Andrzej Napieralski

Revue d’Études Françaises
N^o 27 (2023)
p.175-187
DOI : 10.37587/ref.2023.1.13

Les drogues et leur rôle identitaire dans le hip-hop

Andrzej Napieralski

This study forms part of a sociolinguistic and lexicological research on a corpus based on the language of young speakers immersed in hip-hop culture. Serving as a spokesperson for an often socially marginalized young community, this movement is characterized by rituals and codes that shape their identity. One of the behaviors specific to young hip-hop enthusiasts is drug consumption, with a slight preference for marijuana and its derivatives. Our research relies on recent French rap lyrics (from 2012 onwards). In this work, we will compile lexical forms related to drugs found in rap lyrics (for example: 'taga' for hashish, 'gueuchla' for drug addict, 'galette' for cocaine, 'xeu' for ecstasy pill, etc.). This sociolinguistic inquiry also seeks to illustrate how drugs form a component of the hip-hop community's identity and how this drug use is construed as an identity attribute through rap discourse. By examining the context in which lexemes and phrases appear in the rap lyrics of our corpus, we aim to gain a better understanding of how this peripheral linguistic variety contributes to identity construction.

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