ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book investigates the issue of reggae and its symbolic significance for the African diaspora. It argues that descendants of African people around the world can no longer be accurately described as existing in a state of diaspora. The book considers the cultural process through which the symbolism or 'idea' of African becomes a cultural frame of reference for people of African origin as they negotiate issues of identity, place and belonging in different urban and socio-political contexts around the world. It addresses the circulation and meaning of both United States rap within Cuba and rap Cubano. The book explores the use of languages other than English in rap music as examples of 'resistance vernaculars' which re-territorialize major Anglophone rules of intelligibility and those of other 'standard' languages, such as French and Italian.
