Rhythms of Resilience: Hip Hop as a Buffer to Adverse Mental Health Outcomes Following Bereavement

Despite hip hop’s cultural prominence, psychological research has largely overlooked its role as a resilience resource for Black American adolescents facing bereavement. Using the phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory, this study examined whether a hip hop identity proxy—operationalized as the interaction between music engagement and racial identity processes—buffers bereavement-related mental health challenges. Hierarchical regression analyses of 357 Black adolescents ( M age = 15.93) revealed sex-specific patterns: for girls, higher levels on the hip hop identity proxy corresponded with fewer mental health challenges at low bereavement levels; for boys, this protective effect emerged primarily under high bereavement conditions. Findings challenge deficit-oriented portrayals of hip hop, positioning it as a context-dependent coping resource with implications for culturally responsive mental health interventions serving Black youth.