“Mi estilo es todos los estilos”: genre fluidity in the music of C. Tangana and Nathy Peluso

Abstract

This article aims to analyze how C. Tangana and Nathy Peluso, two artists who initially gained recognition within rap-related contexts, transcend hip-hop culture to craft musical personas characterized by notable eclecticism. The goal is to determine whether the genre fluidity they advocate for is the result of an aesthetic shift within hip-hop itself or whether these artists have instead constructed an aura of generic exceptionality that cannot be generalized to other contemporary artists. To address this, the article examines how both artists create a distinctive metageneric framework, where engaging with diverse genres not only adds variety to their work but also helps them broaden their audiences and redefine their identities through a triangulation of Spanish, Latin, and African American identities. This, in turn, allows for reflection on how the generic framework of rap, historically quite monolithic, has been redefined over the past decade with the emergence of the "urban music" category.