Surgaal and the lineage of Mongolian didactic hip hop

Didactic content remains among the most important elements of both the oral and written literature of the Mongolian nomads. When hip hop arrived in Mongolia in the 1990s, the culture’s local trailblazers were fast to recognize the study and exchange of knowledge as practices pivotal to the culture’s development. Throughout the years, Mongolian hip hop heads have actively engaged with the fifth element, successfully blending global hip hop knowledge with local didactic traditions. This allowed for aggregating and sharing knowledge in unique ways, ones combining street smartness and nomadic philosophy. Developing such a localized approach moved rap lyrics closer to traditional socio-ethical commentaries dubbed surgaal (Mong. ‘teaching’). The present article highlights the place of hip hop knowledge transfer practices among the larger lineage of Mongolian didactic literature and presents ways in which local hip hop heads engage in ‘spitting knowledge’.