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"We All Wanna Die, Too": Emo Rap and Collective Despair in Adolescent America

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2020, BA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
"Emo rap" began to emerge as a distinct musical genre in the early 2010s, combining the lyrical style and bravado of rap music with the emotional anguish characteristic of emo music. In the following years, emo rap artists have gained immense mainstream popularity, impacting the genre's development, its fans and contributors, and American culture. This thesis primarily references six popular emo rap artists - Lil Peep, XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD, Lil Xan, Lil Uzi Vert, and nothing,nowhere - who illustrate and exemplify prominent themes of the genre, such as mental health, drug abuse and addiction, social media and branding, and violence and death, in the content they produce, including music, social media posts, and interactions with the public. The thesis engages with scientific research, magazine articles, and other media that discuss the cultural impact of emo rap and the reasons for its appeal, which can include identification, aesthetic appreciation, and membership in a community. The popularity of emo rap emphasizes the broad reach of the genre, from millions of likes on Instagram posts to hundreds of millions of streams and music video views for songs that discuss issues of mental health and drug abuse and threaten violence against the self and others. The thesis also discusses the unexpected deaths of Lil Peep and XXXTentacion and subsequent effects on the way their music and those of others in the genre is received and branded. The thesis concludes with tentative predictions about how the genre may continue to progress in the future.
Ryan Hediger, Dr. (Advisor)
Tammy Clewell, Prof. (Committee Member)
Timothy Owens, Dr. (Committee Member)
Andrew Shahriari, Dr. (Committee Member)
111 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Palattella, N. (2020). "We All Wanna Die, Too": Emo Rap and Collective Despair in Adolescent America [Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1587048361192438

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Palattella, Nina. "We All Wanna Die, Too": Emo Rap and Collective Despair in Adolescent America. 2020. Kent State University, Undergraduate thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1587048361192438.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Palattella, Nina. ""We All Wanna Die, Too": Emo Rap and Collective Despair in Adolescent America." Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1587048361192438

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)