The Consumption of Rap Music as a Counterculture (Case Study: High School Students in Hamedan City)

The consumption of rap music among youth is a prevalent phenomenon. It is a main component of their leisure time and an important part of their subcultural lifestyle. This study attempts to investigate the way of subcultural consumption of rap music among high school students in Hamedan in a qualitative way. Subjects were selected using purposive sampling and were interviewed through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis shows that the subcultural consumption of rap music can be attributed to six main themes: Expression of emotions and excitement, communication, self-expression, entertainment, daydreaming and avoidance of limitations, and resistance to the Big Other. The first three themes imply that students consume this genre to find some kind of positive redemption and to try to create meanings and possibilities in their private and public lives. The second three themes, however, signify a kind of negative emancipation, that is, an emancipation from the restrictions and constraints that existing symbolic spaces impose on students’ everyday lives. Music consumption here is a means of avoiding rigid rituals and resisting restrictions. It can be concluded that the consumption of rap music is an everyday practice that results from a kind of gap between the ideal and the real lifeworld of students.