Over the last decade, rap and hip-hop have taken the Nepali music industry by storm, and one of its guises is Raw Barz. Raw Barz is a ‘rap battle,’ where two performers ‘battle’ with each other verbally, in generally three to four rounds, and is mostly characterized by bragging, boasting, ragging, and making cunning, clever or even disparaging remarks against each other in an attempt to win the opponent. While the history of rap music reveals that it was actually evolved as a way of expression of frustration against oppression and discrimination among the African-American community in the United States, it is explicit that the battles all over the world currently use themes such as misogyny, objectification, masculinity and violence, and femininity and sexuality. Although many studies have been conducted directed towards understanding misogyny in rap music especially among black rappers, rarely has any research been done in Nepal from this dimension. In this light, this paper seeks to understand the motivation behind the use of these themes among Raw Barz rappers and make attempt to understand how female rappers in particular differ in the use of such themes. It strives to explore the lyrical and thematic tone of the rap battles, specifically delving into its gendered aspects, also examining the perception of the rappers and the audience, and the influence of the former, for the use of such themes.
Methodology: As the research methodology, the study will primarily use three data collection methods. First, analyses of the lyrical contents of the battles will be done, in order to identify the prominent themes pertaining to gender and masculinity. For this, battle sessions will be attended, but also, old videos on YouTube will be referred to. Second, participant observation will be done in the battle sessions. Third, in-depth interviews will be taken with rappers or the performers, as well as the audience, of both sexes.