Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 2014
Publisher
Center for Latin American Studies at The Ohio State University
Abstract
This article examines the rhetoric of Mexican-American hip hop through the analysis of the music by the multicultural hip hop fusion band, Ozomatli, from Los Angeles. The objective is to examine how Ozomatli performs linguistic, epistemic, and musical-rhetorical border crossing that provokes cultural and social consciousness. As a cross-cultural site of analysis, Ozomatli embodies cultural mestizaje, mestiza consciousness, and mestiz@ rhetoric that illuminates social justice issues beneath surface-level beats and rhythms. Appointed cultural ambassadors by the U.S. government, Ozomatli navigates dominant systems of power while performing music that contests hegemony. Their mestiz@ hip hop draws from diverse musical traditions like banda, cumbia, merengue, ranchera and others while addressing transnational social justice issues of immigration, inequality, and revolution.
Recommended Citation
Medina, C. (2014). “(Who Discovered) America”: Ozomatli and the Mestiz@ Rhetoric of Hip Hop. Alter/nativas: Latin American Cultural Studies Journal, (2).
Comments
Alter/nativas provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Online article