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Literature on the appropriation of hip hop culture outside of the United States maintains that hip hop engenders local interpretations no longer reliant on African-American origins, and this research project is an attempt to determine the extent to which this is the case in a specific local context. My project is an effort to move beyond the rhetoric of much of what constitutes the debates surrounding globalisation, by employing a research strategy combining theoretical analysis and direct engagement with Berlin's hip hop community. My project not only aims to uncover the meanings young people in Berlin give to their hip hop practices, but intends to do so within a framework that does not ignore the discursive spaces in which these young people are operating. This is particularly relevant because of the complex ways in which race and ethnicity are related to German national identity.
Furthermore, this project is concerned with the ways in which the spaces and places collectively known as Berlin shape the cultural practices found there. It may be that hip hop belongs to global culture, but it may also be the case that the city of Berlin plays a significant role in determining how hip hop is understood and reproduced by young people there.
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