Dalit Echoes, Green Stories: Understanding the Caste-Environment Nexus in South Indian Raps

Anupama Madhusudan   
Research Scholar, BITS Pilani, K. K. Birla Goa Campus, India

^{Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 16, Issue 2, 2024. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v16n2.31g
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Abstract

The southernmost Indian state of Kerala has recently experienced a massive engagement with rap music, unlike another region in the global south. These raps have been at the forefront of addressing social, ecological, and political issues. In India, caste is a significant social, political, and ecological issue that greatly hinders cultural sustainability. Caste, a deeply ingrained social hierarchy, significantly influences access to natural resources, living conditions, and environmental health, perpetuating social inequalities. Though caste and nature are interwoven inextricably, their discussions in the academic space are limited. However, discussions on the ecology of caste have found their space in the rap music of Kerala. This paper focuses on how this new-age digital manifestation explores human and intra-human relationships within the context of caste and has generated a discourse of resistance in the process of reclaiming Dalit rights and agency as ecological beings. The theoretical framework of Dalit hip hop ecology devised through the integration of ‘hip hop ecologies’ and ‘Dalit ecologies’ aids in conceptualising the relationship between caste, environment, and rap music. This brings in a new dimension of reading Dalit environmental politics through the lens of music, exploring its resistive and transformative potential as these raps not only reflect but also challenge and resist caste-based environmental injustices.

Keywords: Ecomusicology, eco-raps, Dalit ecology, rap music, hip hop ecology, South Indian rap.