Marina Terkourafi is Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

"This book is a feast not just for hip hop specialists but for all those interested in the interfaces between music, language and society. The chapters illustrate the diversity of contexts where this music is enjoyed, but also the common features found in the hip hop production of various cultures: the expression of both specific preoccupations and universal themes, the affirmation of identity and the opening up to the Other, the combination of local and global outlooks. Above all they offer analyses of how the choice and manipulation of language(s) can serve to advance these ends. Thanks to the range of materials studied (Norway, Egypt, Cyprus, South Korea and more) and the detail provided in the individual analyses, the book represents a key contribution to work in this fascinating field, and will be essential reading for future research."

• 1. Introduction: A Fresh Look at Some Old Questions, Marina Terkourafi (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA); 2. Multilingualism, Ethnicity, and Genre: The Case of German Hip-Hop, Jannis Androutsopoulos (King's College, London, UK); 3. Kiff my zikmu: Symbolic Dimensions of Arabic, English and Verlan in French Rap Texts, Samira Hassa (Manhattan College, USA); 4. 'We ain't terrorists but we droppin' bombs': Language Use and Localization in Egyptian Hip Hop, Angela Williams (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA); 5. Roma Rap and the Black Train: Minority Voices in Hungarian Hip-Hop, Sarah Simeziane (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA); 6. Empowerment Through Taboo: Probing the Sociolinguistic Parameters of German Gangsta Rap Lyrics, Mike Putnam & John Littlejohn (Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, & Clemson University, USA); 7. Glocalizing Keepin' it Real: South Korean Hip Hop Playas, Jamie Shinhee Lee (University of Michigan-Dearborn, USA); 8. From American Form to Greek Performance: The Global Hip-Hop Poetics and Politics of the Imiskoumbria, Frank Hess (Indiana University, Bloomington, USA); 9. Keeping it Native (?): The Conflicts and Contradictions of Cypriot Hip-Hop, Evros Stylianou; 10. Hip-hop, Ethnicity and Linguistic Practice in Rural and Urban Norway, Endre Brunstad, Unn Royneland & Toril Opsahl (Oslo University & University of Bergen, Norway); 11. From Chi-Town to the Dirty-Dirty: Regional Identity Markers in U.S. Hip Hop, Jennifer Cramer & Jill Ward (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA); 12. Realkeepen: Anglicisms in the German Hip-Hop Community, Matt Garley (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA); 13. 'She's so hood': Ghetto Authenticity on the White Rapper Show, Cecelia Cutler (New York University, USA)Glossary of Hip Hop Terms Bibliography; Index.