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Hip-Hop: Subculture or Super Brand?
How understanding hip-hop culture can inform effective marketing
communications
By Chris Arning and Ednyfed Tappy
of Flamingo International
We believe that a true understanding of the appeal of hip-hop
can have valuable
implications for marketers seeking to connect with young people.
Hip-hop
incorporates a number of key values which resonate powerfully
with the youth
target. This paper seeks to describe and explore these values
and how they
work, before articulating the interaction between hip-hop and
the world of
brands an interaction which has rich potential if it can be
properly harnessed.
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Hip-Hop Version ix 03.10.2003 9559 2
I Introduction: The supposition made in the title of this
project is that hip-hop is two things simultaneously: a pervasive
and arguably hegemonic sub-culture and a multifarious mainstream
entertainment source with mass appeal. We feel that hip-hop has,
and continues to have, both directly and second hand, a major
enriching influence on popular culture. Though it started as a
fringe presence, it now has massive clout and influence. We suspect
that this influence, to their ultimate detriment, remains
unacknowledged by many marketers attempting to address the emerging
hip-hop generation. We also believe that brand stakeholders,
amongst others, have often failed to apprehend and acknowledge
hip-hop in its own right as a cultural phenomenon. This has led
marketers to some wrong-headed assumptions about what hip-hop means
to young people. Hip-hop has often been ghettoised as esoterica or
a black thing. Although the establishment is belatedly showing more
interest, we feel that hip-hop still suffers ghettoisation as a
self-contained entity existing at the margins. Consequently, it has
historically been relegated to the periphery or misunderstood and
misrepresented, not least in its portrayal in the media. Media
channels have either regrettably fixated on the negative
manifestations of hip-hop culture: violence, misogyny and profanity
or have sought to parody hip-hop for comic effect. We would argue
this presents a grossly distorted picture of hip-hop and dismisses
failing to account for hip-hops ubiquity, enduring popularity and
multi-facetedness. This can also lead to superficial treatments of
hip-hop in communication which fail to resonate with the consumer.
Marketers are now faced with a challenge - how to unlock the
potential of hip-hop culture to speak relevantly to young people.
How this paper can help We aim to demonstrate that hip-hop has a
number of facets with deep cultural resonance. We follow with an
expos of how understanding hip-hops values can feed into meaningful
brand communications activity. We feel that there are three very
compelling reasons to take a closer look at hip-hop. a) Its status
as a global culture Hip-hop culture, the powerful, expressive
medium of Americas urban black poor, has created a global youth
movement of considerable significance Paul Gilroy The Black
Atlantic
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Hip-Hop Version ix 03.10.2003 9559 3
Over the past 3 decades and counting, hip-hop has evolved,
proving its capacity to perpetually adapt and re-invent itself so
as to remain fresh and relevant as times, contexts, locales, and
indeed the hip-hop industry itself have moved on. Into the 21st
century hip-hop has diversified from being an urban sub-culture
particular to a specific place and group of people to a fully
global culture both in terms of audience and participants. Hip-hop
slang and what we might call a hip-hop aesthetic has been
metabolised by millions of people. Beyond its geographical reach
hip-hop has infiltrated, and to a large extent defines a whole
generation of under 35s the hip-hop generation. b) Its status as a
global business One stratum of hip-hop has peeled off and become a
globalised, commercialised and in some respects more homogeneous
form of entertainment. Tellingly, this monolithic stratum of
hip-hop co-exists with what might be termed the underground stratum
which remains a fragmented, localised art form with its own more
parochial concerns. The more commercialised hip-hop music now
outsells country and rock in its biggest market, America, and has
become the biggest selling music genre there. Although hip-hop
remains firmly anchored in music, broader lifestyle and consumer
choices stem from it. Indeed, hip-hop is a massive revenue
generating entity. Since the early to mid-nineties hip-hop has
really come into its own as a vastly profitable business and
continues its exponential growth. Hip-hops revenue streams are
multiple, and interlocking1: music, television, cinema, clothing,
fashion, sports apparel, drinks, console games and miscellaneous
other products. Some estimate that it now represents a 1 billion
$US industry in the US market alone. c) Its status as a powerful
motor of brand growth Hip-hop has become a very potent vehicle for
brands. Record mogul Russell Simmons of Def Jam records has called
hip-hop the most powerful brand building community in the world.
But what is unique about hip-hop, we would argue, is that this
relationship is not purely exploitative but symbiotic. Brands have
been quasi-endemic to hip-hop from its very beginnings, a time when
the corporate world was indifferent - if not openly dismissive
towards what it saw as a passing fad. To an unprecedented degree,
hip-hop is a cultural movement that has fruitfully assimilated
brands and actively made them part of its discourse - enabling
reconciliation of its cultural and commercial facets without overly
compromising on currency and appeal. We return to this theme and
develop the hip-hop-brand parallel further by showing how hip-hop,
in several different guises, can be viewed as a metaphor for a
brand.
1 Hip-hop artists are brand savvy and from the beginning have
been skilled self-propagandists. Cross-promotional opportunities
abound for the hip-hop entrepreneur such as P Diddy (formerly Puff
Daddy)
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Whereas some strands of contemporary culture display growing
antipathy to the power of brands, hip-hop and brands enjoy an often
mutually adoring relationship. We believe this is germane to
thinking on brand building and feeds into ongoing debates about the
future of marketing communications. Before we move on to discussing
these brand issues, we will anatomise hip-hop as a culture, and
illuminate what we have identified as its most important dynamics.
As qualitative researchers constantly working with youth brands, we
have deliberately sought to focus on the demand side of the
equation. We have concentrated on the consumers and practitioners
rather than the producers of hip-hop culture.
II Methodologyi Our research methodology was designed to
investigate what hip-hop means to those who feel themselves part of
it or who buy into the culture at one level or another. One of the
principal findings of this research is not only the pervasiveness
of hip-hop but also its richness and multifariousness. Its a
sub-culture of mostly youth and its a way of dress, its a way of
living, its an attitude that you carry yourself living with, its
not just music, it definitely affects a whole group of people.
Hip-Hop Periphery The research employed a number of inter-related
methodologies, and was conducted over the course of a year,
enabling us to reassess our findings on an ongoing basis. The study
ran from April 2002 to April 2003. Firstly, we called upon internal
expertise for initial ideas on how to approach the project. This
was followed by a round of desk research and review of the existing
literature on the subject. Secondly, we conducted a combination of
vox pops, expert interviews (DJs, cultural historians,
journalists), friendship triads and mini-groups. In terms of our
sample design, we deliberately spoke to people with differing
levels of engagement with hip-hop: Core: We spoke to people who
were very close to the culture, for whom hip-hop is a constitutive
part of their life. In hip-hop slang they would be termed: hip-hop
heads. We call them Hip-Hop Core. Periphery: We also spoke to a
more mainstream audience, people who appreciate certain aspects of
hip-hop but who do not necessarily define themselves by it. We call
them Hip-Hop Periphery.
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Mainstream: We also convened one mainstream group in the suburbs
as a benchmark control. We also conducted numerous vox pops
interviews in and around London in Chiswick, Hammersmith,
Kensington, Brixton, Greenwich. The fieldwork was confined to the
UK, though from our studies and observations there are similarities
to be drawn in Europe, as well as the US and Asia. Consumer Groups
Group Age Typology Location 1 16-18 Male Hip-Hop Core
Enfield
2 20-21 Male
Hip-Hop Periphery Stoke Newington
3 20-21 Female Hip-HopPeriphery
Stoke Newington
4 20-21 Male Hip-Hop Core
Hounslow
5 25-30 Male Hip-Hop Periphery
Covent Garden
6 20-21 Male
Hip-Hop Core
Camden Town
7 20-21 Mixed Mainstream
Epsom
Vox Pops Typology Location Mainstream x 10 Chiswick Mainstream x
10 Hammersmith Mainstream x 10 Hammersmith Mainstream x 10
Kensington Mainstream x 10 Kensington Mainstream x 10 Brixton
Experts Name Occupation DJ 279 DJ Choice FM 97.9 fm
Friday Night Flavas Andy Cowan Editor of Hip-Hop
Connection Magazine Dan Greenpeace DJ Xfm 104.9 fm
All City Show Breakin Bread Hip-Hop DJs and
Producers Nathan Abrams Cultural Theorist with
Specialism in Hip-Hop
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Hip-Hop Version ix 03.10.2003 9559 6
III. What is Hip-Hop? Its just talking over a beat Hip Hop Core
Conventional Definition Firstly, how does one define hip-hop?
Conventionally hip-hop is understood to be a predominantly musical
movement emerging out of 1970s New York. Those closest to the
culture will cite what are known as the four elements: rapping,
DJ-ing, B-Boying and graffiti as the pillars of the hip-hop
movement.2 In recent years rap to talk rhythmically over a beat -
has become synonymous with the word hip-hop. The music - the beats
and the rhymes - has always been the most prominent and pivotal
element. Indeed, our research confirmed that the music remains the
driving force behind hip-hop culture. However, hip-hop, and hip-hop
music, is not merely a commodity. Rather, it denotes something
larger, something intangible: a living and breathing creature -
outside the control of the commercial establishment at work in the
minds of young people. In many respects, hip-hop is a cultural
phenomenon and experience that transcends its physical
manifestations. Black Youth Culture It is impossible to ignore the
fact that hip-hop is still seen as a black or African-American
music form. Certainly, it was pioneered by black and Latino kids in
New York. At its genesis, hip-hop was a hybrid music form stemming
from Jamaican sound systems and incorporating elements of reggae,
blues, disco and Afro-Cuban percussion. It has thrived in parallel
with the steady ascendancy of black cultural forms that now are now
such arbiters of what is considered cool. Basketball in the USA has
exploded in popularity in parallel with hip-hop and arguably both
feed off a generalised fascination with and deification of black
male virility. Many sociologists have even rooted cool itself in
African American culture. Certainly hip-hop manifests core elements
of cool: for instance narcissism and ironic detachment. Putting
hip-hop together with the new status of black sports starsCool has
suddenly started to look like a black thing all over again Cool
Rules, Pountain and Robins Cross-Cultural Migration Paul Gilroy
situated hip-hop as a creation of the African diaspora he dubbed
the Black Atlantic. However, hip-hop is arguably in the midst of a
paradigm shift. The diaspora is increasingly global and
multiracial. Eminem the famous white rapper - is emblematic of the
extent to which hip-hop is felt and lived by young
2 Hip-hop encompasses all the senses: auditory, visual, mental
and kinaesthetic. As we go on to argue, it is fundamentally an
experience brand which goes some way to explain its motivational
power.
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Hip-Hop Version ix 03.10.2003 9559 7
people of all hues. We would argue that these characteristics
are better described as hip-hop than black and that they transcend
skin colour and class. There are recurrent values that emerged from
our research, that playing a more significant role in explaining
hip-hops popularity. Rather than attempt to capture or define what
is a wide ranging, and enigmatic phenomenon, we found it more
telling to ask a different question.
IV. What does Hip-Hop mean to people? It definitely has an
attitude and a philosophy. Its a culture with a vast depth and
meaning for many people DJ Greenpeace Hip-Hop Typologies and Values
Certainly hip-hop music is a wide-ranging genre with many
sub-sets.3 These can centre on provenance of the artist, subject
matter, musical style etc. However, we found that what chiefly
determined how people viewed hip-hop was not how it was ostensibly
packaged, but what they, as people, got out of it. As the project
unfolded, a sense of hip-hop as an ethos, beyond just the music,
was vocally articulated. This ethos or attitude meant different
things to different people and defied any rigid definition.
Although intensely individual, we soon found recurring patterns in
peoples responses: certain clusters of values emerged as salient
and became associated with certain typologies. These were chiefly
differentiated between those people who were at the core those with
a high involvement in hip-hop; and those that were at the periphery
those with a lesser involvement in hip-hop. It is important to
note, however, that the difference between core and periphery is
one of emphasis. This segmentation is not meant to be mutually
exclusive. There is certainly a measure of overlap between the
typologies. Hip-Hops Dual Character As we mentioned earlier, as
hip-hop has evolved and become a more global and commercial
entertainment phenomenon, it has simultaneously re-asserted itself
as a grass-roots cultural movement. We would hypothesise that it is
hip-hops dual character that allows it to offer a palette of
experiences, allowing people to access it at different levels.
Hip-hop is half image and other half is real reality as I say you
can take from it what you want...you do not have to be into all
aspects of hip-hop can be into certain aspects Hip-Hop Core
3East Coast, West Coast, Dirty South, Conscious, Gangsta, Spoken
Word are foremost amongst these.
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Shared and Desired Values Reflecting this duality, this papers
suggests that hip-hop encompasses both shared and desired values
depending on the individuals level of engagement. This is how
hip-hop has managed to achieve mass appeal. For those at the
periphery, hip-hop develops rapport through offering a set of
desired values. These values are: - Voyeurism - Entertainment
However, hip-hop also retains momentum as a participatory medium
beyond just disposable/passive entertainment. For those at the
core, hip-hop can become part of constructing ones identity.
Hardcore fans show fervent adherence to hip-hop as a creative and
cultural movement. To them hip-hop is a source of experiences they
live through as they grow up. They derive manifold psychological
benefits from hip-hop via a set of shared values. I feel this with
a passion, everything I love and hate about life is bound up with
this thing called hip-hop Hip Hop Core
Creativity
Belonging Intelligence
Voyeurism
Entertainment
Core Periphery
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These values are: - Belonging - Creativity - Intelligence
Authenticity: Hip-hop is underpinned by a sense of authenticity for
both the core and the periphery. For the Core it is part of them
and inherently authentic, for the periphery hip-hop offers a second
hand authenticity. Hip-Hop Core - Shared Values: Belonging Those at
the core viewed hip-hop as an imagined community - something to
belong to, contribute to and defend. We identified a participatory
strand in hip-hop. Indeed many of those we spoke to felt that they
had a stake in hip-hop as a shared venture. This has always been
reflected in the identity-forming capacity of hip-hop. Originally,
disenfranchised populations were able to articulate and voice their
alienation and otherness in a way that was not previously possible
on their own terms, using their own medium and language, and even
via their adherence to certain dress codes. Hip-hop privileges a
kind of agency or activity rather than passivity; not being passive
consumers, but being part of it and being involved in it Cultural
Theorist We would argue that this remains the case even today:
hip-hop still affirms identities by chronicling peoples lives and
their individual experiences, however commercial a form it has
taken on. A crucial aspect of this identity-affirming process
resides in the importance of territoriality in hip-hop. Hip-hop has
a pronounced sense of place. Where youre from, and being a
representative voice from your hood is central. This strong sense
of locality and place reflects and simultaneously feeds into the
audiences sense of community.4 Our research showed that even where
the subject matter did not allude to its audience a sense of
locality engenders a sense of closeness with the artist. The
friendship triads we spoke to revealed how hip-hop can bring people
together through a shared pursuit. Beyond privileging the local,
hip-hop also functions as a vast imagined community of devotees who
share a love for the game, drawing on a common heritage. This
heritage consists of many possible signifiers: using language of a
certain coinage, knowledge of the hip-hop canon and a healthy
respect and sort of nostalgia for earlier eras of hip-hop.
4 Hip-hop has proven to be a versatile cultural vehicle for many
ethnic groups in the US and elsewhere to express themselves and
assert their own minority voices versus the establishment. As
Patrick Neate discusses in Where Youre At: Notes from a Hip-Hop
Planet. This shows how hip-hop cannot be reduced to a monolithic
noise and is rather a medium that caters for any number of
messages.
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One of the reasons we became such good friends is because you
are finding other people into hip-hopso you hooked onto people who
were into it Hip-Hop Core In sum, Hip-hop acts as a wide-ranging
support network: first and foremost, it acts as a common currency
amongst people and their immediate circles, you and your crew, as
well as providing people with a broader frame of reference you are
part of a global movement. Uniquely then, the Hip-Hop Nation welds
together the local and global, consequently also accommodating the
individual and the collective. Everyones from different places but
you are putting your contribution into a bigger formulaalmost like
you are sharing the sound waves or something Hip Hop Core
Creativity That is probably the best way to describe ithip-hop
is about being creative and putting your input on the world.
Hip-Hop Core The idea of creativity, and indeed its pursuit, have
undergone redefinition over I recent years. Creativity is no longer
the preserve of artistic genius: a do it yourself ethos prevails
amongst todays youth. Hip-hop is very much in line with this.
Hip-hop art or graffiti uses the public landscape as its canvas.
Hip-hop dance started off being practised in the street or urban
parks. Beat boxing illustrates the talent for improvisation and
ability to create unaided. Hip-hop is not uniquely creative, but
because little equipment and no qualifications are needed it
democratises creativity. This results in considerable equality
between practitioner and consumer: all, to a certain degree, share
and admire the same qualities. All can participate creatively in a
shared creative space. Because hip-hop derives inspiration from its
wider milieu, there is infinite uncharted white space to exploit.
It is the creativity that hip-hop gives as a cultureI am always
looking for someone to do something amazing in music a new style
thats not been done before Hip-Hop Core Consequently, hip-hop
advocates an informal type of creativity: it affirms that the
individuals contribution is valid without qualification or
protocol. It validates the importance of self-expression and
thrives on experimentation. Graffiti writers experiment with new
styles, rappers make their name by establishing new rhyme patterns
and broaching new topics. DJs invent new scratch techniques using
musical notation. Hip-hop offers a platform and a medium but does
not circumscribe content unpredictability and spontaneity are
cardinal
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virtues for hip-hop heads. This emphasis on creativity, outside
of formal structures, is a pivotal factor for many young people who
in other ways feel that their potential for self-expression is
circumscribed by the world they live in.
Intelligence I like hip-hop cause it makes me think. Hip Hop
Core Those most engaged in the culture identified an intelligent
point of view as the hallmark of the best hip-hop. Just like in
creativity, hip-hop privileges an informal, instinctive, unschooled
brand of intelligence. Part of the fun of hip-hop is in the
decoding of the lyrics. Hip-hop tracks are usually laden with puns,
hidden meanings, riddles and outrageous metaphors and similes. Many
of these rely on either previous knowledge of the artists work,
knowledge of the hip-hop canon, or being au fait with an assortment
of popular cultural references. There is satisfaction in being able
to interpret what may seem like unfathomable gibberish to the
uninitiated. I suddenly realised that my writing style improved and
my vocabulary has increased and Im sure its because of hip-hop
Hip-Hop Core5 Like I can hear a tune ten times and catch a lyric
the first time but not figure it out until the 10th time to
appreciate it in its full depth. Hip Hop Core Furthermore, hip-hop
also offers a form of wisdom in content. We refer later to the
power of the hip-hop spoken word. Many hip-hop artists deal with
issues in a down to earth way with which young people can engage.
Much of hip-hop touches on issues of pain, struggle and overcoming
adversity. Hip-hop addresses its audience on equal terms: it is a
voice that speaks on their level and flatters their intellect by
broaching topics of gravity. There is a lot of wisdom in hip-hop,
the sort you can like listen to and maybe integrate into your life
to become a better person. Hip-Hop Core For many we spoke with,
hip-hops emphasis on intelligence, introspection, and even wisdom
is very appealing against a backdrop of so much manufactured and
unreflective popular culture to be found elsewhere.
Hip-Hop Periphery Desired Values
5 We might even go so far as to say that hip-hop is giving
educationally challenged young people permission to be intelligent
again mythologising the new. In New Marketing Manifesto, John Grant
argues that the future role of brands is precisely this as the new
traditions new ideas to live by.
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Being into hip-hop can signify a lot about you: street
credibility, being in tune with the latest thing. For those
peripherally involved in hip-hop it is something to dip into and
does not define them as people. Everyone of our age is going to
have some of the hip-hop attitude in them.it is just being
clued-up, streetwise and knowing what is going on Hip-Hop
Periphery
Authenticity My life is a soundtrack I compose to the beat. Dr.
Dre, Still Dre (Dre 2001) Hip-hop has a close relationship with
truth and authenticity. On the supply side, hip-hop artists can
seem obsessed with a form of authenticity. Protestations of truth6
seem to go hand in hand with lyrical prowess. Many artists indeed
have built careers on accusing others of fakery. Personal
authenticity is being true to oneself, not imitating others to
ingratiate yourself. Hip-hop songs touch upon intimate stories of
wrongdoing, human failure or overcoming adversity. A central
watchword in hip-hop has passed into popular parlance: keep it
real. But keeping it real to what? In many ways this amorphous
authenticity representing your own personal truth - is the glue
that binds the values of hip-hop together. If you want truth, you
get it in hip-hop, you want falsehoods you get it in hip-hop, but
its all reality its just life Hip-Hop Core Core Those at the core
take authenticity for granted it is experienced first hand. Hip-hop
is literally part of them a formative influence on their life and
outlook. What do you mean what does the culture mean to me? The
culture is me, so what does me mean to me? That is what you are
saying Hip Hop Core Periphery To those at the periphery, more
distant from the world of hip-hop, the remoteness of the
experiences alluded to in the texts of hip-hop mean the
authenticity is second hand. It is symbolic, but still feeds their
appetite for the real. Even when artists embellish the truth
hip-hops values seem girded by a deeper authenticity - if not of
objective truth, then that of individual authorship and
expression.
6 This link between sincerity and hip-hop was picked up by
Hollywood in the 1998 film Bulworth in which a jaded US senator
(played by Warren Beatty) has a crisis of conscience and adopts the
trappings of hip-hop culture. He chooses to tell the truth by
delivering his speeches in rhyme.
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Most pop artists just talk about love, but hip-hop artists speak
about real life issues Mainstream Within hip-hop, different
performers freely play around with notions of truth and falsehood.
To the core sensitive to the nuances and irony in hip-hop they
enjoy interpreting this mix of artifice and genuineness. Playing
around with notions of truth seems very contemporary and seductive.
They could be rapping complete lies of coursebut all the same you
are being taken along for that ride Andy Cowan, Editor Hip-Hop
Connection Furthermore, our research picked up on the growing
disillusionment with the mainstream pop industry. Young people
increasingly see through the trite formulas and superficiality of
much chart-topping music. There is palpable dismay at artists being
marketed as commodities rather than expressing what they feel.
Hip-hop is seen very much as an important counterpoint to this,
serving to fill the gap of this authenticity deficit. Pop music has
been dead since I have been born, it is shitit is just people
making money repeating themselves and going yeah baby. Hip-Hop Core
With Gareth Gates and Popstars it is not what they want to sing, it
is what they get told to sing.it is mainly for young girlsEveryone
is in it to make money Mainstream In both cases, authenticity as
sincerity of intent is an extremely motivating philosophy for the
target we spoke to.
Voyeurism I suppose there is a slightly voyeuristic peak into a
life you never had in hip-hopso it is sort of vicariously exciting
I suppose Editor Hip-Hop Connection Very much in line with the need
for authenticity and un-mediated experiences which we refer to
above, there seems to be a real hunger for getting beneath the
surface of things. We are all becoming increasingly voyeuristic in
how we satisfy this urge - the popularity of reality TV shows,
tabloid journalism and biography sales are all reflections of this.
The same can be said about music. Hip-hop has been dubbed the art
form of the first person singular. Often raps are based on an inner
monologue or stream of consciousness. These give an intimate
emotional insight into another world, revealing the artists
personality and recorded life experiences. They often touch upon
intimate stories of
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struggle, loss and redemption. This heightened level of
disclosure allows a high degree of identification between artist
and listener. Enigmatic or dysfunctional personalities such as
Tupac Shakur and Eminem have had whole mythologies built up around
them. For core hip-hop fans a strong rapport is established with
the artist on the basis of shared experiences and values. They will
say something and I will relate to ithe is going through the same
shit I am going through so it makes you feel better about yourself
Hip-Hop Core However, for those at the periphery, it is the
exoticism, danger, and in some cases, glamour depicted that
attracts. Sexual escapades, gunplay and criminal activity hip-hop
has always explored and documented such controversial topics, where
the listener is invited to live through these experiences. For
those further away from these experiences, this window into another
world is thrilling and captivating, where empathy towards the
artist is based on perceptually shared experiences and desired
values. Tupac - when I listen to his words there is always a lot of
pain involved in a lot of the songs that he has made and I am sure
that is why people listen to him. DJ 279 The way hip-hop music is
constructed accentuates the voyeurism for the listener. Listening
to a hip-hop album is often an immersive experience involving
active listening. Hip-hop producers have a knack for vivid
reconstruction of everyday sounds (cicadas, traffic noise, sirens,
screams, laughter etc). This sonic layering imbues tracks with
realism and adds an acute sense of place. This makes for a broad
band streaming of information - conjuring up a cascade of mental
pictures in the minds eye of the listener. As such hip-hop shares
as much with cinematic escapism as it does with music. It is like
video games and playing Gran Turismo 3, I play it, but I wouldnt
actually do it, hip-hop is about liking the crazy lyrics and
thinking wow, without doing it Hip Hop Periphery Entertainment
Hip-hop has been the most influential music of the last 20 years,
its in the charts, its the new rock and roll! Hip-Hop Periphery As
we stressed briefly earlier on, entertainment is part of hip-hops
DNA and a whole industry of great breadth has spun off around
hip-hop.
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Music Firstly there is the music industry itself. Hip-hop has
spawned massive pop stars such as Jay Z, Jah Rule, Missy Elliott
and Eminem. Hip-hop producers and impresarios have also been the
brains behind a slew of what so-called R and B artists. The biggest
names in music today have had flirtations with hip-hop: Jennifer
Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey to name but a few. The
Neptunes Pharrell Williams has become one of popular musics hottest
properties with Brittany Spears and Justin Timberlake both
soliciting him for production credits. Music Videos Music videos
(for instance MTV bass) primarily a selling tool, have endowed
hip-hop with a visual grammar to match its trademark sounds. An
accompanying video is now seen as standard for major label hip-hop
releases. These videos display a fetish for the excesses of a
certain hip-hop lifestyle: conspicuous consumption, sexual
titillation. We would argue that these videos largely play to the
entertainment and voyeuristic values to which many young people are
susceptible. Stories, sometimes animated by videoalways very
engaging mini-dramas about the street, love, politics, so they are
mini-movies of a sort DJ Greenpeace Film Hip-hop stars have also
graced the world of Hollywood: Will Smith, Ice Cube, Mos Def,
Eminem and the late Tupac Shakur - to name but a few. Will Smith is
a great example as he can not only play the leading man but can
record the title track in an era of horizontal integration Cultural
Theorist Miscellaneous Recently the makers of Barbie released a
range of multi-cultural barbie dolls called Flavas. A Mattel
spokesperson stated that they recognised hip-hop had gained
sufficient ground in the mainstream to have its own toy line.7
Hip-Hop has also moved into gaming consoles with ventures such as
Def Jam vendetta. Entertainment is part of hip-hops DNA and further
to this, a whole entertainment industry has now spun off around
hip-hop music. Publications such as The Source, XXL, Vibe devote
their pages to covering the latest happenings in the hip-hop
nation.
7 The Flavas come in boxes splashed with black-and-white photos
of urban scenes shot around Venice Beach. When arranged together,
the boxes create a "graffiti" mural that reads: "FA SIZZLE." It is
a play on the hip-hop expression "Fa' shizzle," which means "For
sure." Marketing director Lisa Tauber explains that it is also an
acronym that stands for "Fashion, Attitude and Sizzlin' Style." The
dolls, aimed at 9- to 11-year-olds, are "all about fearless
self-expression," she says.
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V Hip-Hop, contemporary culture and brands Hip-hop is not merely
musicit is a cultural recycling centre. Russell Potter, Spectacular
Vernaculars Having looked into the ways in which hip-hop functions
as a culture, and presenting the set of strong values that underpin
its popularity, we want to now turn to the world of hip-hop in
relation to brands. In doing so, our thinking leads us to look at
the bigger picture what is the nature of the interaction between
hip-hop and broader contemporary culture, of which brands are an
integral part? This entailed looking at how hip-hop operates as a
cultural phenomenon. We identified an uncanny parallel between
certain key features of hip-hop culture and prevailing cultural
norms. We would argue that hip-hops coincidence with these norms
has perhaps allowed it to flourish more readily. These norms could
be said to be post-modern. I think hip-hop is the ultimate post
modern art form.if you were going to write a dictionary definition
on hip-hop then you would put c.f. postmodernism Cultural Theorist
There are two important facets which illustrate this: collage and
intertextuality. We would argue that these features, collage and
intertextuality, make hip-hop particularly fluid and open as a
culture. This means that there is a discursive relationship between
hip-hop and broader popular culture. This is what is meant by the
aforementioned term recycling centre: it is constantly fostering an
inter-change of ideas and issues. Collage Hip-hop has a penchant
for eclecticism, synthesis and collage. Hip-hop tracks are
notorious for drawing heavily on samples for their musical
backbone. Hip-hop not only resurrects old genres of music, but it
reintroduces them in unexpected new ways, reconciling the old and
the new. This cut and paste ethos, recycling past elements and
fusing them with contemporary ones, is one of the ways that hip-hop
renews and updates itself. Hip-hop will always be around because
there will be something new to chat aboutit is about current
affairs. Hip-Hop Core IntertextualityIntertextuality is the theory
that all cultural life is a series of intersecting texts and that
nothing is absolutely autonomous. Intertextuality operates within
hip-hop on a number of different levels. On the one hand, hip-hop
draws on a vast variety of sources and references within its own
cultural heritage, and on the other hand it feeds from broader
contemporary events and tropes that lie outside its immediate
remit.
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I dunno, the use of philosophical quotes, references to comic
books, random everyday things, comparing this to that Hip-Hop Core
As such, there is constant interaction within and outside hip-hop.
Inwardly, hip-hop is cannibalistic and gains momentum through
feeding off its own material. Within hip-hop MCs sample each others
music, name check one another and make guest appearances on each
others tracks. Debates and exchanges of opinion take place on
record, in several dedicated magazines and on a plethora of
websites. Hip-hop is outwardly interactive too, picking up on
events in the world. In sum, therefore, hip-hop can be seen as a
series of dialogues. I think it facilitates expression of ideasand
forces a dialogue with the media, with youth, with popular culture
that is channelled to us through television, the Internet, and
popular culture. Hip-Hop Periphery As such, hip-hop is one vast
conversation, or rather a network of interconnecting conversations
constantly cross-referencing themselves and endlessly leading to
further conversations. A given artists album may contain a number
of texts articulating different and sometimes conflicting messages.
Hip-hop presupposes the subjectivity of the listener. This respects
notions of the primacy of the text, the death of the author and the
notion of multiple truths notions with which postmodernists are so
enamoured. What does this all amount to? The fact that hip-hop
displays collage and intertextuality as part of its nature means
that as a culture it is permeable and in touch with other cultural
influences. It is able to interact with other cultures, take on
board, borrow and integrate these elements without necessarily
compromising its own integrity. This has led to it constantly
metamorphosing and adjusting to the dominant cultural climate.
Hip-hop made today is therefore unmistakably of its time whilst as
a medium transcending it. This is what has also led to it having an
impact and influence on a wide range of issues and areas in
mainstream culture. In prcis, hip-hop operates as an extremely
fluid and constantly evolving cultural phenomenon, taking
mainstream influences on and in turn also influencing mainstream
culture. Another area where this dialectic works is in relation to
the world of brands, to which we now turn.
VI The Hip-Hop / Brand Interface
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Brands (sometimes unwittingly) have been key interlocutors in
hip-hops dialectic with popular culture. As mental constructs and
monikers they have played an integral role in the evolution of
hip-hop. We have identified 3 broad trends to this development:
There have been three main ways in which brands interface with
hip-hop: - brands that have been appropriated by hip-hop and become
symbolic
of hip-hop - brands that have emerged out of hip-hop and can
therefore be seen
as hip-hop brands - brands that are trying to capitalise on
hip-hops success or turning to
it for inspiration
Hip-Hop Appropriating Brands Ever since it first emerged,
hip-hop has been bound up with certain appearances and styles.
Typically eccentric headgear, baggy jeans, hooded sweatshirts, gold
chains, fat shoe laces. In the beginning the appropriation of
certain products and brands by the hip-hop fraternity was part and
parcel of the movement. Brands enabled members of the hip-hop
nation to express their unique individuality, whilst creating a set
of collective codes that signified a shared currency. In the 21st
century music has substantively outstripped the other original
elements of hip-hop. Brands in hip-hop are words to rhyme with as
well as physical artefacts.8 Automobiles, Beverages and Apparel are
the most popularly name dropped product categories. Some of the
most commonly mentioned names at time of writing are: Mercedes,
Bentley, Cristal, Bacardi, Lexus, Gucci, Timberland Brand names
often seem to be included almost incidentally (often abbreviated
and colloquialised i.e. Lexus = Lex, Cristal = Cris), and randomly
as part of the MCs verbiage. However, this does not mean brands
dont play an instrumental role in the hip-hop discourse. Brands
when used as metaphors - are given legitimacy in hip-hop as part of
the furniture of our world not something to be screened out but
something to be invited in. Listeners engrossed in a song may
associate the brand (however tangentially) with a favourite artist.
This debate over deliberate product placement has been a hot topic
in recent months which we deal with more fully below in the Hip-Hop
as Brand Medium section. Here are the most obvious examples of
hip-hop driven marketing:
8 Lucian James, a brand strategist based in San Francisco, has
been monitoring the Billboard Top 20 for brand name mentions and
ranking them on his website. These are the most listened to songs
in the USA, many of them hip-hop.
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- 1986 Adidas: My Adidas by RUN DMC. This track was a eulogy to
the
Adidas trainer and prompted crowds at a RUN DMC concert to
remove their shoes in tribute to the brand.
- 1992 Tommy Hilfiger: Grand Puba of Brand Nubian name checked
Tommy Hilfiger, thereby endorsing the brand and opening up the
brand offering to a previously untapped audience.
- 2002 Courvoisier: Busta Rhymes and Puff Daddy collaborated on
an infectious ode to the Cognac brand which caused a 20 per cent
jump in sales.
Hip-Hop Brands The nineties witnessed the emergence of hip-hop
fashion brands: brands conceived and aimed at hip-hop aficionados.
Foremost amongst these would be included Karl Kani, FUBU and Cross
Colours. Name-checking these brands in music tracks, adorning
themselves in music videos and photo shoots has proved to be a
perfect promotional mix. It has provided hip-hop brands unmediated
access to their target. As hip-hop music sales continued to rise,
so did those of these brands, and the sheer number of such brands
now reflects this success: Mecca, Triple 5 Soul, Ecko, K-Swiss. The
hip-hop community is now savvy to the commercial potential of their
culture. The following artists have launched their own fashion
brands: Phat Farm (Russell Simmons) RocaWear (Jay-Z) Sean John (P
Diddy) Vokal (Nelly) Wu Wear (Wu-Tang Clan) Shady Clothing
(Eminem)
Brands Appropriating Hip-Hop One telling indicator of a shift in
public perception towards hip-hop is the alacrity with which brands
now associate themselves with the subculture. Brands, particularly
in the USA, are realising that affiliating themselves with hip-hop
allows them to connect with a lucrative and growing franchise. The
power of hip-hop lies in that it acts as a lifestyle brand
potentially encompassing all areas of a consumers life. Brands such
as Sprite, GAP and Nike have famously used hip-hop imagery in their
advertising campaigns. Reebok recently reaped the rewards of using
a cast
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of hip-hop artists in launching the RBK range. In addition to
co-promoting hip-hop talent spots with The Source magazine, Reebok
has decided to launch a signature footwear line under the name of
Sean Carter Collection multi-platinum selling artist Jay-Z. Car
manufacturers such as Ford are starting to understand that urban
marketing is the only way to stay in touch with their consumers.
Sean P Diddy Combs has been invited to brand a limited edition
Oldsmobile. Fashionistas Dolce and Gabbana drew on hip-hop for
inspiration for their latest track suit range.9 McDonalds latest
global campaign Im Lovin It turns to local hip-hop artists to
provide a soundtrack and a slice of the hip-hop lifestyle. (In the
Appendix, we look at advertising for 3 brands, which have run in
the UK and which show varying degrees of success in leveraging the
values of hip-hop). In the USA, a racially stratified nation,
hip-hop fast becoming a modern American vernacular - has
mercurially crossed the boundaries. We believe that hip-hop
continues to perform an incredibly important role in bridging
racial and class divides all over the world. This means that
markets can increasingly be segmented psychographically rather than
demographically. This enables what is now dubbed: urban marketing
targeting a massive cohort of young people estimated to exceed 45
million in the US alone the hip-hop generation.
VII Hip-Hops Brand Metaphors The marketing discipline employs
mental models to look at brands. We have used various such models
to illustrate how hip-hop might be compared to a brand. Taken
together, we feel they demonstrate that hip-hop is, as our title
suggests, a superbrand.
Hip-Hop as Superbrand? Brand X? What brand owner would not kill
to have unassailable kudos amongst youth, consistently high brand
equity and an effortless ability to recruit fresh franchise? To
have a brand which appeals to a broad constituency of people,
satisfying several need states simultaneously, and acting as a
focus for shared and desired values? To have an experience10 brand
that operates in sexy territory, satisfying the highest order needs
for identity construction and self-actualisation. What brand owner
would not be green with envy at a brand that now enjoys mass market
status but retains its vanguardist credentials? Yet this is what
hip-hop has done for the last 20 years. Hip-hop launched as a niche
brand. It has since become a mass-market brand whilst retaining its
original momentum and freshness. Hip-hop provides clues to the
conundrum: how do I
9 Some brands such as Motorola see co-branding as the most
effective way to tap into the $6 million of urban spending power.
Motorola launched a mobile phone pager in conjunction with hip-hop
fashion label Phat Farm owned by Russell Simmons Def Jam. 10 John
Grant in New Marketing Manifesto argues that the future of brands
is not as necessarily a reflection of consumer values but as a tool
for creative possibility and source of experiences. Our research
demonstrated how hip-hop has become important as a key imaginative
resource for young people and leads to rich experiences.
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pursue volume with fickle consumers whilst remaining authentic?
Hip-hop has squared the circle by making a form of authenticity
part of its brand DNA. Brand X-tension? Extending the analogy,
hip-hop has undergone what one might call a passive brand
extension. On what basis has it performed this extension? In a
sense by largely flouting all the rules of brand extension those
that cite product differentiation within the destination category
as paramount. By leveraging the brand elasticity of the hip-hop
brand it has shown a knack for diversification. As we have seen
hip-hop incarnates values of creativity. It also brings an in-built
authenticity to whatever it does. Hip-hops infiltration into the
mainstream has been as much through co-option by other
genres/scenes as through conscious strategic manoeuvring.
Hip-Hop: Big Fish or Challenger Brand? There is always a sort of
peer pressure to like certain things at certain times and people
liking hip-hop has gone against that. Cultural Theorist Challenger
Brand? Hip-hop started off as the quintessential challenger brand.
Most obviously, hip-hop remains in part an underground movement
with a die-hard franchise, namely those at the core who revel in
their separateness. Its success has been predicated on being the
alternative, never the orthodoxy. However, as we have shown,
hip-hop has also entered the mainstream: as it has evolved it has
come to represent a set of meaningful values to a broader audience,
namely those who are situated more at the periphery. Adam Morgans
book Eating the Big Fish advocated a rethink of how second-tier
brands operate to gain advantage against predominant brand leaders.
Hip-hops development and growth over the past two decades has
involved rehearsing (whether inadvertently) challenger brand
principles. According to Morgans definition, hip-hop would be a
challenger brand in terms of: its state of market, state of mind
and rate of success. Morgans book goes on to enumerate a brand
model of Eight Credos which he suggests spearhead challenger
success. Three of these credos are particularly instructive in
dealing with hip-hop. Firstly, hip-hop built a lighthouse identity
by being a consistently thrusting and vibrant presence. It burst
onto the scene almost as the unmusic; distinctive, dissonant,
almost antagonistic in composition and content to any other pop
music form. From the start, hip-hop has been seen as an alien,
brooding and sometimes unwelcome presence. It has, until recently,
been vilified as the predilection of a black/urban underclass. This
has enabled hip-hop to carve out a rebel position in counterpoint
to the mainstream. Hip-hops
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strength consists of this luminosity - an ability to cut through
at the expense of less clearly defined brands. Secondly, Morgan
argues that the currency of Challenger momentum is a constant
stream of ideas - ideas that keep the brand high up on consumer
agendas. He argues that Challenger brands are innately Idea-Centred
rather than Consumer-Centred. Hip-hop is an extremely fast moving
milieu pulsating with fresh ideas. At times it seems locked in a
cycle of perpetual idea modification: ideas being challenged,
critiqued, transcended or recycled. 11 Different versions, remixes,
instrumentals, freestyles, acapellas multiply the output of every
artist. Dialogue and indeed competition between artists has always
been an imperative, the driving force behind the creativity. Much
of the spur to creativity comes from the urge to have the final
word, supersede the last release. In that sense, hip-hop is as much
about artists communicating with each other much of it can seem
indifferent to popularity with a mass audience. Consequently, the
best hip-hop feels Ideas Centred, rather than being transparently
aimed at consumers and anticipating their expectations. In this
way, hip-hop manages to always be a step ahead of consumers,
continuously able to delight and surprise its audience. Thirdly,
hip-hop has arguably also assumed thought leadership in many areas
of popular culture. Hip-hop associated ventures now account for
billions of dollars. It is established as an important reference
point to be emulated in the music industry. From being an
iconoclastic upstart to being a creative alloy to be plundered for
ideas. Hip-hop is increasingly credited as creative inspiration in
such areas as thematic structure, music production, choreography
and aesthetics. A further illustration of this leadership can be
found in fashion: the popularisation of casual leisure wear as
fashion statement; the adoption of what can be termed a hip-hop
aesthetic by mainstream brands looser and baggier cuts. More recent
has been the vogue for what is termed ghetto fabulous: where
designer brands amalgamating their styles with hip-hop chic to
capitalise on the broad trends towards mass affluence.12 So is
hip-hop now a Big Fish? Well, in terms of influence yes; in
monetary terms certainly. Has hip-hop managed to gain hegemonic
status by sacrificing its core values? We would argue that hip-hop
remains vital and retains it authenticity in the eyes of young
people. It has done this by negotiating a midway position. Hip-hop
is neither exclusively niche or exclusively mass market it is both
simultaneously.
Hip-Hop Artists as Brand Archetypes 11 Hip-hop thrives on its
very disposability of its products. The speed at which tracks are
made, remixed, and alacrity with which new styles, trends are taken
up etc allows hip-hop to perpetually refresh itself. More so than
other music hip-hop endures almost by making obsolescence part of
its modus operandi. 12 Allied Domecq have hired Russell Simmons
advertising agency D-rush, to handle the cross media launch of
their new communication for their portfolio of cognacs under the
umbrella name House of Courvoisier.
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Our research brought out a strong nexus between artist and fan
built on the charisma of the personalities in hip-hop. What is
striking from our research was how keen consumers are to puzzle out
these complex characters. Most of these figures are black males -
hip-hop certainly represents a strident expression of masculinity.
But the masculinity at work in hip-hop is malleable and
multifarious - not simply a rigid monolithic machismo. Figures such
as Tupac Shakur and Eminem combine their outrageous boasts with a
confessional tenderness. It is this element of disclosure the sense
of sharing themselves with the listener; and the intimate way it is
rendered that sets hip-hop artists apart. Colourful and notorious
personalities are hip-hops lifeblood. Hip-hop is more than just a
musical production line and recording industry. It is also a
theatre with characters acting out various roles. There is the
jester, the thug, the philosopher, the prophet, the political
firebrand, the dandy, the regular guy, the pimp, the lothario, the
entrepreneur. They are all present in the hip-hop pantheon and may
be found in different hip-hop artists, or indeed in the same artist
playing different roles in different circumstances. Carl Jung
believed that human beings are in hock to recurring mental
characters and narrative patterns buried deep in our psyches: We
come into life instinctually resonating to these archetypal stories
because of the very ways in which our minds are
configuredArchetypes are the software of the soul13 Mark and
Pearsons The Hero and the Outlaw, shows how shrewd brands achieve
resonance by aligning themselves with these archetypes. Indeed, on
one level, hip-hop is predicated upon the interplay of archetypal
figures. We would argue in this paper that the miscellaneous jumble
of characters in hip-hop are themselves underpinned by an
overarching archetype (or a category essence in Mark and Pearsons
language). We have noted elsewhere that hip-hop is the culture of
the first person singular. Unsurprisingly therefore, hip-hop is
besotted and bound up with the archetype of the Explorer. This is
its fundamental category essence. It therefore holds precious
values of independence, endeavour and self-discovery.
Unsurprisingly, a wish for self-determination, a fear of being
hemmed in and continual self-discovery are common to youth
everywhere. Hip-hop continually echoes and plays to this need.
Hip-hop is about interesting icons, the comedians and the
gangsters, people that you want to read about Hip-Hop Periphery
13 Carl Jung Man and his Symbols
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The Explorer platform supports subsidiary archetypes within it.
We have identified a few of the more obvious exemplars with
examples of their subject matter: Sage = Nas (social commentary,
chronicler, imparter of knowledge = philosophical) Jester = Eminem
(scatological humour, satire, revenge fantasies = turmoil) Outlaw =
50 Cent (thug life, criminal activity = defiance) Ruler = Jay-Z
(entrepreneurial success, business dominance = order) These artists
differ in their subject matter and emphasis but all incarnate the
fierce individualism and yearning of the Explorer. All are
similarly on personal odysseys (whether of self-aggrandisement or
otherwise) but in subtly different ways. We would argue that
(inadvertently?) leveraging archetypal imagery is an immense source
of hip-hop strength. The stories these artists tell allow them to
act as recognisable brand archetypes without losing their humanity.
Archetypes give hip-hop an atavistic resonance semi-mythical
figures in a world where many celebrities seem to lack depth. As a
category hip-hops Explorer archetype essence gives it the
credentials to innovate and extend its brand outside music.
Brand as Medium While hip-hops values are by and large fixedit
is also an incredibly flexible tool of communication, quite
adaptable to any number of messages Nelson, Hip-Hop America
Proprietary Media Above and beyond hip-hop proving itself to be
incredibly receptive to brands, it displays yet another unique
characteristic in that it also acts as its own media. Most global
brands use media instrumentally as a means to transmit a message.
It is rare for brands to have media organically linked to, or as an
integral part of, the brand itself. One of the perennial challenges
for brand owners is how to meaningfully align brand proposition
with media placement. Younger audiences are deserting traditional
broadcast media formats. Brands are coming to terms with an
increasingly fragmented media landscape. Brands are struggling to
eke out the most comprehensive coverage from a given media spend.
At the same time marketers want to brand content working in synergy
with the right media. Chuck D called hip-hop the black CNN. In a
sense, hip-hop communicates through its own proprietary media. The
musical medium uses technology creatively in the service of the
lyrical messages transmitted through it. Graffiti works through the
visual medium of public space. Arguably, the community of hip-hop
fans and brand evangelism is a further manifestation of hip-hop
media that of word of mouth. The hip-hop fraternity have always
understood that message is medium and medium is message.
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Product Placement By acting as its own media, hip-hop is its own
best promotional vehicle. It can uniquely rely on itself to promote
itself. To take the example of music again, the number of brands
that get name-checked in the US Billboard Top 20 in any given week
is astounding. Lucian James American Brandstand14 bears witness to
this. But what it illustrates is hip-hop acting as a potent
advertising medium a form of product placement which benefits from
an already captive audience, wherein brands benefit from a
meaningful context and are imbued with hip-hops values, not least
authenticity. Brand owners are seriously considering utilising the
hip-hop paid for media format as a promotional vehicle. Hewlett
Packard was recently reported to be in talks with the Def Jam label
to promote a new line of personal computers via brand name
dropping. A Viral Medium? Another interesting insight derived from
the brand-as-medium analogy concerns hip-hops mode of propagation
how has it spread so far and fast? We would argue that the dramatic
spread of hip-hop has been an organic process disproportionate to
any quantification of conscious initiatives. We have alluded to the
stickiness (or catchiness) of hip-hop the beats, rhymes and the
cultural codes that go with them. Our focus on the grass roots
reception of hip-hop culture has revealed an important factor the
outspoken agency of the hip-hop head. Certainly, we would posit
that the propagation process has been viral spreading from person
to person15 and that the hip-hop head is a prime mode of
propagation the vector if you like. By the way they talk, dress,
act and evangelise the genre. The meme, unit of cultural
replication, is a term coined by evolutionary biologist Richard
Dawkins to describe ideas and mental models that gain currency and
achieve longevity. They are passed down generations like genetic
codes. We think you could apply the meme concept to hip-hop. As a
first order meme hip-hop has spawned a world movement that has
inspired millions. It has replicated itself as a mental model
through the minds of young people. As a cluster of viral ideas it
has not been imposed by top-down saturation of broadcast media but
through personal contact, individual endorsement and
self-discovery. Arguably, the ordinary hip-hop fan is a special
player in this process.
Brand as Conversation not Broadcast Furthermore, above and
beyond hip-hop acting as its own most potent media, the nature of
the way in which it delivers its messages or stories is
noteworthy.
14 http://www.lucjam.com/brand.html 15 Underground hip-hop has a
historical parallel in the Russian samizdat or self-published
tracts and literary works published and distributed outside the
control of official channels during the years of authoritarianism
in the Soviet Union. Samizdat was also an underground medium
transmitting non-establishment expression.
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People are suffering from communication saturation. There is a
sense of being engulfed with unsolicited e-mails and sms, junk
mail. This is allied to a growing distrust of big corporations.
Part of the general disenchantment stems from a fatigue with
broadcast messages. Unvariegated messages beamed to a homogenous
audience. Certainly, brands that talk in an arch, insensitive way
to the consumer quickly become unpopular. Empathy and honesty are
two highly coveted values in the brand world. Brands that tune
themselves into the values of their audience tend to win a willing
audience. Brands are having to accustom themselves to a shift in
mindset from we want your money to we share your interests to we
have become part of your life. But how to consistently anticipate
or intuit those values? Brands are increasingly finding the answer
to this is to build a meaningful dialogue with their consumers. As
we have already noted, hip-hop is a series of conversations, or
rather a network of interconnecting conversations constantly
cross-referencing themselves and endlessly leading to further
conversations. Also, we highlighted that people are attracted to
the culture because of its authenticity. This authenticity consists
of ordinary people telling stories, admitting their failings,
reflecting on life. Hip-hop often speaks with uncontrived and
unspun candour - it is telling it like it is. It establishes a
conversation with its audience. This is in marked contrast with the
overwhelming communications context.16
Conclusions Hip-hop now has a huge influence on youth culture an
influence it is now impossible to ignore. It resonates with the
value systems and aspirations of young people in a number of
important ways. Indeed, it offers a plurality of brand experiences
that shape young peoples lives and outlook. And it demonstrates
many of the attributes of a highly successful brand which draws in
fresh franchise without compromising its brand equities.
Understanding hip-hops appeal and how it works in the minds and
lives of young people offers potentially rich rewards for brands
seeking to make deep connections with consumers. Failing to
understand hip-hop can lead at best to missed opportunities, and at
worst to damaged credibility and lack of relevance. We hope that
the insights and implications put forward in this paper will help
all those involved in the study or marketing of brands in
contemporary culture have a better understanding of these
issues.
16 There are many parallels between hip-hop and the internet.
Also a uncensored medium, through its fluid infrastructure the
internet hosts a seething network of conversations.
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Bibliography
Hip-Hop Culture
Will Eric Perkins Droppin Science: Critical Essays on Rap Music
and Hip-Hop Culture Tricia Rose Black Noise: Rap Music and Black
Culture in Contemporary America Russell A Potter Spectacular
Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism Nelson
George Hip-Hop America Paul Gilroy The Black Atlantic: African
Diaspora and Double Consciousness Patrick Neate Where Youre At:
Notes from the Front Line of a Hip-Hop Planet Chuck D with Yusuf
Jah Fight the Power: Rap, Race and Reality Brands, Psychology and
Marketing
Carl Jung Man and his Symbols Margaret Mark & Carol Pearson
The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brand through the
Power of Archetypes Levine, Locke, Searls, Weinberger The Cluetrain
Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual Giep Franzen & Margot
Bouwman The Mental World of Brands John Grant New Marketing
Manifesto John Grant After Image Adam Morgan Eating the Big
Fish
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank David Burrows of Flamingo for his help
and guidance in
the development of this paper.
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Appendix Examples of brands seeking to use hip-hop values
1. Nike In recent years Nike has been attempting to humanise
itself by getting closer to its consumer. From depictions of
sporting excellence, Nike has shifted focus to show players off
duty fooling around and enjoying the fun of football. In this
freestyle spot Nike takes basketball and leverages hip-hop to
create powerful advertising. The spot ostensibly recreates a
version of the impromptu three-on-three competitions happening in
parks all over the world. However, on closer analysis, the
freestyle ad adds resonance by tapping into hip-hop values whilst
nimbly avoiding heavy-handed allusion to the genre. This deepens
identification with the target audience who buy trainers as much
for fashion as sporting reasons. It also sets up a powerful synergy
between expressionism in music and sport. To highlight the way in
which the hi-hop values are represented: For the periphery:
Entertainment: as a visual spectacle shows the breathtaking skills
of the cream of the NBA professionals to a hip-hop beat. The cocky,
nonchalant air of the performers is familiar to those watching
hip-hop music videos. Voyeurism: there is no attempt directly to
play to the viewer, we are purely spectators given a short window
on the private world of great NBA players off duty and performing
the stunts that millions of young people want to emulate. For those
inside the culture, at the core, the ad is pure hip-hop. It also
references the values of: Belonging: the rawness of the black
backdrop, the outrageous displays of skill, the jitterbugging and
play faking are all signifiers of hip-hops emphasis on performance
and competition. They signify a hip-hop ethos and atmosphere.
Creativity: the ad implies an association between athletic prowess
and verbal dexterity. The ball is a metaphor for the microphone and
each player takes his turn to show his skills and show sporting
creativity. Intelligence: the ad shows intelligence in the creative
device it employs. The participants in the ad have turned the ball
into beat box rather than a scoring
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implement. The scuff of the shoes becomes a scratch: subverting
the original task for which the ball and trainers were made. There
is a cheek and freshness to this very much in tune with hip-hops
focus on unfussy intelligence.
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2. Radio Five Live This spot spoofs the closing battle scene of
Eminems film Eight Mile. In the film Eminem dismisses his rivals
with a devastating display of honesty, wit and outrageous verbal
attacks. But the idea does not depend on having seen the film,
although identification is deepened. The main creative device
centres upon drawing parallels between the MCs power to move a
crowd and the commentators power to electrify football fans who
hang on their every word. Both are performers whose appeal is built
on their verbal dexterity: not only what they say but how they say
it. Both rappers and commentators vocalise what they see, both give
their opinions and both are skilled at conjuring up mental pictures
in the minds eye of their listener. Their descriptive accounts are
conduits for the voyeurism of their audience. Radio Five Live
ultimately leverages the power of hip-hop to communicate, to inform
and to bring people together to dramatise the passion and emotional
hysteria of a football match. In doing so they shrewdly tap into a
massive audience of hip-hop fans who are also avid followers of the
English Premiership. This is a spot we believe that succeeds by
referencing all the values of hip-hop. - Entertainment: a dramatic
event with a lot of energy and excitement - a
battle between two well known commentators - Authenticity: the
authenticity is in well known commentators taking their
art to the stage, in the passion of the delivery (and in the
presence of the two Arsenal players on the turntables!)
- Voyeurism: shows these commentators doing what they do best in
a pressured surrounding
- Belonging: emphasises the tribal nature of football by
combining a celebration of the euphoria of being a football fan
with the fun and excitement of the hip-hop concert this
acknowledges that hip-hop is as big a part of the lives of young
people as football building complicity
- Creative: the idea of merging football commentary with a
hip-hop beat the unlikely juxtaposition of balding 40 year olds and
a bombastic hip-hop crowd
- Intelligence: the fact that so much information is conveyed
with such speed and elegance of expression does justice to the
hip-hop medium
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3. Virgin Mobile The following print advert is an example of how
some marketers superficially latch onto hip-hop as subject matter
without grasping its deeper significance. It is the result of badly
misjudging the current climate of opinion towards hip-hop and how
it has developed. This spot plays to the residual values we would
argue have now been superseded by the periphery values we have
spoken of throughout the paper. - a confrontational attitude -
conspicuous display: bling bling - crassness, vulgarity and
misogyny Rather than celebrating the positive values in hip-hop, it
attempts to parody elements of hip-hop: perverting the notion of
respect. Fundamentally, it reduces hip-hop culture to a
one-dimensional caricature foregrounding its negative values.
Underlying this is an attack on the very authenticity of hip-hop
culture. Also, the preferred reading is that these white teenagers
are wannabes and thus inauthentic. This implies that hip-hop
culture is still only for the elect, whereas we have shown how
powerfully it has percolated into young peoples lives. The
execution lacks intelligence by making an easy target of
unaspirational looking individuals. When we researched this ad,
most recognised it as being a caricature of the negative aspects of
hip-hop culture. This is the dumbest ad ever, taking the pissjust a
stereotype 18, Hip-Hop Periphery Only the least progressive
elements of our mainstream saw it as an accurate reflection of
hip-hop. We would argue that there is increasingly less capital to
be derived from ridiculing hip-hop. There is far more mileage in
harnessing its positive values.
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