Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:59:27.491Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Freestyling in war and peace: rap and transitional justice in Colombia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2022

Rafael Quishpe Open the ORCID record for Rafael Quishpe [Opens in a new window] ,
Samuel Augusto Escobar Open the ORCID record for Samuel Augusto Escobar [Opens in a new window]  and
Juan Francisco Soto Open the ORCID record for Juan Francisco Soto [Opens in a new window]
Rafael Quishpe
Affiliation:
Universidad del Rosario's Law School, Colombia E-mail: [email protected]
Samuel Augusto Escobar
Affiliation:
Universidad del Rosario's Law School, Colombia E-mail: [email protected]
Juan Francisco Soto
Affiliation:
Universidad del Rosario's Law School, Colombia E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Rap, as with other musical genres, can contain narratives about Colombia's armed conflict. Members of armed groups, such as the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo (‘Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army’; FARC-EP), and civilians have used rap as a means of expressing war-related issues and their causes and consequences. Following the signing of the peace agreement with the FARC-EP in 2016, Colombia's new transitional justice system mainly has focused on a restorative rationale rather than a retributive one. Transitional justice, as a set of mechanisms and processes designed to overcome a violent past, demands peace-building narratives that protect the memory of past horrors while setting the stage for reconciliation. This article analyses the interplay of transitional justice and rap from the personal experiences, perspectives and lyrics of two former combatants and two groups from civil society that rap based in Bogotá, other cities and rural municipalities. These cases provide insight into how rap can relate to transitional justice, sometimes acting as a supportive tool for its goals and sometimes by providing a counter-narrative.

Type
Article
Information
Popular Music , Volume 41 , Special Issue 4: Prosecuting and Policing Rap , December 2022 , pp. 527 - 545
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Araibi, R. 2020. ‘“Every rhyme i write”: rap music as evidence in criminal trials’, Arizona Law Review, 62(3), pp. 806–37Google Scholar
Bahun, S. 2016. ‘Transitional justice and the arts: reflections on the field’, in Theorizing Transitional Justice, ed. Corradetti, C. and Eisikovits, N. (Abingdon, Routledge). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315551180Google Scholar
Balandina, A. 2017. ‘Music as a cultural mediator in postconflict Yugoslavia’, in Hip Hop at Europe's Edge: Music, Agency, and Social Change, ed. Miszczynski, M. and Helbig, A. (Bloomington, IN, Indiana University Press). https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt2005sm8Google Scholar
Batalla, M. 2017. M. Interview by Rafael Quishpe.Google Scholar
Batalla, M. 2017a. Desenterrando Memorias Parte I. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2CeXtaF6Hc&t=82sGoogle Scholar
Batalla, M. 2017b. Desenterrando Memorias Parte II. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7HWVQVAAREGoogle Scholar
Batalla, M. 2020. De Ollita a Ollita. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLI6qPP-o9gGoogle Scholar
Bergh, A., and Sloboda, J. 2010. ‘Music and art in conflict transformation: a review’, Music and Arts in Action, 2/2, pp. 2–18Google Scholar
Bernard, H.R. 2006. Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 4th edn (Lanham, MD, AltaMira Press)Google Scholar
Bryman, A. 2012. Social Research Methods, 4th edn (Oxford, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Cáceres, D., Macero, C., and Ortega, S. 2021. Motilonas Rap Interview. Interview by Rafael Quishpe and Juan Francisco Soto.Google Scholar
Clarkson, C. 2014. Drawing the Line: Toward an Aesthetics of Transitional Justice (New York, Fordham University Press)Google Scholar
Cohen, C. 2020. ‘Reimagining transitional Justice’, International Journal of Transitional Justice, 14/1, pp. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijaa001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colombia, and FARC-EP. 2016. Acuerdo Final para la terminación del conflicto y la construcción de una paz estable y duradera. https://www.jep.gov.co/Normativa/Paginas/Acuerdo-Final.aspxGoogle Scholar
Colombian Constitutional Court. 2022. Comunicado 01 del 27 de enero de 2022Google Scholar
Correa, M.C., Martín, A.F., and Soto, J.F. 2022. ‘Punishment and pardon: the use of international humanitarian law by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Colombia’, International Review of the Red Cross, pp. 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1816383121000977Google Scholar
Dennis, A. 2007. ‘Poetic (in)justice? Rap music lyrics as art, life, and criminal evidence’, The Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts, 31, pp. 1–42Google Scholar
Dover, J. 2014. ‘The complicated “colours” of rhythm: a study of Capetonian's battle for identity through the hip hop movement in post-Apartheid South Africa’, Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection, October. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/2030Google Scholar
Dunbar, A., Kubrin, C., and Scurich, N. 2016. ‘The threatening nature of “rap” music’, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 22/3, pp. 280–92. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000093CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebisike, N. 2018. ‘Control, crime and culture: rap lyrics and videos as criminal evidence’, Journal of Law and Social Deviance, 16, pp. 52–92Google Scholar
Escobar, S. 2017. ‘Reflexiones Criminológicas Sobre La Justicia Retributiva y Restaurativa de Cara a La Función Expresiva de La Justicia Transicional’, in Justicia Transicional En Colombia: Un Nuevo Camino Hacia La Paz, ed. Forero Ramírez, J. (Valencia, Tirant lo Blanch), pp.113–60Google Scholar
Francis, P. 2000. ‘Planning criminological research’, in Doing Criminological Research, ed. Jupp, V., Davies, P. and Francis, P. (London, SAGE), https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857024404Google Scholar
García, A. 2012. ‘De discurso o de ruido: algunas relaciones entre música y guerra en el actual conflicto armado colombiano’. MA thesis, Universidad de Los AndesGoogle Scholar
Garnsey, E. 2016. ‘Rewinding and unwinding: art and justice in times of political transition’, International Journal of Transitional Justice, 10/3, pp. 471–91. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijw010CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garnsey, E. 2021. The Justice of Visual Art: Creative State-Building in Times of Political Transition, 1st edn. Law in Context (New York, Cambridge University Press)Google Scholar
Greener, I. 2011. Designing Social Research: A Guide for the Bewildered (London, SAGE). https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446287934CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haskell, E. 2015. ‘The role of applied ethnomusicology in post-conflict and post-catastrophe communities’, in The Oxford Handbook of Applied Ethnomusicology, ed. Pettan, S. and Todd, J. (New York, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Jewkes, Y. 2011. Media and Crime, 2nd edn (London, Sage)Google Scholar
Kadich, D. 2019. ‘Young people, hip-hop, and the making of a “grammar for unpolitics” in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina’, Geopolitics, pp. 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2019.1608436Google Scholar
Kent, G. 2007. ‘Unpeaceful music’, in Music and Conflict Transformation: Harmonies and Dissonances in Geopolitics, ed. Urbain, O. (London, I.B.Tauris), pp. 104–12. https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755619955CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kroc Institute For International Peace Studies. 2021. ‘El Acuerdo Final de Colombia En Tiempos Del COVID-19: Apropiación Institucional y Ciudadana Como Clave de La Implementación’ (Notre Dame, IN, University of Notre Dame). https://curate.nd.edu/show/4f16c250d7mGoogle Scholar
Lahai, J. 2014. ‘The musicscapes of a country in transition: cultural identity, youth agency, the emergent hip-hop culture, and the quest for socio-political change in Sierra Leone’, in Hip Hop and Social Change in Africa: Ni Wakati, ed. Kibona, M. and Mwanzia, M. (Lanham, MD, Lexington Books)Google Scholar
Lundqvist, M. 2021. ‘Nep-hop for peace? Political visions and divisions in the booming Nepalese hip-hop scene’, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 24/3, pp. 454–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877920978658CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, P. 2006. ‘Relocating Hollywood's prison film discours’, in Captured by the Media: Prison Discourse in Popular Culture, ed. Mason, P. (Cullompton, Willan)Google Scholar
Molina, L. 2019. ‘Música y Conflicto Armado: Representaciones de Identidad, Memoria y Resistencia En El Compilado Musical Tocó Cantar: Una Travesía Contra El Olvido’, Cuadernos de Música, Artes Visuales y Artes Escénicas, 14/2. https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.mavae14-2.mycaGoogle Scholar
Monteadentro. 2008. Martín Batalla. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-eoT5-Z888Google Scholar
Morera, A. 2020a. Por La Vida y Por La Paz. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azAx2CvThPUGoogle Scholar
Morera, A. 2020b. La Maldita Guerra. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtC4_glEObcGoogle Scholar
Morera, A. 2020c. El Baile Rojo. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4lOWM2Kq8cGoogle Scholar
Morera, A. 2021. Interview. Interview by Rafael Quishpe and Juan Francisco Soto.Google Scholar
Morera, A. 2021a. Sigo Resistiendo. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1bZrcHWD3s&t=184sGoogle Scholar
Morera, A. 2021b. Alma Campesina. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtfqZYmJPfcGoogle Scholar
Motilonas Rap. 2020a. El Canto de La Flecha. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsUyXdjcnBYGoogle Scholar
Motilonas Rap. 2020b. Sí a La Paz. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoyMFDU9QRgGoogle Scholar
Motilonas Rap. 2021. Líderes. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpG4fkDXMsEGoogle Scholar
Motilonas Rap feat. Andrés and Hotarsie. 2020. Nidos de Antaño. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkCr3PKHgLwGoogle Scholar
Muñoz, H. 2018. ‘Ruido de Fondo’, Revista Semana. https://www.semana.com/periodismo-cultural---revista-arcadia/articulo/ruido-de-fondo/72019/Google Scholar
National Center of Historical Memory. 2013. Basta Ya! Colombia: Memories of War and Dignity (Bogotá, Imprenta Nacional de Colombia)Google Scholar
Nielson, E., and Dennis, A. 2019. Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America (New York,The New Press)Google Scholar
Nuxoll, C. 2015. ‘“We listened to it because of the message”: juvenile RUF combatants and the role of music in the Sierra Leone Civil War’, Music and Politics, IX. https://doi.org/10.3998/mp.9460447.0009.104CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connell, J. 2010. ‘An ethnomusicological approach to music and conflict’, in Music and Conflict, ed. Morgan O'Connell, J. and El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, S. (Urbana, IL, University of Illinois Press)Google Scholar
O'Connell, J. 2011. ‘Music in war, music for peace: a review article’, Ethnomusicology, 55/1, p. 112. https://doi.org/10.5406/ethnomusicology.55.1.0112Google Scholar
Pilzer, J. 2015. ‘The study of “survivors” music’, in The Oxford Handbook of Applied Ethnomusicology, ed. Pettan, S. and Todd Titon, J. (Oxford, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Pinto, M.E. 2014. ‘Music and reconciliation in Colombia: opportunities and limitations of songs composed by victims’, Music and Arts in Action, 4/2, pp. 24–51Google Scholar
Pitic, B. 2020. ‘Transitional justice’, Music and Arts in Action, 7/3, pp.103–19Google Scholar
Pulido, D. 2021. Reincidentes Bta Interview. Interview by Rafael Quishpe and Juan Francisco Soto.Google Scholar
Quishpe, R. 2020. ‘Corcheas Insurgentes: Usos y Funciones de La Música de Las FARC-EP Durante El Conflicto Armado En Colombia’, Izquierdas, 49, pp. 554–79. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-50492020000100231CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramírez-Barat, C. 2020. ‘The path to social reconstruction: between culture and transitional justice’, International Journal of Transitional Justice, 14/1, pp. 242–50. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijz035CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reincidentes Bta. 2012. Niños Del Conflicto. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6LIom-R1DoGoogle Scholar
Reincidentes Bta. 2013. Hay Que Volver a La Tierra. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcI7MX17UhsGoogle Scholar
Reincidentes Bta. 2016. Terrorista. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiZQgaEXnjMGoogle Scholar
Reincidentes Bta. 2020. Narcos. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVP_pKZiHwIGoogle Scholar
Reincidentes Bta feat. Diana Avella. 2020. Militares. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ars7VQcNAcGoogle Scholar
Reincidentes Bta feat. FARC-EP. 2017. Unamos Nuestras Voces. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8hTesp6AnYGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez, A. and Cabedo, A. 2017. ‘Espacios Musicales Colectivos Durante y Después Del Conflicto Armado Como Lugares de Preservación Del Tejido Social’, Co-Herencia, 14/26, pp. 257–91. https://doi.org/10.17230/co-herencia.14.26.10CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rush, P. 2014. ‘After atrocity: foreword to transition’, in The Arts of Transitional Justice Culture, Activism, and Memory after Atrocity, ed. Rush, P. and Simic, O. (Berlin, Springer)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samacá, G. 2017. ‘Versos de Amores Que Matan Los Odios Malditos Del Yanqui Opresor: Música Insurgente y Discurso Político de Las Farc-Ep’, Anuario Colombiano de Historia Social y de La Cultura, 44/2, pp. 228–59. https://doi.org/10.15446/achsc.v44n2.64022CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandoval, E. 2016. ‘Music in peacebuilding: a critical literature review’, Journal of Peace Education, 13/3, pp. 200–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2016.1234634CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharp, D.N. 2015. ‘Emancipating transitional justice from the bonds of the paradigmatic transition’, International Journal of Transitional Justice, 9/1, pp. 150–69. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/iju021CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Souto-Manning, M. 2014. ‘Critical narrative analysis: the interplay of critical discourse and narrative analyses’, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 27/2, pp. 159–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.737046CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Surette, R. 2010. Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Images, Realities, and Policies (Cengage Learning)Google Scholar
Thomas, Z. 2019. ‘Deploying youth: Colombian peacebuilding in performance’, The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 24/2, 478–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/jlca.12426CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Truth Commission. 2020. ‘Las canciones que acompañan la búsqueda de la verdad’. https://comisiondelaverdad.co/actualidad/noticias/canciones-comision-verdad-colombiaGoogle Scholar
UNGA. 2004. The Rule of Law and Transitional Justice in Conflict and Post-conflict Societies: Report of the Secretary-General (New York, UNHCR). https://www.unhcr.org/protection/ruleoflaw/4506bc494/rule-law-transitional-justice-conflict-post-conflict-societies-report-secretary.htmlGoogle Scholar
UNHCHR. 2021. Situation of Human Rights in Colombia. Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3907554Google Scholar