Searfoss, Richard

Black Studies 50
August 30, 2014
Tuesday 2:00-3:20
The Corporate Assault on Hip-Hop
This paper will explore the corporate greed that has plagued hip-hop ever since it became a
billion dollar a year industry. Major record labels like Sony and Universal, which are owned by
white men, have been intentionally signing rappers that reflect modern minstrel characteristics of
blacks to attract White listeners. Once hip hop became popular, critics attributed it to the
destruction of the Black community, gang and drug related violence, demeaning of women, and
the overall destruction of Americas values. (Rose 2008). Near the end of the 1990s, rap
became associated more and more with its negative manifestations, specifically gangsta rap,
but also very misogynistic, materialistic, violent, and over-sexualized lyrics and images. Hiphops multi-dimensional range of subjects, including politics, religion, comedy, social
commentary, urban story telling, and social critique became underrepresented in mass media.
Notable rappers who address these topics include groups like A Tribe Called Quest, Public
Enemy, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli[6]. These East Coast rappers also featured dramatically
different clothing styles and mentality, elements of mainstream rap that changed over time.
Hip-hop started out in New York, adopting former funk and soul grooves styles and beats.
Many blacks children came from poor schools that cut music funding, leaving them to create a
type of music that only requires a record player. Rap brought poetry to a new generation, as it
called for lyrically skillful and colorful rhymes that paint pictures in peoples minds. Artists also
had to have strong crowd presence, whether they battled against others or performed for clubs
and parties. For many who rose in the industry, rap was their way of staying out of a vicious
cycle of drug dealing and incarceration. This was too often a cycle associated with lower-income

children, who would work their way up in the drug game, get caught up and jailed, and then
come back into the world feeling as though crime is the only way of survival. Artists were out to
share these experiences, while also serving as messengers of the public who kept the government
in check. [8][9]
This lack of representation was due to the fact that topics of gangsters, ghettos, violence,
drug dealers, and misogyny were thought by owners of major record labels to attract a wealthy,
suburban, white, teenage audience. The culture industrys intended one-dimensional
representation of hip hop music for the purpose of attracting white consumers goes off of
historically negative assumptions of Black culture, like the buck caricature of blackface. The
buck caricature, which was considered a savage, violent-prone criminal, surfaced after the days
of slavery as the stereotype of freed black men. This reshaping of hip hop music created an
economic situation that made it necessary for rappers to adopt these commoditized negative
images, which continued the cycle of one-dimensionalization. This is a prime example of cultural
commodification, which as defined by Professor Madison, is the exploitation of a culture for
profit. These record owners are determining the way artists on their labels are represented in their
music by financially coercing hip-hop personalities into representing themselves in the negative
ways previously mentioned.
Hip-hop music is performed by artists of many backgrounds as far as education, religion,
wealth, and sexuality, and in full, hip-hop represents all walks of life. The culture industrys
cycle causes hip-hop to act upon historically negative racial perceptions and reinforces them by
only allowing this one-dimensional version of hip hop music to define the genre as a whole. This
causes those exposed to hip-hop to project the negative characteristics of one-dimensional hiphop onto the Black community and its individuals.

Contrary to narrow stereotypes of hip-hop clothing that the media associates with ghetto,
rappers have utilized quite a variety of styles and outfits. When hip-hop first popularized in New
York, Adidas and Pro-keds among other brands clung to rappers as advertisement sources. In the
1980s, tracksuits, sheepskin and leather jackets, and name brand sneakers with oversized
shoelaces became the style, and the Jheri curl was the typical hairstyle for a rapper. By the 90s
hats, chains and dreadlocks constituted the style of choice. When gangster rap started to emerge
in LA through NWA and other groups, baggy pants, along with Raiders jerseys and hats, became
a symbol of hip-hop mentality and lifestyle. For NWA, who created this trend, the colors and
design meant a symbol of strength and pride. Because of the strong gangster influence in the
West Coast rap scene, and the dominance of blacks in hip-hop, gang activity, blackness, and
Raiders became synonymous.[10]
In addition to wearing Raider gear as a sign of toughness, groups like NWA sought to profit
off of sports gear by changing the negative connotations and ideas of what the clothing
represents. Because of the association with gang culture, team clothing was banned in public
schools nationwide. Instead of inciting violence in children, rappers argued that it served as a
form of expression and source of confidence. In rap music, it was apparent that these labels were
considered a source of pride and identity for artists. Because NWA was able to associate itself
positively with the Raiders label, their sales revenue quickly increased from $30 million into $3
billion.[9]
Some rappers like Jay-Z and 50 Cent went through significant transitions in their clothing
and styles for business interests. While establishing themselves in the industry, they wore baggy
clothing and closely associated with street culture. When these elites started to realize that
parents would dislike the influence of their music, they started to wear suites to appear more

professional to their audience. With this came an increasing recognition for glamour rap, which
focused on material wealth and possessions. Through Jay-Zs Big Pimpin persona, and 50
Cents album Get Rich or Die Trying, these rappers pride themselves on their ability to move
up in society despite their many obstacles.
Control of music production, artist image, and sales distribution shifted from local
entrepreneurs to a smaller network of Caucasian-owned international businesses: What is more
important about the shift in hip hops orientation is not its movement from pre-commodity to
commodity but the shift in control over the scope and direction of the profit making process, out
of the hands of local Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs and into the hands of larger white-owned
multinational businesses. (Rose 1994:40) When hip-hop culture was becoming commercialized,
the artistic elements were de-emphasized while the aspects of attitudes, styles, language, and
fashions became the major representations of hip hop culture. When these fashions, attitudes, and
verbal language became narrowly associated with the negative topics previously discussed, hiphop music changed from an outlet of representation to exploitation.
Record label executives assert that in order for artists to succeed in the mainstream music
industry, they need to adapt to the interests of the record labels, the representations of culture
industry, and the historical racial expectations of Whites. Record label executives began to
define the primary hip hop audience as white, suburban, wealthy, teenagers who, since 1991,
have been estimated to purchase between 60 to 80 percent (a debated statistic) of all hip hop
music(Kitwana 2005:82, Sullivan 2003). The record label executives also felt that this white
audience was mostly attracted to hip-hop music that is produced in its one-dimensional form of
gangster rap that promotes patriarchy, violence, and unemotional sex acts. These representations
of rap started to be presented as self-generated from within the black community, and performed

as authentic representations of the Black culture.

Atthesametimeasgangsterrapwasgainingpopularity;akeepingitrealauthenticity
begantobemarkedbyurbanstreetlife.(Rose2008)Althoughstoriesofstreetlifewere
familiar,thetalesofdrugdealing,gangactivity,violence,andmisogynyinthisnewformofhip
hopmusicbecamethedefinitionofthetrueurbanlifestyle,whichforwhites,translatedintothe
realblackexperience.Moresignificantly,blackartistswhorappedaboutamanufacturedgang
lifestylewereexpectedtorepresentthemselvesasauthenticinthismanner.
Thekeepingitrealrhetoricisalsoascapegoatformaintainingharshstereotypesabout
blackpeoplethataredeeplyrootedinAmericanculture.Mainstreamhiphopsdistortedand
narrowfocusononeaspectofblackghettostreetlifeexaggeratesandperpetuatesnegative
beliefsaboutblackpeopleandconcealsrealitiesoflifeinpoorblackneighborhoodsthatcounter
thesemyths(Rose2008:141).WhiterapperVanillaIcesillustrationsofurbanstreetlifewere
exposedasartificial,whilewestcoastrapperDr.Drebecamethedominantartistofgangstarap
despitehislackofinvolvementingangactivity.ThedifferencebetweenVanillaIces
inauthenticityandDr.Dresauthenticitystemsfromtheaudiencesassumptionsthatthe
thuggishandviolentmessageswereinsomewayfundamentalfortheBlackculture,whichmade
iteasyforblackstomakeupstoriesaboutstreetlife.ButlikeSoulmusicagenerationearlier,
HipHopwasessentializedandsoldastheauthenticdistillationofcontemporary
Blackness,...thoughitsvalueasamasscommoditywaspredicatedonconsumeracceptance
thatHipHoprepresentedanessentialBlacknessthatwasurban,youthful,and
threatening(Neal1997:129,130).Thisperiodpassedoffthegangster,ghetto,violent,sexist,and
materialisticformofhiphopmusicasthemostauthenticversionofrapmusic,whichcametobe

themediarepresentationoftrueblackculture.
Fromlisteningtotoomuchcommercialized,highlyvisiblehiphop,onecouldgetthe
impressionthatlifeintheghettoisanongoingpartyofviolenceandselfdestructionwith
style,thatstreetcultureisanallconsuming thing, that poor black folks have created the
conditions under which they live.(Rose 2008:141) By defining real rap as an extension of the
ghetto experience and classifying the ghetto experience as the black experience, hip hop became
a representation of the authentic black experience. This is one manifestation of the culture
industry that one-dimensionalized hip-hop and reinforced the negative perceptions of the black
community for whites. For many Caucasian people, the definition perpetuated by the culture
industrys representation of hip hop music and therefore blackness, corresponded to white
peoples historical beliefs that blacks were genetically and culturally inferior, culpable for their
own social and economic struggles, and intrinsically dysfunctional.
These negative and inaccurate beliefs of African Americans are most notably attributed to
the Minstrelsy Era. This form of entertainment not only advocated slavery as a institution that
benefited even the slaves, but also emphasized through caricatures that black families could not
operate in the proper dynamic that white families do, making them inferior. To validate this idea,
minstrel entertainers introduced the Tom, Coon, Mullatos, Mammys, Bucks and pickaninni. The
most relevant in a black family context are the Coons, Mammys and pickaninni. The coons were
intercity black men who were classified as dimwitted, irresponsible and lazy. They were living
proof that emancipation was a big mistake according to the media at the time, making this a
vicious attack on black males. Because of the negative reputation that black men had, they were
deemed unfit to serve as the breadwinner and leader of the household. This meant that the

Mammys had to be strong and serve as leaders, while white women were always seen as fragile
and dependent on the white man of the house. Black women were also stereotyped as asexual
and ugly, so they would not be seen as sexual threats to white marriages. These differences made
the Mammy an antithesis of white women. For additional reinforcement, minstrel artists included
the pickaninni as the primary caricature of black children. They were seen as dirty little buffoons
who tried to have fun, but eventually got outwitted. This was a vicious stereotype in the sense
that pickaninni were always victims of grotesque animated violence. While these images were
mostly considered playful at the time, they perpetuated the idea that black children could not
survive in the world because they were deprived of the successful parenting dynamic that white
parents offered, and possessed the negative traits of the coon father.
The commercialized representation of rap reinforced whites historically negative attitudes,
and became a dominant cultural representation of Blackness. As real rap became defined by
negative images, the media-controlled images began to be associated with authentic Blackness,
and much of White America began filtering their definitions of Blackness through historically
negative perceptions preserved by the gangster rap persona and would not consider any images
beyond the scope of these as Black. Instead of acknowledging upper and middle class, law
abiding, proper English speaking, professional, and scholarly as Black traits, many Black
individuals who fulfill these descriptions were thought to be acting White or sell outs. White
youth who wore backward hats, spoke aggressively, acted violently, sold drugs, excelled at
basketball, and listened to rap music, were labeled as wiggers, or as acting Black. This
authenticating of hip hop music through historically negative characteristics of the Black
community led to assumptions by the hip hop artists, which influenced them to recycle the onedimensional forms of hip hop music.

This reshaping of hip-hop for the purpose of corporate interest is quite similar to the way
black culture was falsely projected on the minstrel stage to entertain racist whites during the
minstrelsy era. White theater owners like Oliver Turpin from the Minstrel Man were not
interested in the accuracy with which black culture was portrayed, but rather the revenue that
would be attained as result of appealing to white-supremacist audiences. Instead of performing
Shakespeare or other respectable works, blackface performers who spoke perfect English and
acted respectable in public would put soot on their faces, act dimwitted and self-deprecating, and
speak broken English. In Frederick Douglasss anti-slavery newspaper the North Star, he voiced
that Blackface imitators were the filthy scum of white society, who have stolen from us a
complexion denied to them by nature, in which to make money, and pander to the corrupt taste of
their fellow white citizens(Lott, 13). The complexion that Douglass is referring to is
analogous to traits possessed by black people who do not embody the negative stereotypes
perpetuated by the media. Like minstrels who wanted to perform more serious and dignifying
acts however, many hip-hop artists have faced the dilemma of producing multi-dimensional hiphop or appealing to record labels with gangster rap for the possibility of increased sales. For
many of these minstrels and rappers, entertainment was and still is one of the only doors out of
poverty, and to acquire airtime, appealing to white executives is imperative. Until executives
start to consider the possibility of rap that is both multi-dimensional and profitable, hip-hop as an
art will continue to promote negative stereotypes and lifestyles of rappers, which will then
continue to be projected onto the black community and its individuals by its consumers.
Bibliography:
[1] Neal, Mark Anthony. 1997. Sold Out on Soul: The Corporate Annexation of Black Popular
Music. Popular Music and Society 21:3, 117-135.
[2] Rose, Tricia. 1994. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America.

Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press.

[3] Kitwana, Bakari. 2002. The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and The Crises in African
American Culture. New York: Basic Civitas Books.

[4] Kitwana, Bakari. 2005. Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and
the New Reality of Race In America. New York: Basic Civitas Books.
[5] Sullivan, Rachel E. 2003. Rap and Race: It's Got a Nice Beat, but What about the
Message?Journal of Black Studies 33:5,605-622.
[6] Barnes, Tom. "How Music Executives Created 'Black' Hip Hop For White Suburban Kids."
PolicyMic. N.p., 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.policymic.com/articles/78487/how-music-executives-created-black-hip-hop-forwhite-suburban-kids>.
[7] Lott, Eric. "1." Love and theft: blackface minstrelsy and the American working class. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1993. 13. Print.
[8] Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap. Dir. Andy Baybutt. Perf. Ice-T. Indomina
Releasing, 2012. Film.
[9] "Straight Outta LA/14." Cube, Ice. 30 for 30. ESPN Films. 22 June 2010. Television.
[10] Kitwana, Bakari (2005). The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in AfricanAmerican Culture. New York: Basic Civitas Books. p. 198.

The Corporate Assault on Hip-hop

Written by Richard Searfoss
Date: August 30, 2014
Section: Monday 3:00-3:50