Cosmopolitan inscriptions? Mimicry, rap, and rurbanity in post-socialist Albania

Abstract

On the streets of Tirana, Albania, hip hop issues from pounding car speakers and teen­ agers’ cell phones jangle forth hooks from recent rap hits.1 Rows of Albanian-­language CDs with cover art modeled closely ­after the visual aesthetics of American rappers share space on rec­ ord store walls with illegally dubbed­ albums of global superstars. Young men in internet cafés stream tracks from hip hop groups based in Albania, Kosova, and the United States, and Tirana-­ based rappers’ clothing, possessions, and love lives provide scintillating copy to local gossip rags. In 2009, a hip hop group even received third prize at the state radio-­ television’s prestigious annual singing competition, an..