Monday, March 31, 2008
The Commercialization of Hip Hop
When I was younger I can definitely say that I took a liking to hip hop music. Now that I’m older, I seem to view the genre very differently. I’m not sure if it is because my tastes have changed or whether it’s because rampant commercialization of the genre has squeezed out every last drop of relevance and meaning. I’m leaning towards the latter. While, I still like a lot of the beats that the genre has to offer, I find it hard to excuse the violent, misogynistic and down right commercially explicit lyrics that go along with these beats. In my opinion, most of the hip hop artists have sold out to the marketing agendas of their label and any other corporation ready to through money their way for an endorsement.
One commercial that really got my attention was this new commercial for diet Pepsi max: “With ginseng and MORE caffeine! Endorsed by hip hop celebrities Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Macy Grey and Missy Elliot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVYzxxgKXTY
I find it really hard to believe that such wealthy celebrities like these (who all probably have personal trainers and dietitians to help boost their image) would regularly drink a sugary and highly caffeinated drink such as Pepsi Max. As if Pepsi didn’t already have enough caffeine in it! What’s even more unnerving is the idea that this adds is probably targeting poor working class American families (including African-American families) that are already dealing with high rates of diabetes, heart-disease, and obesity.
It's things like this that really get me upset that hip hop artists use their influence and power to the detriment of people they claim to represent, exacerbating current social problems.
One commercial that really got my attention was this new commercial for diet Pepsi max: “With ginseng and MORE caffeine! Endorsed by hip hop celebrities Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Macy Grey and Missy Elliot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVYzxxgKXTY
I find it really hard to believe that such wealthy celebrities like these (who all probably have personal trainers and dietitians to help boost their image) would regularly drink a sugary and highly caffeinated drink such as Pepsi Max. As if Pepsi didn’t already have enough caffeine in it! What’s even more unnerving is the idea that this adds is probably targeting poor working class American families (including African-American families) that are already dealing with high rates of diabetes, heart-disease, and obesity.
It's things like this that really get me upset that hip hop artists use their influence and power to the detriment of people they claim to represent, exacerbating current social problems.
# posted by ela @ 3:47 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
Hey back in the day, who couldn’t respect Lauyrn Hill with her unique perspective, or keep to the beat of social justice corralling by Talib Kwali. Yes in the era of Jay- Z shoes and P.Diddy cologne - Nas correctly stated Hip-Hop is dead. However, with that said perhaps we shouldn’t be too critical of Hip-Hop artists today, I mean many of them grew up disenfranchised youth, trying to make a dollar or two to survive.
Instead of completely writing off value of this commercial age of Hip-Hop perhaps we should look at the positionality and context those artists are in. I truly believe Hip-Hop today is unique because it is an art form imbedded in challenging norms, yet has been incorporated by the mainstream as a tool to sell product. In turn, it is actually those voices that were once disadvantaged that now have the economic means to bring about real change; as the saying goes use the masters tools to bring down his house.
I think in lieuof just writing off Hip-Hop as a culture that is celebratory of misogyny, drugs, and cash money, we should further look at the institutions at play. Perhaps Hip-hop is Black America’s interpretation/ articulation of the American Dream? Maybe, while we are enjoying ourselves watching Shawty get low or doing the Superman, we should ask ourselves why platinum fronts are celebrated- it would give us greater perspective of what our cosmology is.
Post a Comment
Instead of completely writing off value of this commercial age of Hip-Hop perhaps we should look at the positionality and context those artists are in. I truly believe Hip-Hop today is unique because it is an art form imbedded in challenging norms, yet has been incorporated by the mainstream as a tool to sell product. In turn, it is actually those voices that were once disadvantaged that now have the economic means to bring about real change; as the saying goes use the masters tools to bring down his house.
I think in lieuof just writing off Hip-Hop as a culture that is celebratory of misogyny, drugs, and cash money, we should further look at the institutions at play. Perhaps Hip-hop is Black America’s interpretation/ articulation of the American Dream? Maybe, while we are enjoying ourselves watching Shawty get low or doing the Superman, we should ask ourselves why platinum fronts are celebrated- it would give us greater perspective of what our cosmology is.
<< Home
