Cultural Hijacking: The Commercialization of the Hip Hop Genre Ever since the formative years of the recorded music industry, Africana artists have played a major role in shaping some of the most influential music genres of the 20th century. Jazz, blues, and hip hop, to name a few, would not exist in the current state that they do today had it not been for all of the great artists who overcame racial intolerance and segregation through their art. Unfortunately, the period of social consciousness within musical entertainment has passed and an era of ignorance being spread through popular music has transpired in its place. This paper examines the commercialization of the hip hop genre in the late 1980s and 1990s to propose that the low standards
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49). One of the reasons that gangster rap became as successful as it did was that it the imagery associated with the culture fit within the rebellious outlaw archetype that is prevalent throughout American history. The documentary, Hip Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes, elaborates on the archetype stating that: “The violent man using the gun to defend his family becomes a suitable metaphor for the notion of manhood” (Hurt, 2006). This hyper-aggressive image of masculinity is a direct product of the systemic violence that is present within the war-zone like ghettos from which gangster rap originates. In the documentary, Taleb Kweli is credited with saying: “Hip Hop is a very ego driven thing - it encourages you to assert yourself; especially as a black man in this society, you have to learn how to do that” (Hurt, …show more content…
5). Rap music’s portrayal of women as sexualized beings ties back to the era of slavery, where black women were seen as being primal beings who could not control their desires for sex. When interviewed in the film Generation M: Misogyny in Media and Culture, Jean Kilbourne states: “Women are told that their empowerment comes through their appearance and the use of sex, and that those women who do not measure up will be subject to scrutiny” (Thomas, 2008). This is reinforced by the lack of female hip hop artists in the industry working to oppose these stereotypes. Women who speak out against the misogynistic practices going on in the entertainment industry rarely receive the kind of media attention that males artists do and can also have a higher possibility of being subject to abuse. In fact, “black women are 35 percent more likely to be physically assaulted than white women” (Hurt, 2006). The roles available to women within the hip hop culture are therefore limited, reinforcing the objectification of women and establishing a social divide between genders. Studies have been performed by psychologists to examine how the media is responsible for influencing young peoples beliefs
49). One of the reasons that gangster rap became as successful as it did was that it the imagery associated with the culture fit within the rebellious outlaw archetype that is prevalent throughout American history. The documentary, Hip Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes, elaborates on the archetype stating that: “The violent man using the gun to defend his family becomes a suitable metaphor for the notion of manhood” (Hurt, 2006). This hyper-aggressive image of masculinity is a direct product of the systemic violence that is present within the war-zone like ghettos from which gangster rap originates. In the documentary, Taleb Kweli is credited with saying: “Hip Hop is a very ego driven thing - it encourages you to assert yourself; especially as a black man in this society, you have to learn how to do that” (Hurt, …show more content…
5). Rap music’s portrayal of women as sexualized beings ties back to the era of slavery, where black women were seen as being primal beings who could not control their desires for sex. When interviewed in the film Generation M: Misogyny in Media and Culture, Jean Kilbourne states: “Women are told that their empowerment comes through their appearance and the use of sex, and that those women who do not measure up will be subject to scrutiny” (Thomas, 2008). This is reinforced by the lack of female hip hop artists in the industry working to oppose these stereotypes. Women who speak out against the misogynistic practices going on in the entertainment industry rarely receive the kind of media attention that males artists do and can also have a higher possibility of being subject to abuse. In fact, “black women are 35 percent more likely to be physically assaulted than white women” (Hurt, 2006). The roles available to women within the hip hop culture are therefore limited, reinforcing the objectification of women and establishing a social divide between genders. Studies have been performed by psychologists to examine how the media is responsible for influencing young peoples beliefs