“Als geluk in de winkel lag zou ik het kopen voor je, snap dat”: Hoe Nederlandstalige rap wordt gebruikt om persoonlijk welzijn te verbeteren

While rap is often portrayed as simplistic, masculine and violent, it enables marginalized groups to express themselves creatively about life challenges. Contemporary rap music increasingly seems to convey ideas about vulnerability, emotions and personal well-being. Using Hall’s encoding/decoding model, we explore which dimensions of personal well-being are discussed in Dutch rap and how listeners use this for their personal well-being. Based on a qualitative content analysis of the lyrics of Dutch rap music and YouTube reactions to these songs, we show that artists and listeners attribute shared meanings to the importance of success and status, strong social relationships, and ideas about street culture. Moreover, rappers and listeners use rap music to articulate their own vulnerability and personal challenges. Importantly, listeners also give meanings to the music that seem unrelated to the original message, using it as a source of support and motivation, for mood regulation and emotional work, and as a carrier of memories. We conclude that personal well-being is frequently discussed in Dutch rap music and that listeners are not passive recipients of negative messages. As such, we demonstrate how everyday rap music consumption can contribute to listeners’ personal well-being.