This document discusses the relationship between hip hop music and capitalism from the genre's origins to modern day. It traces how hip hop artists have embraced and promoted capitalist ideals over time, from early references to drug dealing and materialism in the 1980s-90s to contemporary artists directly marketing lifestyle brands. The text examines hip hop's role in creating and selling an aspirational urban lifestyle and identity to consumers. It also analyzes the tension between hip hop's roots in oppressed communities and its current status as a highly commercialized global commodity.

1. #med332
Rap,
authen0city,
commerce,
capitalism
1

2. “They
say
rap’s
changed”
Dr
Dre
–
‘S0ll
D.R.E.’
(1999)
2

3. 3
themes
all
focused
around
capitalist
enterprise:
1. Rap’s
success
and
commercial
dominance
2. Commodity
fe0shism
and
conspicuous
consump0on
3. Authen0city
and
selling
out
3

4. 4

5. 5

6. Tim
Dogg
–
‘Fuck
Compton’
(1991)
6

7. Dr
Dre
–
‘Fuck
wit
Dre
Day
(And
Everybody's
Celebra0n’)’
(1992)
Dr
Dre
–
‘The
$20
Sack
Pyramid’
(1992)
7

8. 8

9. Sean
‘Puff
Daddy’
Combs
9

10. 10

11. The
Notorious
B.I.G.
–
‘Juicy’
(1994)
11

12. Junior
M.A.F.I.A
feat
The
Notorious
B.I.G.
–
‘Get
Money’
(1995)
12

13. Tupac
Shakur
13

14. Quad
Recording
Studios
,
NYC
14

15. 15

16. First
ar0st
to
have
a
#1
album
while
in
prison
16

17. Suge
Knight
17

18. 18

19. “Any
ar0st
out
there
that
want
to
be
an
ar0st
and
stay
a
star,
and
don’t
have
to
worry
about
the
execu0ve
producer
trying
to
be
all
in
the
videos
...
All
on
the
records
...
dancing,
come
to
Death
Row!”
1995
Source
A1w9
ards

20. 20

21. Tupac
Shakur
–
‘Hit
‘em
Up’
(1996)
21

22. Puff
Daddy
&
The
Family
22

23. ‘I
sold
kilos
of
coke,
I'm
guessin'
I
can
sell
CDs
I'm
not
a
businessman,
I'm
a
business,
man!’
-­‐
Jay-­‐Z
on
‘Diamonds
from
Sierra
Leone’
(Remix)
23

24. Sold
for
$4
billion
to
Coca-­‐Cola
24

25. 25

26. Hip-­‐hop’s
recent
focus
on
entrepreneurship
and
marke0ng
has
created
a
culture
where
hip-­‐hop
is
experienced
primarily
through
consump0on
rather
than
produc0on
-­‐
Hunter,
2011:
15-­‐6
26

27. Rags
to
riches
27

28. This
“lifestyle
product”
is
created
through
the
countless
commodi0es
now
associated
with
hip-­‐hop.
Consumers
can
buy
PimpJuice
energy
drink
(Nelly),
Roc-­‐a-­‐Wear
sunglasses
(Jay-­‐Z),
Sean
John
jeans
(Diddy),
or
Conjure
Cognac
(Ludacris)
to
emulate
the
rap
lifestyle
whose
image
is
built
on
the
founda0on
of
cars,
women,
drugs,
and
strip
clubs.
This
lifestyle
product
is
reinforced
through
lyrics,
music
video,
online
fan
gossip,
and
constant
marke0ng.
The
consumer-­‐
driven
lifestyle
product
is
epitomized
in
50
Cent’s
newest
product
in
his
G-­‐
Unit
line:
the
interac0ve
pornography
video
-­‐
Hunter,
2011:
16
28

29. Nelly
–
‘Air
Force
Ones’
(2002)
29

30. In
order
to
gain
and
to
hold
the
esteem
of
men
it
is
not
sufficient
merely
to
possess
wealth
or
power.
The
wealth
or
power
must
be
put
in
evidence,
for
esteem
is
awarded
only
on
evidence
-­‐
Veblen,
1899/1934:
p36
30

31. ‘it
is
important
to
note
that
hip-­‐hop
serves
doubly
as
an
interven0on
of
American
capitalism
and
of
black
agency.
Hip-­‐hop's
arrac0on
abroad
remains
arached
to
its
roots
as
a
voice
for
oppressed
groups
…
In
the
same
breadth,
hip-­‐hop
is
also
a
vehicle
for
under-­‐
standing
(American)
blackness
as
a
hyper-­‐commodity’
-­‐
Bradley,
2014:
97-­‐8
31

32. Kanye
West
-­‐
‘We
Don’t
Care’
(2004)
The
College
Dropout
Drug
dealin’
jus
to
get
by
Stack
ya
money
0ll
it
gets
sky
high
We
wasn’t
supposed
to
make
it
past
25
But
the
jokes
on
you
we
s0ll
alive
Throw
your
hands
up
in
the
sky
and
say
“We
don't
care
what
people
say”
If
this
is
your
first
0me
hearing
this
You
are
about
to
experience
something
cold
man
We
never
had
nothing
handed
took
nothing
for
granted
Took
nothing
from
no
man,
man
I'm
my
own
man
But
as
a
shorty
I
looked
up
to
the
dopeman
Only
adult
man
I
knew
that
wasn’t
a
broke
man
Flickin’
starter
coats
man,
Man
you
don’t
know
man
We
don't
care
what
people
say
This
is
for
my
niggas
outside
all
winter
Cuz
this
summer
they
ain’t
finna
to
say
“next
summer
I’m
finna”
Siun’
in
the
hood
like
community
colleges
This
dope
money
here
is
Lil
Trey’s
scholarship
Cause
ain’t
no
to
tui0on
for
havin’
no
ambi0on
And
ain’t
no
loans
for
siun’
your
ass
at
home
So
we
forced
to
sell
crack
rap
and
get
a
job
You
gora
do
something
man
your
ass
is
grown
[…]
The
second
verse
is
for
my
dogs
working
9
to
5
That
s0ll
hustle
cause
a
nigga
can't
shine
off
$6.55
And
everybody
selling
make-­‐up,
Jacobs
And
bootleg
tapes
just
to
get
they
cake
up
We
put
shit
on
layaway
then
come
back
We
claim
other
people
kids
on
our
income
tax
We
take
that
money
cop
work
than
push
packs
to
get
paid
And
we
don't
care
what
people
say
Momma
say
she
wanna
move
south
Scratchin’
lorery
0ckets
Eyes
on
a
new
house
Around
the
same
0me,
Doe
ran
up
in
dude
house
Couldn’t
get
a
job,
So
since
he
couldn’t
get
work
He
figured
he’d
take
work
The
drug
game
bolemic
its
hard
to
get
weight
So
niggas
money
is
homo
its
hard
to
get
straight
So
we
gon
keep
baking
to
the
day
we
get
cake.
And
we
don’t
care
what
people
say
32

33. No
rapper
has
embodied
hip-­‐hop’s
oxen
contradictory
impulses
of
narcissism
and
social
good
quite
as
he
has,
and
no
producer
has
celebrated
the
lush
and
the
ornate
quite
as
he
has.
He
has
spent
most
of
his
career
in
addi0ve
mode,
figuring
out
how
to
make
music
that’s
majes0c
and
thought-­‐provoking
and
grand-­‐scaled.
And
he’s
also
widened
the
genre’s
gates,
whether
for
middle-­‐class
values
or
high-­‐
fashion
and
high-­‐art
dreams.
-­‐
Caramonica,
2013
33

34. 34
‘George
Bush
doesn’t
care
about
black
people’
‘I
have
a
hard
0me
believing
George
Bush
cares
about
anyone’

35. Kanye
West
–
‘Flashing
Lights’
(2007)
35
She
don’t
believe
in
shoo0n’
stars,
But
she
believe
in
shoes
and
cars
Wood
floors
in
the
new
apartment,
Couture
from
the
store’s
department
You
more
like
L’eau
de
Stardee
shit,
I’m
more
of
the,
trips
to
Florida
Order
the
hors
d’oeuvres,
Views
of
the
water.

36. Peter
Rosenberg
36

37. He’s
the
only
motherfucker
on
the
motherfuckin’
megahertz
frequency
that’s
s0ll
trying
to
implement
that
filthy-­‐under-­‐the-­‐nail,
holy,
sacred
and
pure,
unmixed,
undiluted,
un-­‐
tampered-­‐with,
real
hip-­‐hop
shit.
-­‐
Busta
Rhymes
in
Marantz,
2014
37

38. Nicki
Minaj
–
‘Starships’
(2012)
38

39. I
am
a
hip-­‐hop
head,
and,
to
be
frank,
this
song
right
here,
‘Starships,’
is
literally
one
of
the
most
sellout
songs
in
hip-­‐hop
history
…
Pop
and
rap
are
separate
things.
It’s
one
thing
for
J.
Lo
to
make
a
dance
record,
but
Nicki
was
supposed
to
be
one
of
ours.
I
didn’t
want
young
kids
looking
at
this
dance-­‐pop
song,
going,
‘This
is
what
rappers
do.’
Rosenberg
in
Marantz
(2014)
39

40. 40
Rosenberg
Summer
Jam
2012
Nicki
Minaj
diss

41. 41
“Fuck
Peter
ROSENBERG,
U
RACIST
WANNA
BE
BLACK
FAGGOT
JEW
BITCH”

42. Rosenberg’s
apology
42

43. 43
Minaj:
“I
get
it.
That’s
what
you
do.
I
guess,
to
me—I
just
don’t
know
your
résumé,
you
know
what
I’m
saying?
So
I
never
found
you
funny.
.
.
.
I
was
just,
like,
‘Who
are
you?’”

44. 44
Ebro
Darden
(the
sta0on’s
program
director):
“And
you’re
white.”

45. Pierre
Bourdieu
" 1930-­‐2002
" École
Normale
Supérieure
(Paris)
" 1964:
University
of
Paris
Director
of
Studies
at
the
École
Pratique
des
Hautes
Études
" 1968:
took
over
the
Centre
de
Sociologie
Européenne
" 1981:
Chair
of
Sociology
at
the
Collège
de
France
45

46. 46

47. Research:
1963-­‐1968
1200
quantitative
surveys,
interviews
and
photographs.
Cross-­‐referenced
with
national
trends
and
government
data
The
things
you
prefer
correspond
tightly
to
defining
measures
of
social
class:
your
profession,
your
highest
degree
and
your
father’s
profession.
47

48. "Taste
classifies,
and
it
classifies
the
classifier.
Social
subjects,
classified
by
their
classifications,
distinguish
themselves
by
the
distinctions
they
make,
between
the
beautiful
and
the
ugly,
the
distinguished
and
the
vulgar,
in
which
their
position
in
the
objective
classifications
is
expressed
or
betrayed."
-­‐
Bourdieu,
1984:
6
48

49. Art?
49

50. ‘The
very
title
Distinction
serves
as
a
reminder
that
what
is
commonly
called
distinction,
that
is,
a
certain
quality
of
bearing
and
manners,
most
often
considered
innate
[…],
is
nothing
other
than
difference,
a
gap,
a
distinctive
feature,
in
short,
a
relational
property
existing
only
in
and
through
its
relation
with
other
properties’
-­‐
Bourdieu,
1994/1998:
20
50

51. Hip
hop
is
universal?
51

52. 52
In
the
search
for
authen0city
it
has
become
fairly
commonplace
to
acknowledge
that
authen0city
is
a
sham.
Indeed,
the
more
sophis0cated
poses
available
[…]
in
the
popular
music
scene
hold
that
the
conscious
recogni0on
of
the
staged
character
of
"authen0c"
performance
does
not
compromise,
but
can
in
effect
enhance,
authen0city.
-­‐
Hutnyk,
2000:
90

53. images
• Chris
Porer
(2013)
The
Color
of
Money
• Tupac
Amaru
Shakur
(2010)
2Pac
• Rodrigoferrari
(2011)
Kanye
West
01
• David
(2005)
Christmas
Bling!
• Anna
Fox
(2009)
Monopoly
in
the
Park
• Steffi
Reichert
(2010)
CAPITALISM
53