Yes, Indeed. Trap and politics

Abstract

[Abstract] This chapter discusses Spanish trap music to analyse its political articulations. The lack of critical sources about this specific form of popular culture favours the application of a comparative approach. From a historical point of view, I compare the contemporary trap scene in Spain with the ‘quinqui’ (delinquent) imagery of the 1980s marginal youth, derived from the financial, political, and social crises of the time. Also, from a transnational point of view, I look at Owen Jones’s analysis of chavs, an underclass youth culture in Britain that could be considered as an equivalent to Spanish ‘quinquis’ and ‘trappers.’ This approach endorses a critical observation of Spain’s current politics, extremely polarized after the emergence of post-15-M Movement parties and the radicalization of right-wing political coalitions.