Hip-Hop heteroglossia as practice, pleasure, and public pedagogy: Translanguaging in the lyrical poetics of “24 Herbs” in Hong Kong

The focus of this chapter is the highly heteroglossic musical and lyrical practice of a hip-hop group in Hong Kong. Through analysis of the ways in which they mix, switch, double code, and intertwine English- and Cantonese-style lyrics, the chapter engages with trans-local and local identities in uniquely postcolonial Hong Kong performance modes. The group’s reception, as indicated in their fans’ postings on their YouTube music videos, indicates a highly heteroglossic listening public alive with diverse and at times contradictory interpretations of entangled cultural and linguistic identities.