Alternative Rappers?
Another way that Outkast challenged notions of authenticity was through their defiance towards conceptions of performative blackness within Hip Hop. Here, I will use E. Patrick Johnson’s framework, as well as how authenticity is constructed based on sound, look and feel in tandem, to illustrate how OutKast resisted this limited view of Hip Hop legitimacy (Grazian).
Perceptions of performative blackness connected to sound, look and feel stem from urban inner-city ghetto life that included a specific image of blackness, dialect as reflected in rap lyrics, and clothing styles that contribute to the feel of Hip Hop as a cultural system (Grazian). Many lyrics that shaped Hip Hop narratives, especially for male rappers, were connected to machismo and hyper-masculine verbiage. As a result, this became the ways in which black male identity connected to Hip Hop were constructed and ultimately understood. Male rappers who called women bitches and hoes who also spoke of gangs, violence and sexual bravado, while bragging about their economic prosperity in …show more content…
Instead, they treated their clothing as an extension of the unorthodox artistic style to showcase another kind of black dress; one that placed fluidity in dress and style, which many heads referred to as alternative, but nonetheless accepted because OutKast was conjuring up the very essence of Hip Hop itself; to resist and be authentic to one’s self. Many think pieces and constant debates emerged around the OutKast style of dress that questioned if they were weirdos, on drugs or losing their minds. Still, OutKast never conformed and eventually their visual aesthetic became a new way to not only resist limited ideals about what Hip Hop looks like on the body, but more rappers including Goodie Mobb, Common and Mos Def emulated their
Another way that Outkast challenged notions of authenticity was through their defiance towards conceptions of performative blackness within Hip Hop. Here, I will use E. Patrick Johnson’s framework, as well as how authenticity is constructed based on sound, look and feel in tandem, to illustrate how OutKast resisted this limited view of Hip Hop legitimacy (Grazian).
Perceptions of performative blackness connected to sound, look and feel stem from urban inner-city ghetto life that included a specific image of blackness, dialect as reflected in rap lyrics, and clothing styles that contribute to the feel of Hip Hop as a cultural system (Grazian). Many lyrics that shaped Hip Hop narratives, especially for male rappers, were connected to machismo and hyper-masculine verbiage. As a result, this became the ways in which black male identity connected to Hip Hop were constructed and ultimately understood. Male rappers who called women bitches and hoes who also spoke of gangs, violence and sexual bravado, while bragging about their economic prosperity in …show more content…
Instead, they treated their clothing as an extension of the unorthodox artistic style to showcase another kind of black dress; one that placed fluidity in dress and style, which many heads referred to as alternative, but nonetheless accepted because OutKast was conjuring up the very essence of Hip Hop itself; to resist and be authentic to one’s self. Many think pieces and constant debates emerged around the OutKast style of dress that questioned if they were weirdos, on drugs or losing their minds. Still, OutKast never conformed and eventually their visual aesthetic became a new way to not only resist limited ideals about what Hip Hop looks like on the body, but more rappers including Goodie Mobb, Common and Mos Def emulated their