Knowledge Bank

This article addresses the relationship between spatial affinities and socio-­‐ economic capital investment in hip hop culture as part of an assessment of urban development in Brazil’s largest city. Through a selected braiding of ethnographic reflections, urban cultural histories, and social theories of speculation, I argue that performers, particularly as they participate in institution-building projects (casas de hip hop) and open microphone circuits (saraus), have influenced the flows of investment and the social geography of expressive culture in São Paulo. Whether these dynamics signify a “sell-out” or shrewd negotiation is up for debate but what is clear is that the value of the marginalized periphery (periferia) has changed and with it the overall conceptualization of São Paulo.