Articles

Performing the City: Urban Discourses and the Representation of Italian Cities in the Music Videos of Italian rapper Capo Plaza

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Abstract

This article analyses how various contemporary urban discourses are performed and negotiated in the visual work of Italian hip hop artist Capo Plaza. The modern metropole, the postmodern society of the spectacle, tourist authenticity discourses around ‘couleur local’ and a focus on ordinary life are all dealt with in his music videos. By analyzing how cinematic strategies and choices are able to bring those images into dialogue, as well as subvert them, this article aims at an exploration of this new medium as a reincarnation of the genre of the city symphony. As his work deals with both the small southern city Salerno and the metropole Milan, questions of scale and the international urban imagination, come into play as well.

How to Cite:

Vancauwenberghe, L., (2019) “Performing the City: Urban Discourses and the Representation of Italian Cities in the Music Videos of Italian rapper Capo Plaza”, Documenta 37(2), 107–131. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/documenta.81898