Episode 9 – Anna Oravcová

Anna Oravcová is a sociologist whose research focuses on rap and hip hop culture, and Czech women rappers in particular. She studied at the Department of Gender Studies at Charles University in Prague where she also received her doctorate in Sociology with a dissertation on the construction of authenticity in Czech rap music. On the Czech music scene, she is known as the Hip Hop Scholar, but the hip hop scene is not only the subject of her research. Besides her research activities and writing academic articles and book chapters, she is one of the organizers of the Freestyle Mondays and End of the Weak events. On her Street Cypher radio show on Radio Spin, she regularly features young independent artists. Currently she is also teaching at the University of New York in Prague. How is hip hop, as a research topic, accepted in academia? How is Czech rap evolving? What is the position of women in rap, and which African American scholars influenced Anna?

instagram.com/anna_oravcova

LIST OF REFERENCES

Queen Latifah – Ladies First (feat. Monie Love)
Tricia Rose – Hip Hop Wars lecture at the Brown University, 2010
Pio Squad – Tanec na hrobech (prod. by Enemy)
The Roots – Dear God 2.0 (feat. Monsters of Folk)
Mono3x – Makadila (prod. by Cut Dem)
Lyric Jones – Face To Face

Concept & narration: Mary C
Title music: Mary C
Translation: Anna Oravcová
Visuals: Vladyslav Afanasiev & Jan Brož

MY EMANCIPATION DON’T FIT IN YOUR EQUATION

Podcast series that maps the revolutionary and emancipatory thoughts in current music presented by Mary C and Institute of Anxiety.

Let’s explore revolutionary thoughts and strong emotions in contemporary music, that have the power to move our society. They have always been here but are very often neglected. However, there still are places where they thrive, where new provocative and strong realities emerge and where new pop music arises, along with new revolutions.

Let’s explore the process of evolution and emancipation of electronic dance music and rap.
How do artists, especially those from african diaspora, create? Is it even possible to create when the art should be an absence of fear? What can artists help us learn and unlearn and how can we become connected and free ourselves through listening? Meet the artists who produce music as well as important knowledge, bring communities together and organize a variety of initiatives. How does their emancipation diverge from the current normative equation? The title of the podcast is inspired by Lauryn Hill’s lyrics 'My emancipation don't fit your equation.' appears in her song Lost Ones.

Marie Čtveráčková aka Mary C is a curator, musician, music journalist, producer, and cofounder of ZVUK and Synth Library Prague. From 2011 to 2020 she worked at public Czech Radio Wave as the creator and host of Scéna s Mary C (The Scene with Mary C), which focused primarily on rap, its context, and its contemporary forms. As a curator and lecturer at Synth Library Prague she is currently focusing on informal music education and music technology. In 2018 she founded the collective Trigger, which aims to connect women and trans* people in electronic music. She is interested in the potential of community organizing and inspired by feminist theory as well as the knowledge of Hip Hop culture.