Editorial

Abstract

In many parts of the globe, the internet is now the main route to discovering hip hop. We borrow the timeless Rakim quote from Eric B. and Rakim’s ‘In the Ghetto’ with a digital twist to point out the breadth of cultural activity related to hip hop that now takes place online. It serves as a reminder that hip hop has gained such a large presence in digital culture that for many people, the web itself, rather than physical scenes, might be where you are at. The work featured in this Special Issue calls attention to hip hop in different global manifestations, specifically in Palestine, South Africa, the United States and India. It is our hope that the articles included here unseat conventional thinking by drawing attention to the complex interactions between online and offline, physical and digital, dominant and marginalized.