Constructing folk vocality in southern Italian reggae and hip hop, 1992–2008: Sampling and versioning women’s vocal performances in ‘Sanacore’, ‘Fight da Faida’ and ‘Le radici ca tieni’

This article explores previously unanalysed vocal performances by women in 1990s and early 2000s southern Italian hip hop and reggae, examining the renditions of southern Italian folk song in Almamegretta’s ‘Sanacore’, Frankie Hi-NRG MC’s ‘Fight da Faida’ and Sud Sound System’s ‘Le radici ca tieni’. It first outlines the genesis of the idea of southern Italian ‘folk’ vocality present in these songs, a notion that originates from post-war beliefs that certain vocal styles indicated the Italian South’s marginality and cultural distance from the rest of Italy. Second, the article asserts that southern Italian folk vocality in the songs analysed is gendered: the male artists’ selection and incorporation of women’s voices, through hip hop and reggae’s citational practices of versioning and sampling, along with representational practices in music videos and other media, eliminate the women’s artistic agency and individuality, constructing them as anonymous emblems of a southern Italian folk past.