Common places of artistic resistance? Comparative analysis of the engagements of mobile African rappers

This paper analyzes the entanglements between art and engagement in African rap scenes, by exploring the (little-known) question of transnational mobilities that accompany the politicization trajectories of rappers. It draws on the biographies of three rappers (from Gabon, Senegal, and Burkina Faso), who present themselves as “engaged” artists. It uncovers the common influences and modalities of action that these rappers share, while demonstrating that, depending on individual contexts and backgrounds, these common references and influences lead to different types of engagement through music and different experiences of mobility. This examination of the mobilizations of African rappers finally contributes to a broader understanding of the relationship between art and engagement, by shedding light on the tension between national specificities and “translocal” dimension of these art worlds.