Conformers and Rebels: Competing Patterns Among Bangladeshi Rap Musicians

This chapter investigates how Bangladeshi hip-hop artists understand the role of their music in a regime of widespread fear and self-censorship. We probe whether hip-hop artists openly criticize the government or conform to stay safe. Based on in-depth interviews with four leading hip-hop artists and the analysis of songs, we find two competing patterns. A new generation of artists, who are young and unmarried, are explicit about social injustice and democratic deficit in their songs while some of the older rap musicians who are now married and employed have changed the focus and tone down their songs to conform to the regime expectations. We conclude that while the regime has successfully instilled fear among one group of hip-hop artists, other groups of artists have continued to produce “rebellious” songs.