ABSTRACT
This chapter considers involvement of young urban Aboriginal men in hip-hop subculture, and looks at how this cultural form and practice resonates with their experience of social marginalisation, official surveillance and regulation. Colonial power has served to undermine Aboriginal masculine roles, particularly in recent history. In 2008, life history interviews were conducted with 15 Aboriginal men aged between 18 and 30 years in inner Sydney, with a general focus on experiences of youth, the transition to adulthood and the challenge of developing vocational skills and finding work. Rick's biographical narrative illustrates a process of dislocation and dysfunction typical of the experience of urban Aboriginal youth. Silas had a more transient early life and voiced similar narratives of conflict and dislocation. While hip-hop is the dominant popular cultural form among urban Aboriginal youth, it is certainly not universally embraced in Aboriginal community. Much of the early sub cultural work recognised that youth sub cultural practice is enmeshed in triangular power relations.
