(2022-12-14) Robertson-Palmer, Sean Jason; Fogarty, Mary
This interdisciplinary dissertation documents the performances of fans of the professional battle rap league King of the Dot (KOTD), the biggest battle rap league in Canada and one of the highest viewed platforms for battle rap in the world. By collectively tracing and articulating battle rap’s aesthetics, practices, formats, and community standards in digital spaces such as social media sites and fan forums, fans document the scene’s histories while driving innovation and shaping the culture they participate in. I argue that fans play a central role in the meaning-making of battle rap’s cultural practices through their participation in a digital battle rap scene. Through live and digital performance analyses, archival interviews, and oral testimonies, this dissertation prioritizes the voices of the participants in the scene, emphasizing the labour and agency present in battle rap fandom.