New Comm Ave

Jessica Murillo enjoys spending her time mellowing out with some friends, her boyfriend, or by herself, whether it be trying new things to obtain an adrenaline rush or simply doing nothing. Other than family, school, and friends music and basketball also have a great impact in her life. She loves basketball and everything about it; from watching a Lakers game to competing on her own. As for music, she would probably go insane if it never existed because it eases her mind and her soul.

“H
ip, hip hop.. Hip hop.. Is dead” is the prelude to the criticizing brutal lyrics from a recent track by respected hip hop artist Nas.

Is hip hop music truly dead? Has American consumerism completely devoured what hip hop music used to be and transformed it into another public commodity? According to the article “Is Hip Hop Dead?” by Walter Dawkins, “What used to be exciting, groundbreaking music seems to have been reduced to a one-note [ruckus]. The only topics discussed are “bling-bling” materialism, how many guns you have, and ‘ho’s.’”

The massive impact of consumerism presented by ubiquitous media is influencing society’s perspectives on hip hop music. “Bling-bling” and materialistic items are starting to represent wealth; how many times you’ve been to jail or how many times you’ve been shot is now being glorified; and women are being turned into sex objects. What once began as a music phenomenon that was used for political statements and unique artistic forms of expression has now been turned into a commodity in today’s society; Hip hop has not only become something that we can buy and sell, but something that is all about buying and selling.

Hip hop music, also known as rap music, derived from a culture that originated in the Bronx in New York City during the 1970s. During that time period, one of the main components of hip hop music was to establish “forms of self expression; the driving force … was people’s desire to be seen and heard” (Cook). Hip hop music was also a means of communication and a source of information, for some the only source, that attracted many of those among the urban youth. When hip hop music first began, it focused on the struggles that people had to deal with and was “reflective of the political, social and economic conditions of the time” (Cook).

In today’s society, however, hip hop music along with the culture itself, has become a fashion statement; correlating with clothing and dance and glorifying the glamorous lives of those who evolved from “rags to riches”. For example, current rap artist Lil’ Wayne produces music relating to entrepreneurship, upward mobility, masculine potency, and a binary understanding of power and authority. In addition, recent trends in mainstream, commercial rap music videos rely on formulaic video imagery that emphasizes rappers' accumulated wealth and property such as houses, cars, jewelry, and women. Obama stated in Vibe Magazine’s 2005 issue that "the underlying values [of hip hop music and hip hop culture] are so square. It’s about bling. It is entirely cynical, [and is] entirely materialistic” (Serwer). The following excerpts from Common’s lyrics from his song “I Used to Love Her” perfectly embody the transformation of hip hop to mainstream: “Did a couple of videos and became afrocentric… Out goes the weave, in goes the braids beads medallions”; once it became more publicized, hip hop music became more contemporary and focused more on the glamorous life. “Now I see her in commercials, shes universal… She was really the realest, before she got into showbiz… Slim was fresh yo, when she was underground… Original, pure untampered and down sister… Boy I tell ya, I miss her”; Here, Common is criticizing on how hip hop music has now become so entangled and obsessed with wealth and power that it is no longer as genuine as it used to be when it first started.

Oversized flashy jewelry, money, sexual promiscuity, and "pimped" modified cars: the perfect ingredients to the ultimately seeming perfect hip hop music video. But are all these superficial commodities really what hip hop music is all about? Why are so many Americans in today’s society attracted to the commodities that are produced and advertised by media?

According to Patricia Dalton from the Washington Post, “People used to buy things when they needed them; now they buy things when they want them or want their children to have them”. In other words, people want to buy what the media is advertising if it is part of the latest trend during the time. If it’s popular, it’s a must have. Otherwise, if you don’t have what’s popular at the time, then you won’t be popular. For example, a simple analogy: if Bow Wow has a commercial of himself wearing a pair of Nike sneakers that are the latest in the fashion industry or simply just appear to “look cool”, then people, particularly among the youth, will want to buy those very same sneakers; if Bow Wow wears those shoes, then those shoes must be cool; and if you wear those shoes, you will be cool. Why has hip hop gone down the road of materialism and been turned into a commodity? Why not stick to its roots of being a political message during times of hardship? Why is it all about making money and having all the glamour and spotlight? Is that what really sells?

The commodity of hip hop music and the way it is being presented to the public eye is reshaping American society’s perspectives of it, especially among the youth. Most younger generations of today lack knowledge of the history of hip hop music, how it was formed, and why it was created. Back then, hip hop was established for the purpose of self-expression and exposing political, economical, and social problems at the time; it has now become materialistic. In Walter Dawkin’s article, “Is Hip Hop Dead?”, co-creator Bill Stephney of political hip hop group Public Enemy believes that, “the heavy influence of the crack [epidemic in urban communities] changed many of the values of the youth black culture since the mid-'80s, [and] that's where you get the materialism, the guns, the absolute die-hard mentality for meaningless things”.

This mentality started reflecting itself in the music in the early '90s with the introduction of the group NWA. Their albums explicitly detailed a hard-core lifestyle of violence, drugs and sex. This then transitioned to today’s hip hop which is usually associated with a lifestyle full of glamour, money, women, violence, drugs, and sex; ultimately, it has become mainstream and has become to be “defined by widely-accepted and currently-popular standards, trends, and hypes that have been established by the media, typically resulting in the promotion of superficial traits” (Urbandictionary). When it first began, hip hop music emerged as counterculture, but it has now been transformed into mainstream; conforming to society’s wants and needs.

Has hip hop music truly become just another in-and-out fad in our society that will die out in the future? Or will it somehow be rediscovered back to its roots? At the rate it is going, it seems as if hip hop music will continue to only become what society makes of it. What once started out as a medium of expression has now become a catalyst for capitalism. The hip hop movement has objectified women in today’s society and turned wealth, over-flashy jewelry, and cars into must haves.

Nowadays, most hip hop music videos show the sexual parts of women’s bodies a majority of the time, along with oversized, shiny jewelry; only showing certain parts of a woman’s body in music videos instigates the selling of sex, and jewelry and materialistic items sell a fashion image of what is thought to represent wealth.

From conveying messages about the trials and tribulations of political, social, and economic conditions of our society to transmitting sexually promiscuous messages that focus on attaining wealth and power, hip hop music has become just another commodity created by our society’s consumerism; it has de-evolved from counterculture and gone completely mainstream. Hip hop music and hip hop culture have now become tools to market wealth, power, and sex in our materialistic society. Hip hop may be now considered to be “dead” to those masterminds who conceived the very idea of hip hop music and hip hop culture. “Dead” as in dead in its original form and taking on a new form; it has de-evolved from an artistic form of expression into a form of capitalism. Nowadays, when people hear hip hop music or see hip hop videos, they tend to associate it with money, violence, sex, and oversized, flashy jewelry. The hip hop of today no longer depicts the true essence of what hip hop really means.

• 2009 Fall
• Cultural Analysis