Drug Subculture as a Way of Expression: Rap Music*

Drug addicts, being excluded from society, constitute their own sub-culture with its own distinctive way of dealing with specific problems, clothes, music, languages, and beliefs. The aim of this study is to examine Turkish rap songs that contain expressions related to alcohol and drug addiction, which are thought to encourage the drug subculture, and to view drug subculture as a way of expression using the qualitative research method. Songs reflecting drug subculture on YouTube have been selected using the purposive sampling method until data saturation is reached. The two researchers listened to 50 songs that reflect drug subculture in the content or meaning of the rap songs between February 20 and March 20, 2018. Music is said to influence youths’ emotions, behaviors, and communication styles, with rap music being problematic. As a result of the analysis, under the main theme of expressions related to alcohol and substance use, four sub-themes have been formed: expressions demeaning women (n = 18, 13.1%), desperate-pessimistic expressions (n = 37, 27.0%), expressions supporting violence and crime (n = 36, 26.3%), and slang and taboo expressions (n = 46, 33.6%). The songs included in the study have been concluded to reflect and contain a great number of expressions on drug subculture.

To cite this article: Arslan, H., & Kırlıoğlu, M. (2019). Drug subculture as a way of expression: Rap music. Addicta: The Turkish Journal on Addictions, 6, 821−845. http://dx.doi.org/10.15805/addicta.2019.6.3.0075