Contents
It doesn’t take long, once you’ve discovered Hip Hop, to realise it has the power to fire up a heated debate. In fact, this debate has the potential to cover almost all the major social issues being talked about around the world today.
With its roots in the African American and Latino ghettos of the United States, Hip Hop was (and still is) an effective outlet for communities suffering the long term effects of poverty, racism, high unemployment, poor housing, health, and lack of access to educational opportunites.
Frustration at social and political racism, which keeps some sections of society stuck in a cycle of poverty and hopelessness, may have acted as the fuse for the Hip Hop explosion, but the fall-out from this explosion has lit the way for as many positive as negative outcomes.
Hip Hop is the language, culture and soundtrack for many young people in a world very different from any other period of human history. Through discussion and a respect for each other’s beliefs, backgrounds and experiences, we can help young people become active, conscious global citizens in a world made worth inheriting.
Theme A: Colonisation/Indigenous Issues
The aim of this resource is to ‘unpack’ some of the most universal themes that arise from any study of Hip Hop culture. And at the front line of this investigation is a look at Colonisation and its effects on indigenous peoples. The Resource takes a close look at the context within Aotearoa New Zealand and the effect on the indigenous Māori people. As a result of colonisation, indigenous people worldwide continue to suffer economically, politically, socially, spiritually and culturally.
Within this section we’ll also look at some of the other ethnic groups who make up Aotearoa – especially the Pacific Island peoples. How do newer immigrants fit into the picture? How do they view the indigenous peoples? How can/do they support each other?
The struggles that indigenous peoples (and immigrants) face from North America to Australia, Aotearoa to Puerto Rico, are similar in many ways. Where differences are identified, strong connections can be found to show how indigenous communities use Hip Hop as a tool to power up each unique cultural rebirth. Hip Hop has opened up new doors to achievement … new mirrors to look in.
Theme B: Role Models
These new directions – new ‘role models’ – form the core of the second theme. We will examine the claims that often arise from mainstream media and commentators about the sexist and violent attitudes expressed through Hip Hop, to discover whether they ring true in Aotearoa. We’ll also explore the positive ‘role models’ that can be gained from entering the Hip Hop world, where words, music, dance and graff art become the weapons of choice.
The third theme we will consider is how money – the seeking of it, lack of it, control of it and influence of it – affects the Hip Hop community and all the groups who feed into it. With the worldwide explosion in the popularity of Hip Hop, Commercialisation (where the focus shifts from ‘message’ to ‘money’) has the power to rocket people from poverty to super-star status overnight.
This raises questions about what the new focus on money does to the integrity (or ‘truth’) of Hip Hop, and on who is really in control of the purse strings. With huge global corporations such as Reebok and Nike climbing onto the band-wagon, the very people who first introduced Hip Hop risk being left out of the lolly scramble.
Theme D: Politicisation
The last of our themes looks at the politics of Hip Hop. Whether through lyrics or social commentary expressed through graffiti, Hip Hop has always been a powerful way of voicing strongly held beliefs and new ideas. That Hip Hop arose from the anger and frustrations of the street is evident in its words, practice and art. It helps to give the system a shake up, and has the power to unite like-minded groups all around the world.
We’ll discuss some of the issues behind the messages of Hip Hop, whether it be through lyrics, dance, graff or Djing,– from the ‘big picture’ debates about the way society is controlled, to the more personal issues of how these controls affect us as individuals.
We’ll also look at how the politicisation of Hip Hop has sometimes seen it hijacked by governments and media in an attempt to cement their own political goals… and consider whether the bad rap Hip Hop culture receives is more a statement about the state of society itself.
1 Hone Harawira, from ‘Ngā Tahi: Know the Links’ (2003) DVD Kia Kaha Productions.
2 Interviewee Three, Auckland Group: ‘The Next’ Resource.
3 C. Taylor (2004) ‘Hip Hop and Youth Culture: Contemplations on an emerging cultural phenomenon’; URL: http://www.juyc.org
