This essay aims to examine the importance of the Hip-Hop culture in 21st century society. It will begin with consideration of the history of Hip-Hop, discussing its stylistic adaptations, cultural preferences and concerns, referring to the studies of black culture by Ellis Cashmore and Mark Neal. Within this I will explore the ethnicity and authenticity of the culture, with reference to last years Popular Music and its Cultural Context unit.
The essay will then move on to evaluate the culture’s relationship with the media, concentrating on the well documented moral panics associated with the culture; I will make particular reference to the theories of Stan Cohen. By studying the political and historical patterns of the culture, I endeavour to discover the overall meaning which the culture has for its members and for society. It is primarily important to coin what Hip-Hop is, the dictionary definition describes Hip-Hop as: hip-hop (h p h p ) or hip hop noun. 1.
A popular urban youth culture, closely associated with rap music and with the style and fashions of African-American inner-city residents. 2. Rap music. As a culture Hip-Hop includes four main categories of expression; Mixing, Dancing, Graffiti Art and Rapping, known as MC’ing. Hip-Hop was first recognised in New York around the mid 1970s, considered as a reaction to social movements of the time. In America the 70s and 80s were subject to negative behaviour towards black communities which consisted of Jamaican and Puerto Ricans as well as African-Americans, it was argued that the ruling of Reagan led to this behaviour.
Hip-Hop culture was seen as an escape from the explosion of gang violence throughout the 1970s and 80s, providing black American youths with a space for expression, this freedom of speech led to the spreading of Hip-Hop to other cities where black communities suffered. As Tricia Rose states, It satisfies poor young black people’s profound need to have their territories acknowledged, recognised and celebrated. ‘ (Rose, 1994: p. 11, cited in Neal, 1997: p. 136) The first UK top ten Hip-Hop hit was recorded in 1979 by the Sugar Hill Gang, called Rappers Delight’.
The recognition of this song noted the continuous exchange of musical ideas between black and white. The atmosphere created between black and white musicians from Britain and America was perfect for the sounds of black British musicians to prosper. Even though the spirit of the movement within the 1970s and 80s had waned, early 1990s Hip-Hop continued to undergo negative criticism from governments who believed it was necessary to destroy the progression of the movement. Their core tactic was to incorporate Hip-Hop into the mainstream, believing that it was the authenticity of Hip-Hop which made it popular.
This commercialisation of Hip-Hop lies at the root of many changes to the culture from the early 1990s, primarily the uplifting of Hip-Hop from its communities and artistic agenda to be used as an apparatus for capitalism. Commercial hip-hop has deteriorated what so many MC’s in the 80’s tried to create; a culture of music, dance, creativity, and artistry that would give people not only something to listen to, but also liberty to express themselves and deliver a positive message to their audiences.
The majority of famous Hip-Hop artists adhere to the commercialisation of the culture by creating music that caters for mainstream consumers, they rap about sex, drugs, violence and racism, calling themselves Gangsta Rappers’, they sell an image of toughness but their lyrics lack authenticity and meaning. The sudden sensation of white rappers is solid evidence that Hip-Hop continues to be a rapidly exploding culture, integrating people of all races. Since releasing his debut album Infinite in 1996, Martial Mathers, aka.
Eminem has flooded the Hip-Hop scene with respect from his listeners and music contemporaries, but an amazing amount of negative response from society and the mass media. For Eminem, his controversial and offensive songs strike a chord with a multitude of Hip-Hop loyalists who believe they have little to lose and everything to gain. The global success of Hip-Hop is a tribute to the central role of African-American sounds and styles in the development of 20th Century popular culture, but it is also dependant upon the crossover to a diverse range of audiences worldwide.
Rap has demonstrated its ability to surpass racialised categories of the popular culture industry. Even with the move into the mainstream, Hip-Hop has maintained a distinctive set of cultural priorities. In the majority, Hip-Hop continues to emphasise its blackness’. The connection of ethnicity with authenticity is a matter of cultural pride; Hip-Hop helps to defend against the failing of black culture. Early Hip-Hop was characterised by cross-cultural approval, which is a reflection of the multi-ethnic mix of Ghettos’ and Barrios’.
The politicisation of Hip-Hop during the 1980s put emphasis on Black Nationalism, which reduced the evidence of non-black members. Hip-Hop was increasingly established as a medium for individuals of minority groups in society, it acted as an instrument for social commentary which is well suited to Hip-Hop’s foregrounding of first-person narratives based on personal experiences. The use of race as a political rather than a natural category meant that blackness’ was represented as a metaphorical condition with which other minority groups could identify.
There are many stereotypes and generalisations connected with Hip-Hop culture; the core criticism is that Hip-Hop promotes violence and negativity. Antagonists claim that Hip-Hop is offensive to many groups of people, an analysis which is based on rappers preaching about racial tension and the harsh conditions of living in black communities as the subject of most Hip-Hop songs. Since the commercialisation of Hip-Hop it is the Gangsta Rappers’ who have thrived within popular culture, rapping about sex, drugs, violence and racism.
The stylistic adaptations and cultural preferences of Gangsta Rappers’ never present a complete picture of the traditional Hip-Hop culture, lending to the limitations placed on exposure and explaining stereotypes of rap, leaving violence and sexism as seemingly promoted. Spectacular youth cultures have long occupied an important position in mass media; there is a notion that the media re-interpret sub-cultural fears and desires to emphasise the conflict between forms of youthful representation and the operations of culture industries for the purpose of mainstream society.
Central to the analysis of youth cultures, is an insistence that the mass media are not neutral critics of cultural phenomena, but have the ability to shape and exaggerate the behavioural patterns of the cultures on which they report. Moral Panic is a term first coined by sociologist Stan Cohen, he used it to describe occasions of sensationalised media alarm and he argued that:
A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media, the moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-thinking people; socially accredited experts pronounce their diagnosis and solutions; ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to; the condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more visible. ‘ (Cohen, 1973: p. 9)
So, in these terms distorted media coverage plays an active role in shaping events. An initially trivial event can be amplified, generating phenomena of greater significance and magnitude. The mass media are full of stories of social deviancy, from violence and murder through to a music star getting caught in possession of a gun. These stories are focused on because we like to be reassured that the way we are is normal’. Since the notion of youth cultures first came about in the post-war years, various sections of society’s youth have been singled out by the media as the personification of this deviance.
Organised crime is on the increase in the UK and many argue that much of the so called gang crime’ is inspired by the Hip-Hop culture. Artists such as Snoop Dogg, Niggas With Attitude (NWA) and the late Notorious B. I. G are frequently condemned for advocating the values of violence, intolerance and the idealisation of guns in their music, with some rap stars gaining greater prestige for their personal gun convictions. In the UK, Ashley Wallace, aka.
Asher D of So Solid Crew, was jailed for 18 months in 2002 for the possession of a revolver and live ammunition. The case study of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare is a primary example of a media formed moral panic, relating to accusations of Hip-Hop promoting gun crime. Following a dispute at a New Years party in a hairdresser’s salon in Birmingham in the early hours of January 2nd 2003, two teenage girls were shot dead and another two were injured. 18 year old Charlene Ellis and 17 year old Latisha Shakespeare, both died in the attack.
Charlene’s twin sister Sophie, and another 17 year old, Cheryl Shaw were wounded. The four black teenagers were hit by a barrage of bullets when they left the salon. They were considered to be innocent victims of a turf war’ between local gangs. The UK Home Secretary David Blunkett, adopted a familiar line of reasoning in response to the Birmingham events. Blunkett announced that he was appalled by the lyrics in many rap and hip-hop songs and called on the record industry to stop glamourising murder and black-on-black violence.
In a similar vein, Culture Secretary Kim Howells suggested that rap groups, were at least partly to blame for glorifying gun culture and violence. In a logical twist, the argument that the two teenagers killed in Birmingham had been avid fans of rap music was also frequently quoted in the media debates about their killing. The above story is symptomatic of the moral panics involving crime and race. The policing of groups such as Niggas With Attitude and So Solid Crew reflected this increasing tendency to criminalize hip-hop artists, their music and their audiences.
Incidental and minor acts of violence were characterised by the mass media and by society as being socially insupportable; however, this did not impede the interest in Hip-Hop of youths worldwide, in fact the increasing otherness’ of Hip-Hop tempted larger audiences. As Todd Boyd correctly argues: In the past, this popularity would have been a sure sign of accommodation, as the music would have to be compromised in some major way in order to be made mainstream.
Gangsta Rap has come to prominence because of its unwillingness to do so. The music and culture industries have found ways to sell this extreme nonconformity, while many rappers have successfully packaged their mediated range for a mass audience. ‘ (Boyd, 1997: p. 63, cited in Neal, 1999: p. 162) The social and political policing of Hip-Hop incidentally corresponded with the period of abrupt commodification. The increase in popularity of music and radio programs dedicated to Hip-Hop helped the success in mainstreaming the culture.
Through Hip-Hop music videos and airplay of singles, the anti-social behaviour was embraced by youths as a way of resisting society; however, this influence was marked in stylistic adaptations rather than political movement. What made the Hip-Hop industry multi-million dollar was the youth’s consumer spirit, which influenced financial gain through style developments. The mid 1990s noted a huge increase in clothing designers and companies using Hip-Hop artists to market their products, it also saw artists such as Sean Combs (P.
Diddy) and the Wu Tang Clan creating their own clothing lines. The important point that this essay makes is that not only do youth audiences consume the products; they also procure the social status and lifestyle that these products represent. In less than thirty years, the traditions of the Hip-Hop culture have been transformed from a culture influenced by the sufferings of black communities into a multi billion dollar industry which crosses racial and class boundaries. Hip-Hop has transformed racism into a style.
In the future, I believe that the growing popularity of the Hip-Hop culture will continue. The policing of artists and their music are likely to become stricter, with parental advisory placed on increasingly offensive lyrics and with the boost in crime rates associated with Hip-Hop policing will be more specific. However, I do not believe that increased awareness and policing of Hip-Hop will lead to the waning of its popularity, if anything; I think it will continue to add to the novelty of the culture.
