ABSTRACT
Developing upon ideas of individual experience, this chapter engages with experiences of communality in listening to rap and metal. It builds on the model of individual empowerment to uncover how communities can be imagined through listening. Untangling several terms for collectives that have been used to study rap and metal – among them subculture, scene, and community – the chapter considers the potential for empowering solidarities experienced through musical and social interaction. An introduction to the field of community psychology is then interlaced between analyses of four songs. The chapter argues that the principles and practices of this field are pertinent to the study of music communities, particularly how scholars and activists approach the process of empowerment. Raphael Travis’ Individual and Community Empowerment framework is adopted to demonstrate dimensions of empowerment, further nuancing understandings of what, exactly, individuals and communities gain from their listening. Looking beyond communal experience specific to listening, the chapter elaborates on individual behaviour to examine cultural engagement through fandom, addressing two examples of digital music communities.
