The Impacts of American Hip-Hop Culture on International Diaspora

A Biographical Thematic Analysis of Jonatan Håstad

Abstract

The genre of hip-hop originally emerged as a response to the socioeconomic issues in black American communities such as poverty and drug use during the 1970s. As the genre spread globally, it grew to include more international artists, each reflecting a variety of issues and behaviors unique to their cultural communities. Today, some of the genre's most popular themes include drugs, materialism, and violence. Although experts within the current body of research have proposed different methods to explore the dissemination of hip-hop culture amongst international artists more generally, there is a lack of investigation into the effects of today's most prevalent themes on the lives of artists themselves. In order to explore this gap, this paper conducts a biographical thematic analysis of the life and lyrics of Jonatan Håstad, a popular Swedish hip-hop artist with a distinct proximity to drug abuse and American influence. Findings clearly indicate that aspects of materialism within American culture inspired Haståd’s early career as well as enabled his drug use and sequent mental health issues during his time spent within the United States. These results are helpful for community development professionals, as studying the ways that materialism and drug use contribute to feelings of loss, nihilism, and damage of personal relationships can aid them in understanding how representations of material culture within hip-hop may influence the career paths of young international hip-hop artists entering the increasingly large genre.