On a hot, humid and blindly sunny day in The Bahamas, I sit with my nephew under the shade of my mother’s porch to talk about our experiences in becoming men. Having not spoken to him in years, I play a draft of my self produced mixtape titled mix-mix-mish_mash_short_stories_masculinity_hip-hop_bahamian-ness-20220510_v10

Exploring Hip-Hop production and assemblage as de-colonial practices, this mixtape cuts, pastes, rearranges, reconfigures, interweaves and assembles academic literature, personal anecdotes, poetry, letters, tweets, WhatsApp messages and song lyrics together to explore my ever evolving relationship with masculinity through Hip-Hop and Hood Feminisms.

As a companion to the exhibition, Mish -Mash: The Makeshift Party, this mix also expands on the details and themes within my image making and artistic practice. These moments highlight the ways in which visual, sonic, moral and ethical contradictions intersect within Hip-Hop and Bahamian culture to create unique and sophisticated spaces for self and communal empowerment.

Keywords: Hip-Hop, Bahamian, Masculinity, Sampling, Feminism