Perry's books was quite possibly the most academic, intellectual look at hip hop I have ever read. While it was difficult to read and stay on task, she did make some strong and valid points. I was particularly intrigued by the section on hip hop focusing on the We and Me, as opposed to the You or the Other, as Perry refers to them. I found this to be a very accurate description of hip hop music, at least. It can be either egocentric or focused on the afrocentrism that surrounds the culture. The focus on the Me that occurs in hip hop creates particular expressions that can only be applied to hip hop. It is a captivating way to hold the audience, creating a focus purely on the emcee or deejay in this situation.
Perry also speaks about the gangster ideals as being turned into a commercial tool. She writes that it is "sold for its gore like an action flick". Personally, from what I know of hip hop, I agree. To be authentic, in the eyes of commercial hip hop, is to be a gangster. Much of the popular hip hop narrates hip hop as a gangsta epic of some sort. This is shown by most any piece of hip hop music or style being riddled with guns, killing, partying, and male dominance. While Perry views this hip hop style with disdain, there is no way to say that it does not sell. The gangsta style of music has taken this nation by storm and continues to thrive. It is a whole different kind of authenticism for hip hop; it is authentic to those outside looking in at hip hop culture. Perry does not consider it an authentic form of hip hop styling, as far as I can tell. Even so, her cynicism regarding this does not change the fact that gangsta hip hop is selling and, as long as that continues, I do not foresee a style change any time soon.
I found Perry's comments about gangsterism most interesting when she was talking about how this, as well as other forms of black hip hop male identity, are defined by their relationship to white male dominance. So, the machismo of these black male identities is related to their complex matrix of identity that keys on blackness as well as maleness. Therefore, it is not sufficient to collapse the hypermasculinity and misogyny in hip hop to a more general patriarchy. That plays into the gangster persona and the fantasy of American youth, which seek out sites of anti-establishment imagery. Looking forward to class tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! These issues that Perry discusses also caught my attention. The concept of the We and Me seemed to explain a lot about hip-hop origins as well as where it could go in the future. Just as the original deejays and rappers incorporated this theory into their music and their crews, we can see that hip-hop artists often maintain this perspective in order to identify with their audience or create an ideal that others want to become a part of. Thus, people find this sense of We and Me attractive and therefore have a greater attraction to hip-hop music and culture.
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