‘One of the most obvious ways that these (genre) expectations may circulate is through the institutionalised system of media, particularly radio and video (press) and the way this contributes to the definition and boundaries of what falls within and without a genre’
Negus K. (1999) Music Genres & Corporate Cultures
Mtv played the biggest part in hip hop becoming the global culture that it is today. It was only when they started playing the mainstream video’s in the 1980’s that they played it and at first even they only played a dozen out of around 750 available at the time. Hip Hop was very much neglected at first, yet by MTV’s tenth birthday they realised its potential and had jumped on the hip hop bandwagon and R&B based channels began to appear. Before this unless you were in a club where outside you would find tagged trains and murals on walls you could only experience the hip hop culture by the musical aspect alone. Now theres a virtual culture, we can now see whos making the music and the whole world is being sucked in by this phenomenal culture through commercialisation an the controversy that surrounds it. Obviously controversy within a genre is amazing for record sales. Pop stars are wanting to get in on the action of the hip hop scene, Victoria Beckham is working with hip hop producer Damon Dash, hoping it will move her into a different area of music that’s more credible. The Neptunes are proving the most popular, they have been producing songs for everyone from Britney Spears to Busta Rhymes and theres a certain beat or rhythm where you just know that it’s the Neptune’s have stamped their mark on it. Gangsta rap has roots in the rap tradition and has social and political issues yet record companies take rap artists who arent "real" and who have never been to a hood and exploit them as having done so. Radio 1 recently launched a radio station solely for hip hop and r ‘n’ b, however even some of their DJ’s argued why have a specifically black station when black music is now mainstream. Media has commercialised this culture so much it is now being sold as an actual lifestyle. Rappers are obsessed with the bling bling lifestyle of cars, money and women and fans are wanting it all as well. Nelly has released a drink called ‘Pimp Juice’, Justin Timberlake is promoting McDonalds and numerous stars have their own clothes labels like Jay Z, P Diddy and Nelly.The term bling bling however has been around for sometime. Rapper B.G penned a track called bling bling applying to big showy jewellery. However its only now reaching the masses. It was toned down by the Oscars and hyped up by the public. If somebody is using it now then you know it is new to their vocabulary. The whole culture has become that big the phrase has just made it into the new editon of the English oxford dictionary. Its scary that ‘Bling Bling’ is a sub culture within the Hip Hop culture. Artists often use the phrase, “its not where your from its where your at”. Its all about how many material things you have to show. The principles of hip hop have been forsaken, its all contractual and about money making now. Cristal champagne is expensive, somewhere along the line rappers have made this ‘their find’. Since then, demand has exceeded supply and the makers of the champagne itself have had to do no promotion for it themselves. They agreed to let rappers use it as long as they showed it having a high class setting. We now see it in every other flashy club video made and in every other song its mentioned. The main bling to this ostentatious lifestyle is obviously the jewellery, big showy jewellery that refracts light or makes a bling noise when banged together. The latest big ‘bling’ thing is Jacob & Company watches, apparently Jay Z has bought one costing £1 million. Everyone right now in this culture is into bling bling, its got to be over the top to qualify. Afterall if everybody could have it, it would loose its appeal and shock value. The association with rap musichas been established for some time. T
“The rap festival every year in Daytona Beach, Florida is called "Spring Bling". Now there is even anti-bling bling. Before his London tour in February, the rapper Nas announced that his show would be "stripped of over-the-top bling bling trappings".
Mullan, J (2003) Diamond Geezers. The Guardian. Available from: [Accessed 1st December 2003]
‘But fans who are more serious, more subcultural, more hip, and in other words less mass, readily embrace the myth of opposition of commerce and artist. It allows them to identify with the musician as the heroic rebel, fighting, or at least tilting, at the windmills of business……… they provide fans identifying with them with a feeling of rebelliousness. Further, the mythic opposition between art and commerce allows fans to believe that their tastes are not a product of the publicity machine but are valid aesthetic decisions; the myth validates their sense of automony’
Kelly & McDonald (ed.) (1999) Stars Don’t Stand Still in the Sky – Music & Myth Routledge
Many hiphop and rap fans prize themselves on being on the cutting edge of the genre and knowing about tracks and artists that maybe other fans wouldnt know about. This can be taken to the extreme where some fans simply dismiss anything they consider not to be "underground" enough and look down on anyone else, including other hiphop fans, who purchase or listen to it. This can cause tension between groups of fans and may be the cause of some gun violence in the U.S. This is a particular problem in the UK hiphop scene as fans known as "backpacker rap fans" will only listen 2 real underground stuff and anything commercial or mainstream is seen 2 be "selling out" as they believe the music is more important than making money. This is all very well until they begin 2 see an underground artist suddenly make some money and start to sell some records and then they no longer respect the music just because the artist is now makin a lot of cash. A typical case of this on a global scale is Eminem, his first album "The Slim Shady EP" was not widely available and did not sell well as it was not promoted too much and he wasnt signed to a large record label. At this point Eminem would have had respect from the backpackers, but as soon as Dr Dre signed him to Aftermath Records and he started to sell records and have a huge range of listeners people began to say he had sold out, even though his music was just as good as before. Its all about the image of the artist, they have to be seen to still be connected to the ghetto in some way and not have lost touch with their roots, if not they lose the respect of many fans. This can be hard for some artists to do and many try to attain a hardcore image by the people they hang around with or by ‘packing weapons’ and talkin like they are real gangsta’s makin threats and such in their song lyrics. This can only then promote violence, and has an influence on fans who aspire to be like their idols and hear them talking about killing people so they go out and do the same, even though as Eminem said, people have to realise that what he says in his songs he just says to get a reaction, not because he actually does the things or believes in it. It’s a bit of a viscious circle, they have to keep up the image, but this promotes violence, but the violent image sells records, so they have to keep it!
Some Artists that started the Gangsta image:
NWA (Niggas With Attitude) - Dr Dre,Easy E,Ice Cube, MC Ren Ice-T
More modern - Tupac, Oulawz, Snoop Dog, 50 Cent
References and Bibliography
Mullan, J (2003) Diamond Geezers. The Guardian. Available from: [Accessed 1st December 2003]
Crampton, L. and Rees, D. (2002) Rock & Pop Year by Year
Anon. (2003) Cops and Rappers. Available from: [Accessed 28th December 2003]
[Accessed 28th December]
[Accessed 28th December]
[Accessed 28th December]
Ojumu, A. (2003) Available from: www.observer.co.uk [Accessed 28th December]
History and Appreciation of Genres in Popular Music