From Pimpology to Pimpologia: A Comparative Analysis of Pimp Rap in the United States and Italy

This chapter investigates the issue of sexism in rap music from the 2000s by comparing a sample of lyrics by American and Italian Hip-Hop artists. Our analysis focuses specifically on pimp rap, a subgenre of rap music that tries to artistically revitalise the figure of the pimp seen as a self-made man who, through the exploitation of women, frees himself from the fate of the Black man of the ghetto. The global popularity of American pimp rappers has had a strong impact on the Italian rap scene. Both mainstream and underground Italian rappers have adopted pimp personas. The appropriation of the pimp trope, however, is not only a sign of the influence of American rap, but also the expression of local forms of masculinity.