The aim of this conference contribution is to deepen the understanding of the specific educational dilemmas that arise due to an aesthetic change in hip-hop music and culture, and to identify the values around which these dilemmas center in schools and after-school activities, as well as in juvinile detention centers.

This contribution stems from an ongoing research project that focuses, among other things, on educational dilemmas emerging in the wake of the evolving landscape of Swedish hip-hop. Over the past years, Swedish hip-hop has transitioned from being characterized by more emancipatory messages (Söderman, 2017) to increasingly embodying the aesthetic expressions known as 'drill' or 'gangster rap.' For educational settings utilizing hip-hop as a social pedagogical tool (Söderman, 2019), this aesthetic transformation presents pedagogical dilemmas. Hip-hop, previously used to prevent violence and crime, has now become the focal point of rap lyrics, popular artists, and music videos that engage in and depict violence and crime.

While this specific research project is based in Sweden, educational settings in several other countries also grapple with similar dilemmas related to the influence of 'drill' in local hip-hop, as seen for instance in the United Kingdom (Fastis, 2019), Denmark (Ringsager, 2017), and Germany (Güngör & Loh, 2017). In all these countries, including Sweden, hip-hop has previously, at least partially, been part of socio-pedagogical activities aimed at preventing young people from heading down destructive paths such as engaging in criminality and drug use. Work that is now being challenged by the aesthetic shift.

The theoretical framework for this contribution is based on Pierre Bourdieu's cultural and educational sociology (Bourdieu, 1977; 1984a; 1984b; 1990; 2000; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1970/2008). Theoretical concepts such as capital and distinction enable us to understand, interpret, and analyze the pedagogical and aesthetic values that gangster rap instigates among educators working with hip-hop in schools, after-school activities and juvinile detention centers, and also to analyze the educational values recognized in relation to hip-hop education.

The project is based on semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers and after-school educators. In short, the interviews mainly focus on the following themes: • How is gangster rap relevant to the particular educational setting? • What are the teachers/educators thoughts about the ongoing media debate regarding gangster rap, and how does it relate to the specific educational setting? • What are the personal experiences related to listening to artists within the genre? • Reflections on the emotions and thoughts that may arise from the portrayals in gangster rap concerning the young people they work with. • In what ways does gangster rap give rise to problems or dilemmas? What are these, and why? Have they been resolved? If so, how? To consider various statements and understandings of hip-hop, the interview material is analyzed using discursive psychological tools (Potter, 1996), where discourses are broadly understood as rhetorical resources (Potter, 1996). Analytical concepts such as interpretive repertoires (Gilbert & Mulkay, 1984; Potter & Wetherell, 1987; Wetherell & Potter, 1992), variation, function, effect, ideological dilemmas, and rhetorical strategies (Potter, 1996) are employed to systematically process the interview material.

The project is still ongoing but is expected to contribute with important pedagogical knowledge relevant to hip-hop education, after-school activities, and arts-based education in urban settings. A specific value that the research project aims to provide is to bring scientific clarity to a youth cultural phenomenon that currently tends to be surrounded by negative perceptions. The main anticipated outcome, however, is to highlight the dilemmas that arise at the intersection of gangster rap, youth violence, and crime, as well as preventive educational activities. Overall, our hope is that the research can contribute to improving conditions for European arts-based education in urban settings and, specifically, for social pedagogical music teachers and hip-hop educators in schools and after-school activities.

Bourdieu. P. (1984a). Distinction. A social critique of the judgment of taste. Harvard university press. Bourdieu, P. (1984b). Kultur och kritik. Daidalos. Bourdieu, P. (1990). The Logic of Practice. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Bourdieu, P. (2000). Konstens regler. Det litterära fältets uppkomst och struktur. Symposion. Bourdieu, P. & Passeron, J. C. (1970/2008). Reproduktionen: bidrag till en teori om utbildningssystemet. Arkiv. Fatsis, L. (2019). Policing the beats: The criminalisation of UK drill and grime music by the London Metropolitan Police. The sociological review, 67(6), 1300-1316. Gilbert, G.N. & Mulkay, M. (1984). Opening Pandoras Box: a Sociological Analysis of Scientists’ Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Güngör, M., & Loh, H. (2017). Vom Gastarbeiter zum Gangsta-Rapper?. Diversität in der Sozialen Arbeit, 68. Potter, J. (1996). Representing reality. Discourse, rethoric and social construction. London: Sage. Potter, J. & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behaviour. London: Sage. Ringsager, K. (2017). ‘Featuring the SyStem’: hip hop pedagogy and daniSh integration policieS. Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society, 42(2), 75-93. Söderman, J. (2017). Hip-hop in Sweden. Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. New York: Bloomsbury. Söderman, J. (2019). Holistic educational ideals and pedagogy of trust within civil society popular music education. Journal of Popular Music Education, (2) 1-2, 65-80 Wetherell, M. & Potter, J. (1992). Mapping the Language of Racism: Discourse and the Legitimation of Exploitation. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf