. The chapter concludes that hip hop can serve as a model for productive people-to-people diplomacy.