Rage For the Machine: MAGA Hip Hop and Negotiating the Populist Master Frame

• In Event: 41059 - Gender, Representation, and Identity in Digital Media

Abstract

A new development in Hip Hop appears to break from the genre’s traditional political perspective. “MAGA Hip Hop,” Hip Hop music espousing right-wing populism, drastically departs from the political ethos that has traditionally defined the genre—a tradition that goes back to the genre’s origins within urban working-class Black communities of 1970s Bronx. Likewise, MAGA Hip Hop appears to break from typical right-wing perspectives that are heavily critical of Hip Hop. Although seemingly absurd, the emergence of MAGA Hip Hop is not without precedence. MAGA Hip Hop, then, may represent an important and novel renegotiation of a genre with deep, wide-reaching political meaning that emboldens populist rhetoric.
This study uses abductive qualitative content analysis of social media posts collected from the Telegram accounts of twenty regional Proud Boys chapters during the month of June 2023, dubbed “Proud Month” by the organization (a play on “Pride Month”). As a time of celebrating/affirming Proud Boys’ identity, worldview, and goals, engagement with the MAGA Hip Hop genre during Proud Month is particularly meaningful—as the month represents a pivotal point for organizing and mobilizing.
This paper examines how a prominent social movement organization (SMO) engages in processes of meaning negotiation set within the context of social media. Using frame analysis, this paper explores how Proud Boys chapters leverage the cultural meaning of the Hip Hop to articulate a populist political logic. In this case, the meanings conveyed through MAGA Hip Hop music contribute to the authenticity of the Proud Boys’ populist master frame. By bringing framing theory and genre studies together, this paper shows how SMOs make use of both forms of signifying work through their engagement with culture—demonstrating the value of analyzing the two as parallel.

Author

• Levi Mitzen, Florida State University