Rap and Race : It’s got a Nice beat, But What about the MessageRachel E. Sullivan

Mid-1979s New York City

Rap’s fan : Black and Latino

1980s : “golden era of rap” and many rappers turned to more overly political themes ( gang violence, police brutality, poverty and racism)

Ex: Song Fight the Power Artist: Public enemy .

“Elvis was a hero to mostBut he never meant ----

to me you seeStraight up racist that

sucker wasSimple and plain

Mother---- him and John Wayne

Cause I'm Black and I'm proud

I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped”

“Elvis was a hero to mostBut he never meant ----

to me you seeStraight up racist that

sucker wasSimple and plain

Mother---- him and John Wayne

Cause I'm Black and I'm proud

I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped”

Social movement

From the start, the public viewed the hip-hop culture rap music through a racist lens.

Rap music has long been the target of criticism from the popular media.

Rap music and hip-hop culture are a potential form of resistance.

Rap helps low income African American youth develop empowering beliefs that help them connect with their culture and develop positive identities .

White fans were more likely to say that rap had affected their opinion about racism than Black fans.

White fans listen to rap maybe motivated by curiosity.

The Miseducation of Hip-HopEvelyn Jamilah

Hip-hop brash, vulgar, in-your-face hip-hop is indisputably the dominant youth culture today.

Not all hip hop is irresponsible .There’s a link between students’ tastes and their cultural identity, their grads and other key indicators.Those who has a low self-consciousness and highly materialistic “gangster rap”

Arguments Failure to educate Administrators and teachers can’t apply

‘60s and 70s methods to teaching a new millennium.

5 Things That Killed Hip HopJ-Zone

1) Clans, Posses, Crews & Cliques : Who U wit?The days of solo roller are over.Mid-late 90s, a crew with 1,000 different artist ( touring together, crew t-shirts, beef with other crews, collaborations).

3 producers and 3 guests 10 producers and 7 guests the lost of album Cohesiveness and the

focus on just music

Ex: Song :“You don’t know” Artist : 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Cashis.

2) Too much musicPeople want to ↑Quantity ↓ Quality

3) Too cool to have fun/no balance in RapNot too many people are doin’ music for fun anymore.

4) Law & order : MPC and SamplingThe appeal of Hip-hop was always rearranging the old to create the new.Now 1/8 of a second sample can run you the risk of legal action.Legal industries have officially declared war on rap.

The Money Note : Can the Record Business Be Saved?John Seabrook

1. Singer and Producer2. CDs and MP3

Singer and Producer

How a “star” is made ? “Go to thousands of sweaty night clubs,

and sit through a dozen office auditions each week”

Local Fan base

Get their song on the Radio

Product endorsement deal

The Image

“Reality Show”

CDs and MP3

CDs “If the star is big enough, people will

want to buy the CD”

Mp3 It can be copied millions of times

without any fidelity degradation. Music fan now will go to the Internet and

get the song they like. affect the number of hard copies sold.

Apple’s iTunes – music store selling downloadable songs .

It is considered the best designed and best stocked of the legal services.

People just purchase the songs that they like.

“Take those old records off the shelf” : Youth and Music consumption in the Postmodern ageDavid Hayes

Take those old records off the shelfBob Seger

Just take those old records off the shelfI'll sit and listen to 'em by m'self

Today's music ain't got the same soulI like that old time rock and roll

• “Singles” artists• Contemporary musis landscape was populated by

untalented performers and profit hungry excutives

Ashlee Simpson’s Saturday night live lip-sync

Rihanna can’t sing

Post modern malaise and nostalgia

Vinyl remained the format of choice for many die-hard collection.

Vinyl is the reproductions of sound.

Physical interaction is the dominant factor •Clean the vinyl•Position the needle •Flipping the record

Regard themselves as serious music fan.

Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll : Urban legends and Popular MusicIan Inglis

Urban legends : stories that “belong to the subclass of folk narratives, legends believed, or at least believable”

4 typology of story teller

1. The believer : believes or hope that the legend is true.

2. The cynic : knows or believe the legend is false.3. The entertainer: the story is nothing more than a

diverting or unusual tale to be told to others.4. The Expert : each retelling of a story increases

the stock of “cultural capital” he/she possesses.

The social functions of popular music’s urban legends Provide conversational topics to assist in

the establishment and maintenance of social relationships via interaction and communication.

Second, these tales can be seen as modern variants of the deeper often religious.

Third, the social function of these legends is to allow for members of the public to engage in vicarious identification with the named protagonist and elements of their lifestyle.

fans project their own desires, hopes through their idols.

Fourth, some tales are employed individually to perform important political functions .

Fifth, in their position as cultural texts, the materials of popular music continually offer themselves for interpretation.

In Perfect Harmony : Popular music and Cola advertisingBethany Klein

Perfect harmony ? Music already represented an important

weapon in the cola war’s arsenal. Both Coke and Pepsi have positioned

themselves as having more genuine connection to music culture, as enthusiasts, champions, and partner

“Fit to the use of music”

Casting doubt on the perfect harmony “The best pop music is the truth of

someone singing powerfully about what they feel”

Sponsorships from company for use of songs in ads and the endorsement from the artists

The division between art and commerce is blurred.

Commercialism-Friendly Music Rap alongside pop are the most

common genre taped by cola companies.

Benefits to Artists For older artists, participating in

commercial campaigns can spark a renewed interest in back catalogs.

The commercial campaigns can act as a cross-promotion tool.

For artists today, the benefit is clearly to save them out of the hard times .

Yet, the finished products will cary the artist’s aesthetic and at times moral mark in very bizzarre ways.

Advertising as Entertainment

The adoption of Rock qualities1. An anti-authoritarianism : selecting

notorious artists.2. Authenticity : “It’s the real thing”3. Gravity : “Borrow the emotion to go

over the top”

Question

Questions:1. “MTV kill all the radio stars”. To what

extends do you agreed or disagreed with this statement?

2. Purchasing hard copies is the way to that you are serious about music ? Agreed or disagreed ?

3. Does a singer nowadays must know how to sing or he/she can be a performer?