Rap music, a genre that developed in the United States in the 1970s, has its roots in the music of West African storytellers, musicians, and poets known as Griots (“Hip-Hop”). Rap, which includes both DJing and MCing, is one of the elements of the “Hip-Hop” cultural movement. The other major elements of hip-hop culture are graffiti and breakdancing (“Hip-Hop”). Hip-hop has had a major impact on society through fashion as well. According to the Wikipedia entry on hip-hop, “Contemporary hip-hop fashion includes the wearing of baggy jeans slung low around the waist, gold or platinum chains and boots or a fresh pair of kicks, and bandanas or doo rags tied around the head often worn with a baseball cap on top.” These days, a trip to any high school or shopping mall in America will reveal numerous examples of this kind of fashion.
Baggy jeans slung low, makes me think back to the belts that used to be worn in Indian culture that symbolized virility or sexuality. The color gold is said to be a masculine color associated with the male god, likewise silver is associated with the female goddess. Aside from that it might have to do with a sign of status or of being in a "caste" of society. Bandanas, doo rags, and baseball caps would be similar to the Jewish yamaka except that instead of protecting one from spiritual influences it protects one from being influenced by society. What boots could represent, straight from a dream dictionary, "refers to the power in your movement and the boldness of your position, taking a firm stance."
Hip-hop grew out of African traditions, arose in African American urban areas, and is performed almost exclusively by African Americans. Yet hip-hop has gained an audience of a large number of young, white males in the United States. Across the U.S. suburbs, white adolescent males are adopting the hip-hop style of dress, using hip-hop language, and buying millions of rap records each year. Over seventy percent of hip-hop music sales are made to white consumers (Maclean). What explains hip-hop’s enormous appeal to young white men? A number of factors—personal, social, and economic—appear to be behind this phenomenon.
On a personal level, hip-hop appeals to young, white males because it allows them to escape from the constraints of white society and experience the world of the rapper. Rap music details the life of the African American, sometimes describing a violent and gritty life on the street, or alternatively, a life filled with the glamor of flashy jewelry, nice cars, women, and money. Both of these world views differ vastly from the often insulated, predictable world of the young white adolescent. Professor Fiona Mills interviewed young white rap listeners for her essay “Rap and Young, White Males: Masculinity, Masking, and Denial.” Essentially, he implies that young, white men are drawn to the escapist and exotic aspects of rap and little else. Given the fact that my white informants reported that their interest in rap waned dramatically once they grew older, it is a short-lived embrace, for these youth most often "outgrow" this fascination.
The appeal or being able to relate to a violent or gritty life in the psychological sense could be all about "will to power" (Nietzsche/Adler) or as Darwin put it, survival of the fittest. Wherein flashy jewelry, nice cars, money, women is all about the "will to pleasure" coined by Freud. Many pleasurable experiences are associated with satisfying basic biological drives, such as eating, exercise or sex. Other pleasurable experiences are associated with social experiences and social drives, such as the experiences of accomplishment, recognition, and service. The appreciation of cultural artifacts and activities such as art, music, and literature is often pleasurable. Recreational drug use can be pleasurable: some drugs, illicit and otherwise, directly create euphoria in the human brain when ingested. The mind's natural tendency to seek out more of this feeling (as described by the pleasure principle) can lead to dependence and addiction. Berridge and Robinson have proposed that addiction results from drugs hijacking the ‘wanting’ system through a sensitization of the mesolimbic dopamine system. (Pleasure - Wikipedia) I think however that most people have a more eclectic view, incorporating both Will to Pleasure and Will to Power also including "Will to Meaning" (Victor Frankl) which is also known as logotherapy. Most of us in the Western world of the United States is driven by a combination of the above to varying degrees. And lastly as it mentioned the escaping from reality aspect that might appeal to some individuals.
The appeal or being able to relate to a violent or gritty life in the psychological sense could be all about "will to power" (Nietzsche/Adler) or as Darwin put it, survival of the fittest. Wherein flashy jewelry, nice cars, money, women is all about the "will to pleasure" coined by Freud. Many pleasurable experiences are associated with satisfying basic biological drives, such as eating, exercise or sex. Other pleasurable experiences are associated with social experiences and social drives, such as the experiences of accomplishment, recognition, and service. The appreciation of cultural artifacts and activities such as art, music, and literature is often pleasurable. Recreational drug use can be pleasurable: some drugs, illicit and otherwise, directly create euphoria in the human brain when ingested. The mind's natural tendency to seek out more of this feeling (as described by the pleasure principle) can lead to dependence and addiction. Berridge and Robinson have proposed that addiction results from drugs hijacking the ‘wanting’ system through a sensitization of the mesolimbic dopamine system. (Pleasure - Wikipedia) I think however that most people have a more eclectic view, incorporating both Will to Pleasure and Will to Power also including "Will to Meaning" (Victor Frankl) which is also known as logotherapy. Most of us in the Western world of the United States is driven by a combination of the above to varying degrees. And lastly as it mentioned the escaping from reality aspect that might appeal to some individuals.
But hip-hop is more than an outlet for personal fantasy. It can also provide a highly defined alternative culture which appeals to the young, white man who may have trouble finding himself within white culture, or who may consciously reject white culture. The fact that hip-hop especially appeals to young men at a time in their lives when they are seeking to define themselves as adults supports this theory. For a white teenager trying desperately to establish himself as a unique person, hip-hop style may appeal because it is something he can easily recognize and emulate, and something which then sets him apart from his white peers,. It is a means for situating himself in society.
White culture predominantly doesn't provide any coming of age rituals with the exception of losing one's virginity and graduation, some include other things like a "keg stand" or a weekend in Vegas to soothe either a mid-life crisis or a relationship ending or beginning, like marriage. Such is the way in our fast-paced society. In other cultures like Judaism and Native American they have defined rules on how a boy becomes a man. In Judaism a celebration is thrown, a bar mitzvah ceremony at the age of 12 for boys and this time also coincides with the onset of puberty. After this age, children bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual law, tradition, and ethics and are privileged to participate in all areas of Jewish community life. More natural or native tribes often have the boy perform his first hunt, circumcision, or for him to stay in the wild with other men to learn how to be a man and bond with the land or to have his first vision.
White culture predominantly doesn't provide any coming of age rituals with the exception of losing one's virginity and graduation, some include other things like a "keg stand" or a weekend in Vegas to soothe either a mid-life crisis or a relationship ending or beginning, like marriage. Such is the way in our fast-paced society. In other cultures like Judaism and Native American they have defined rules on how a boy becomes a man. In Judaism a celebration is thrown, a bar mitzvah ceremony at the age of 12 for boys and this time also coincides with the onset of puberty. After this age, children bear their own responsibility for Jewish ritual law, tradition, and ethics and are privileged to participate in all areas of Jewish community life. More natural or native tribes often have the boy perform his first hunt, circumcision, or for him to stay in the wild with other men to learn how to be a man and bond with the land or to have his first vision.
Additionally, Mills explains that rap music, with its focus on sex, money, drugs and violence, builds a hyper-masculine aura” that white adolescent males are drawn to because it gives them a model for establishing their masculinity. As Mills revealed in her study, white males often begin listening to music around age twelve or thirteen, just as they are entering adolescence and beginning to establish their masculine identities. In contrast, Mills found that African American males reported listening to rap music from a very young age. Mills suggests that the white adolescents she interviewed saw rap music “as a way of asserting their manhood by associating themselves with an overly masculine culture—one I which femininity had no place.”
Personally I think most guys worry about being "masculine." First of all if nature birthed you into this life as a guy and you have the equipment and necessary hormones that makes you a man then what do you really need to prove? In the above example, it leads to an unbalanced psyche since we all have an inner animus/anima and to make one hyper makes the other hypo.
Personally I think most guys worry about being "masculine." First of all if nature birthed you into this life as a guy and you have the equipment and necessary hormones that makes you a man then what do you really need to prove? In the above example, it leads to an unbalanced psyche since we all have an inner animus/anima and to make one hyper makes the other hypo.
Rap music also appeals to young white men because it is a way to rebel against their parents and white society in general. By associating themselves with a musical culture that involves heavy use of profane language and often centers on violence and drugs, white males establish their rebellion against societal standards. Many teens may like rap for the simple fact that their parents do not approve of its foul language, portrayal of violence, and treatment of women.
There was once a time when early rock was rebelling against society and one's parents, nowadays early rock sounds like country. Many teens don't know what they want and rebel for the sake or rebelling due to unruly hormones I gather or to assert their individuality. Rebelling against one's parents can be liberating if its done for the sake of expanding beyond the confines of who they are as an individual, plus it helps to integrate some of the shadowy side of the psyche. I'm all for moving beyond the scope of societal standards because they can be quite confining, though some moral standards should be kept intact otherwise chaos would ensue.
There was once a time when early rock was rebelling against society and one's parents, nowadays early rock sounds like country. Many teens don't know what they want and rebel for the sake or rebelling due to unruly hormones I gather or to assert their individuality. Rebelling against one's parents can be liberating if its done for the sake of expanding beyond the confines of who they are as an individual, plus it helps to integrate some of the shadowy side of the psyche. I'm all for moving beyond the scope of societal standards because they can be quite confining, though some moral standards should be kept intact otherwise chaos would ensue.
These factors all help explain why young white men might be drawn to hip-hop and rap music and what they might gain from adopting its cultural markers. But do these factors alone explain hip-hop’s enormous popularity with white consumers? There are many other types of music and culture that might appeal to white adolescents on the same grounds s hop-hop. Why has hop-hop become such a huge cultural phenomenon?
Marketing may well be the answer. Hip-hop historian and journalist Davey D has chronicled the economic pressures that led to hip-hop being marketed directly to white audiences. Historically, advertisers and record companies have cared little about young African American consumers, who typically have less disposable income than white consumers. Young white males, on the other hand, are a key demographic that all marketers pursue. As Davey D puts it, “as major corporations saw lots of white kids getting down with hop-hop, they decided to do whatever it took to appeal to what is considered a lucrative demographic….What this all boiled down to was there was a premium placed on white/more affluent listeners. Many corporations simply did want to attract a young African American clientele.” To attract a white clientele, Davey D argues, record companies and promoters began putting out hip-hop acts that fed white stereotypes about African Americans. As a result, “in 2003 you have a genre of music that was born in the harshest ghettos outselling any other music and now attracting the desired Holy Grail for corporate advertisers—white folks 18-34 [translation: Generation X].”
Marketing may well be the answer. Hip-hop historian and journalist Davey D has chronicled the economic pressures that led to hip-hop being marketed directly to white audiences. Historically, advertisers and record companies have cared little about young African American consumers, who typically have less disposable income than white consumers. Young white males, on the other hand, are a key demographic that all marketers pursue. As Davey D puts it, “as major corporations saw lots of white kids getting down with hop-hop, they decided to do whatever it took to appeal to what is considered a lucrative demographic….What this all boiled down to was there was a premium placed on white/more affluent listeners. Many corporations simply did want to attract a young African American clientele.” To attract a white clientele, Davey D argues, record companies and promoters began putting out hip-hop acts that fed white stereotypes about African Americans. As a result, “in 2003 you have a genre of music that was born in the harshest ghettos outselling any other music and now attracting the desired Holy Grail for corporate advertisers—white folks 18-34 [translation: Generation X].”
If Davey D’s argument is correct, then the popularity of hip-hop among young white men is cause for concern. While cultural crossover is in many ways a good thing and can help promote understanding among people, some feel that hip-hop is being used to manipulate consumers and even promote racial stereotypes. If true, this would be a sad statement about today's white hop-hop fans. Like white audiences at a 1920s vaudeville show, they could be exposed to a parody of African American culture and think it was the real thing.
The only other closing statement I could make is maybe rap appeals to people because it addresses some unconscious anger that is suppressed or repressed and the music induces or provides a gateway that it can be stimulated and acted out.
The only other closing statement I could make is maybe rap appeals to people because it addresses some unconscious anger that is suppressed or repressed and the music induces or provides a gateway that it can be stimulated and acted out.
--By Sean Booker March 22, 2006 "Backpack Writing with Readings"
