Communications in Humanities Research

- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences


Communications in Humanities Research

Vol. 4, 17 May 2023


Open Access | Article

Third Generation Zainichi Korean Hip Hop Music: Investigation of the Diverse Focus on Representation of Heritage Embodied by Young Zainichi Rappers

Chunyan Zhang * 1
1 The University of Rochester, College of Art and Science, Rochester, New York, 14627

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Communications in Humanities Research, Vol. 4, 80-90
Published 17 May 2023. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by EWA Publishing
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Citation Chunyan Zhang. Third Generation Zainichi Korean Hip Hop Music: Investigation of the Diverse Focus on Representation of Heritage Embodied by Young Zainichi Rappers. CHR (2023) Vol. 4: 80-90. DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/4/20220217.

Abstract

This research project centers on the discussion about the question of how the Third generation Zainichi Korean rappers internalize, reproduce and represent their Korean ethnic heritage through the form of Hip Hop. Three Zainichi rappers, including Chanmina, Kohh, and Moment Joon, are carefully selected for the case study with the expectation that they each embody a distinctive focus on their self-identity construction. The central proposition of this paper is to highlight the cruciality of approaching the ontological construction of young Zainichi Koreans concerning individual choices and then to regard the formation and representation of individual identities as an ongoing process rather than a fixed, monolithic entity.

Keywords

Cultural identities, Othering, Zainichi Koreans, Ethnic minority, Japanese Hip Hop

References

1. “Collective identity” here refers to the coexistence of Korean heritage and Japanese citizenship among Zainichi Koreans. Hawon Jang, “The Special Permanent Residents in Japan: Zainichi Korean,” The Yale Review of International Studies (January 2019): pp.5.

2. Fukuoka Yasunori; Tsujiyama Yukiko. “MINTOHREN: Young Koreans Against Ethnic Discrimination in Japan.” The Bulletin of Chiba College of Health Science 10, no.2(1992): pp.147–62, Translated by John G. Russell, quoted in Ibid., pp.5

3. “Political group” refers to Minda/Chongryon, Zainichi Affiliations with South/North Korea. David Chapman, “The Third Way and beyond: Zainichi Korean identity and the politics of belonging,” Japanese Studies, Vol.24, No.1 (January 23, 2007): pp:29.

4. Rennie Moon, “Koreans in Japan,” Spice: Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (Fall 2010), pp.3.

5. Eric Hobsbawm, The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp.1.

6. Imani Perry, “The Glorious Outlaw: Hip Hop Narratives, American Law, and the Court of Public Opinion,” Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop (Duke University Press, ed., 2004), pp.102.

7. Stuart Hall, “‘Introduction: who needs identity?’, in S. Hall and P. Du Gay (eds), Questions of Cultural Identity (London: Sage, 1996), pp.1–17, quoted in Chapman, “The Third Way,” pp.34.

8. Sonia Ryang, “The Great Kanto Earthquake and the Massacre of Koreans in 1923: Notes on Japan’s Modern National sovereignty,” Anthropological Quarterly, Vol.76, No.4 (Autumn, 2003), pp.741.

9. Lyricstranslate, “I’m a Pop (English translation),” February 21, 2019, https://lyricstranslate.com/en/im-pop-im-pop.html (accessed August 18, 2022).

10. Nathaniel Heneghan, “Floating Signifiers: Tracing Zainichi Korean Identity in Postcolonial Literature and Visual Media,” (Diss. 2015), University of Southern California, pp.6.

11. Chan is a common term added to the end of surname or titles by Japanese when speakers finds a person especially young children and female adolescents endearing.

12. Ian Condry, “Hip-Hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization,” (Duke University Press, 2006), pp.165-180.

13. ANNnewsCH, “The Foundation for Chanmina’s Message to Many in the Present Generation,” January 14, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2p-6AZ3XvI&t=3s (accessed August 18 2022).

14. James E. Roberson, “Uchina Pop: Place and Identity in contemporary Okinawa Popular Music,” quoted in Laura Hein and Mark Seldon, eds., “Islands of Discontent: Okinawan Response to Japanese and American Power” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), pp.195.

15. beelyrics.net. 2012. “家族 (Kazoku) lyrics.” Bee LYRICS. https://beelyrics.net/music/251776-kohh/3344588-kazoku-lyrics.html (accessed August 16, 2022).

16. VICE Japan, “団地発!東京のアングラ ヒップホップ - Rising From the Tokyo Projects,” https://youtu.be/Pn36uJvwIvA (accessed August 18, 2022).

17. Rumi Sakamoto, “Koreans, Go Home! Internet Nationalism in Contemporary Japan as a Digitally Mediated Subculture,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol.9, Issue 10, No.2 (March 7, 2011): pp.2.

18. The anthropological use of “communitas” was first defined and promoted by scholar Victor Turner, which refers to a bonding of community by sharing similar marginalized experiences with the hope to overturn the existing order.

19. NHK, “Kohh Document,” Shibuya Note Present, March 24, 2020, https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV177411U7Tv?share_source=copy_web&vd_source=856f959a079a58bcb89b7614ebfd1e6c (accessed by August 18, 2022).

20. Musixmatch.com, “Lyrics and Translation: I’m Dreamin’,” October 9, 2020, https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Kohh/I-m-Dreamin/translation/english (accessed by August 18, 2022).

21. Rennie Moon, “Koreans in Japan,” pp.3.

22. Sakamoto, “Koreans, Go Home!” pp.3.

23. Genius.com, “Iguchidou(DX Version),” December 30, 2020, https://genius.com/Moment-joon-iguchidou-dx-version-lyrics(accessed by August 18, 2022).

24. Moment Joon, “Japanese Immigration Diary,” (岩波書店, November 26, 2021).

25. I-hit.com, “Moment Joon-TENO HIRA with Japan,” December 29, 2020, https://l-hit.com/ja/12672(accessed by August 18, 2022).

Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies (ICIHCS 2022), Part 2
ISBN (Print)
978-1-915371-31-7
ISBN (Online)
978-1-915371-32-4
Published Date
17 May 2023
Series
Communications in Humanities Research
ISSN (Print)
2753-7064
ISSN (Online)
2753-7072
DOI
10.54254/2753-7064/4/20220217
Copyright
17 May 2023
Open Access
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Copyright © 2023 EWA Publishing. Unless Otherwise Stated