Who is in Control?
‘Need a quick snack please don’t get a big mac’
Trillion1
Hip Hop has changed America forever. It has influenced nearly every aspect of American cultural life. You can’t turn on the TV and not see the trappings of hip-hop dress, language and attitude – in everything from commercials to news to sports.2
At the same time as corporations such as MTV, soft drink companies and the fashion industry were getting hooked on Hip Hop, the actual artists and their fans found themselves faced with a problem. The culture they had fostered had now become mainstream – a popular, or mass culture. What was once revolutionary was now being sold in chain stores in the suburbs!
Commercial Hip Hop is not youth rebellion, not when the heroes of Hip Hop like Puffy are taking pictures with Donald Trump and the heroes of capitalism… That’s not ‘the street’ – that’s Wall Street.
Saul Williams3
This leap into the world of consumerism is a global issue. To those who are controlling the purse strings, the message is firmly being pushed that there is nothing wrong with this. Even in traditional Islamic countries like Malaysia, Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonalds now sit alongside karaoke bars and other fast food restaurants. Economic growth within these countries has ‘partly been based upon…the right to buy your own CD player, latest TV and Video entertainment system, and soon, private TV channels as well’.4 The danger in all of this is that by believing that you have gained ‘the right to buy’, you can be tempted into thinking that what you have really bought is ‘freedom’ - that everything is up for sale.
VIDEO:
Jamaican Intellectual talking about Western consumer culture and it's ability to pacify the minds of the people. From Nga Tahi - Know the Links.
»watch video
So just what does this word consumerism mean? It’s the way people strongly identify with a product or service they consume (use) – with a kind of emotional attachment – and most especially to those with ‘brand’ names that will raise the status (‘class’ or peer respect) of the consumer. It’s about the idea that if you drink Brand X, you will never be lonely again… that if you wear Label Z, you have ‘made it’ in the eyes of society. ‘These products are not seen as valuable in themselves, but rather as social signals or a reducer of anxiety about belonging’.5
It’s about the ‘herd’ mentality – where marketers speak of whether a product has ‘herdability’ or the power to move a group. ‘From a marketing standpoint… the most important consumer isn’t necessarily the one that buys the most stuff, but the ‘superconnectors’, those individuals who influence the herd’.6
I can imagine it, therefore I want it. I want it, therefore I should have it. Because I should have it, I need it. Because I need it, I deserve it. Because I deserve it, I will do anything necessary to get it.
Anonymous (from 'Creating Culture, Young People in Advertising' Global Education Centre resource)
‘Cool Hunting’
Advertising companies spend a fortune on finding out just what will appeal to the youth market – what is ‘cool’… what is longed for. Naomi Klein, in her book ‘No Logo’ called this marketing tool ‘cool hunting.’ ‘Like so much of cool hunting…[this] journey feeds off the alienation at the heart of America’s race relations: selling white youth on their fetishization of black style, and black youth on their fetishization of white wealth.’
Colonised by Corporations
So it’s no surprise that when Hip Hop arose from the ghettoes and spread to the masses, major brand companies saw the marketing potential and ran with it. Hip Hop was a way of life – a style – a sense of youth identity… of independence… of breaking rules. These companies (who previously put their effort into targeting the rich and white) suddenly saw the potential of opening up a whole new market.
In much the same way that the British Empire tried to take over Africa and profit from its wealth, corporations look at [teens] like this massive empire they are colonising and their weapons are films, music, books, CD’s, Internet access, clothing, amusement parks, sports teams.
Robert McChesney7
Unfortunately this also means that corporations who historically have nothing to do with Hip Hop are now keen to exploit the interests of my generation for profit. I’m not against capitalism, but it does irk me to see some of the lame marketing attempts being made at present.
P-Money.8
On the Horns of a Dilemma
This hijacking of Hip Hop culture puts some of those within the Hip Hop scene in a dilemma. Run with the herd, and risk being viewed as a ‘commercial cop-out’ (but also potentially receive the riches) – or stand outside the herd. With this dilemma in mind, many in the Hip Hop community focus on ‘keeping it real’ as a way to respond to claims of commercialism. Only how do you measure someone’s ‘realness’?
As Hip Hop artists embrace middle- and upper-class society, they may lose touch with the masses. They may ‘keep it real’ by talking about a few things affecting the most disadvantaged members of society, except they will have no kinship with those left behind.9
The Hip Hop generation must be taught by older generations that when corporations flash pictures of Martin Luther King, Jr., during Black History month, it does not necessarily mean that they are about black communities and their future sustainability. They must be reminded that they are a market ripe to be given meaningless messages in order to extract their money from them.10
And what about the pot of gold at the end of the Hip Hop rainbow? Is it really so wrong to want a share?
It’s understandable that an artist wants to sell records. Either to get their message across or purely to survive economically, their reasons are their own. It’s also understandable that a graffiti artist wants their art to be seen on a global scale. Once again, either to get their message across or get the ‘props’ they deserve, their reasons are their own.11
VIDEO:
A profile of Disruptiv, New Zealands first Graffiti Art Company. From The Living Room.
»watch video
Big Money – Small Windows
The reality is that the few Hip Hop artists who do ‘make it’ have only a relatively small window of time in which to achieve their fame and wealth, before they are passed over for the next ‘big thing’. It’s also true that few artists have control over their own publishing rights – although this is slowly changing. To offset this, some artists – such as P Diddy and Jay Z – have branched out into other businesses like fashion and restaurants, using their fame and position to cross over from Hip Hop into the more ‘mainstream’ business worlds.12
In the local scene, too, Aotearoa’s artists are spreading their wings out from ‘traditional’ Hip Hop activities as a form of making, and controlling, money. King Kapisi has developed his ‘Overstayer’ brand, and Dawn Raid Entertainment have become experts in the field of marketing and promotion. This multi-layered business includes two Hunters Corner shops in Papatoetoe, Auckland– a clothing store and a hairdressing salon – an office, recording studio, community trust, and a screen-printing business.13
Here, few resent these successes as Hip Hop practitioners themselves have started them off. As Bonnie (Phem1), a writer from Christchurch says: ‘If it’s anything to do with Hip Hop… it should be Hip Hop heads running it for Hip Hop people.’14
A profile of Top Shelf Productions, followed by the All Female Graff exhibition held at Disrrptive Gallery in Auckland. From Mai Time.
»watch video
The Power of Pie
Perhaps, in the end, that’s the key to this discussion. That everyone should be able to have a shot at success… a slice of the pie… but that the power over who cuts the pie, and how it’s cut, should stay in the hands of those who baked it in the first place!
Test your knowledge
- Why are the original Hip Hop artists worried by Hip Hop’s leap into mainstream culture?
- What does the word ‘consumerism’ mean?
- What does it mean if a product has ‘herdability’?
- What is ‘cool hunting’?
- How are Aotearoa’s Hip Hop artists maintaining control of their art and money?
- Who does Christchurch writer Bonnie think should be running Hip Hop activities?
Extend your thinking
Think about the last time you really wanted to buy something (or be given it as a present). Why did you want it so much? Did you think ownership of it would affect the way people viewed you in any way? Have you ever wanted something for that reason? How much does being ‘cool’ matter to you? How do you feel about being considered part of the herd?
