Dragon Headz

Forthcoming, 2028

Dragon Headz: Welshness, Identity, and the Hidden Histories of Hip Hop in Wales draws upon local, regional and national cultural histories, spatial practice, material culture, human geography, and ethnomusicology to present a narrative of Welsh hip hop.

The work proposes a canon of Welsh hip hop artists and practices to anchor the presence and position of hip hop in Wales, culturally and historically. The book provides insight into the intangible cultural histories of hip hop practice in Wales and its development and progression from the early 1980s to present day. Additionally, the complex relationships between hip hop culture and Welsh identities are revealed, which are crucial constructs for understanding Welshness in hip hop both historically and in a post-Brexit society.

Structured into three parts: terrain and interpolation, language and intertextuality, and identity and representation, each part framed within contextual, cultural and current dialogues between global and regional hip hop scholarship and Welsh hip hop practitioners. The book realigns the focus of hip hop in Britain from one of English centricity as a testament to the strength of Welsh hip hop.