“Antakaa mun mennä, itse perkeleeni kesytän”

Omaehtoinen kuolema suomalaisessa rap-musiikissa

Författare

• Heidi Kosonen Jyväskylän yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2931-878X
• Elina Westinen Nuorisotutkimusseura https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1071-8871

Nyckelord:

itsemurha, rap-musiikki, suomi, diskurssi, tabu

Abstract

As a stigmatized and silenced death, suicide continues to be a taboo, particularly beyond abstract or scientific viewpoints. Suicide as a cause of death is also gendered: in Finland and elsewhere more men than women continue to die of suicide. In this article, we explore how suicide and suicidality are discussed in Finnish rap music. In particular, we analyze i) what kinds of reasons and motives suicide and suicidality are associated with, ii) whose suicide/suicidality is discussed and iii) how suicide/suicidality are discussed, with special focus on the message and tone of the songs. Our data consist of 38 songs, explored with discourse-analysis and loose categorization. The analysis reveals both holistic and social/sociological reasons given to suicide. Moreover, it discusses the viewpoints of close friends and family, but also personal accounts. Finally, the analysis encompasses songs that either stigmatize or carnevalize suicide, offer support or express societal critique. Our observations are guided by the affordances of rap music as a low-threshold genre, traditionally for boys and young men. While previous research has emphasized analyzing the effects of rap music, our study joins the few qualitative ones that place emphasis on nuanced, deep understandings of the phenomenon.