Top Down, Bottom Up

It’s very easy to see how the media shapes our perceptions of people, places, and things.  The images that they choose to show, the words they use to describe, the things that they choose not to say— all of these work to shape how we view things.  Take the current argument in the United States, for example, that the pictures the media chooses to show of people can either give them the audience’s pity or vilify them very easily.  The most pertinent example is that of two groups of young men, one group white, the other black, that committed the same crime on the same day, and was reported on by the same author.  The young men who were white had their yearbook photos posted in the coverage of the story.  The young black men had their mugshots posted, a much less flattering view of them.  Audience’s are immediately more inclined to pity the young scholar than the obvious criminal.  Viewers of the articles immediately protested, and the discussion has been carried on as more and more examples of bias in the media are brought forth.  With that obvious a bias, it is easy to see how the media can change our views.

That being said, there are other things that one must take in to account before one can claim that our minds are purely shaped by discourse created by the dominant.  I would like to present Hip Hop as a complication to the idea that discourse is shaped largely by “The West” for the advantage of “The West”. 

A short history to begin: Hip hop has origins similar to those of jazz— jazz grew out of black communities in the deep southern city of New Orleans, Louisiana, whereas hip hop grew out of the black communities in the northern city of New York.  Both, however, have similar beginnings as street music.  Jazz splits away from hip hop early on, though, as it combines the uniquely African tradition of improvisation and African beats, and combines them with European instruments.  This created a new sound which has taken the US, and the world, by a storm.  Hip hop also combines the African traditions of strong beats and improv, but largely failed to include the European instruments, since hip hop was brought forth from very poor communities, and instruments are expensive.  Hip hop was born when groups of individuals would get together, generally forming a circle; the group would provide the beat, and individuals would provide the lyrics over the top.  This tradition has since expanded exponentially, and now there is an entire culture revolving around hip hop.

Hip hop is easily one of the most controversial subjects in the United States, not only because it’s so influential in everyday living, but also because hip hop reveals some very difficult realities in society.  Hip hop art, as the art of the oppressed, discusses the things that are most difficult in life.

First, I think it is important to discuss how much hip hop is portrayed by media outlets.  Hip hop art is very low art, and artists themselves are portrayed as appealing to the lowest parts of humanity— degrading women, commercializing sex, putting money over morals, and, in general, perpetuating the “thug” image.  This image puts people in gang like scenarios, and involves the sagging pants, heavy chains around the neck, hoodies, guns, glasses, Jordans (shoes) and a whole litany of other things.

Second, I think it needs to be said that these images are actually not the media looking for the scary perceptions of hip hop.  While this is certainly not the only image that constitutes hip hop, the street thug with the chains, the hat, the expensive shoes, with an expensive car and a scantily clad woman is the image that hip hop culture itself presents of itself as a symbol of status and pride.  While the media does control some imagery of hip hop, the images that they have available to them to choose from have been created by the culture of hip hop itself.  

The difference, and where it can be said that Western culture asserts its dominance, is in how these images are interpreted.   When the media talks about these images, they tend do so in an extremely negative light, discussing how these street bums and thugs are teaching our youth violence, and are showing them that abusing women is okay.  They say that it romanticizes violence and naturalizes gangs, teaching youth that all of the above is a “cool” lifestyle.  In short, it encourages people to join the lowest forms of society.

In truth, it is very easy to agree with the general media when they talk about hip hop artists and art in this manner.  The most prominent art form, graffiti, is indeed a destruction of property.  Hip hop dance is extremely sexual in nature.  And rap artists (although I would like to emphasize that rap is not the only form of hip hop music, but it is the most closely associated with hip hop) do perform some pretty nasty things— they way they talk about women is degrading, they do talk about gun fights and gangs, and they do place emphasis on street smarts and being cool.

However.  Hip hop is, in fact, a culture of rebellion and oppression.  Many of the most famous artists have actually lived through the struggle and come out on top.  The scenes that they describe and the feelings that they say are acutely relatable to struggling people everywhere, because they understand what a rough life on the streets is about.  While what they are talking about is brutal, and is uncomfortable to think about, they are singing or rapping or dancing or drawing a reality that millions of people are living.  The point of hip hop is not necessarily to encourage, but rather, in the same tradition of the blues, to express and convey a reality when the world won’t listen.  To give hope to people who have very little, and to 

I think that this goes to show that the idea of a discourse is greatly complicated.  The words of the dominant class are not merely passed on to a passive and receptive audience.  The black community, in America, as example, has found, throughout the years, ways of protesting White supremacy through music, dance, art, speech, dress, etc.  The discourse has been shaped not only by a dominant class, but from the oppressed taking a stand against their oppression.