Gangsta by Design - AIGA FutureHistory

Gangsta by Design
an exploration into the visual communications in Hip-Hop
by John Jennings
Interlude: April, 2004, Champaign
Dear Hip-hop Diary,
I knew I shouldn’t have come but, my curiosity got the best of me. It’s about 10:15pm and
the concert is now over. The palpable buzz of the performance’s “afterglow” shimmers in the
eyes of the young men and women who have just seen Ludacris’ live show. A young mother
guides her giddy daughters from their seats. She seems a bit confused. Ludacris was supposed to be “fun rap”, not the constant verbal onslaught of misogyny, greed, and violence
she paid for her family to be subjected to. I sit there for a moment, and I wonder if I am out
of touch with the times. Am I wrong to be offended? I think back to my first Hip-hop concert and I remember thinking that I had seen something marvelous...something pure and
new...something free. Did these kids think the same thing? Did they not hear what I heard?
All I could hear was the echoes of soulless “music” bouncing around the Assembly Hall. I
think of a time when albums had names like Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions
to Hold Us Back”. Now we have titles like Ludacris’ “Chicken and Beer”. Ludicrous indeed.
What has become of the music that I grew up on,Diary? When did it go astray? Can we go
back to that intersection and start again? I hope so but, experience tells me that it is a false
hope and that dark days may lie ahead. I finally get up from my seat, the vantage point of
the worst concert that I have ever seen, and I shuffle out into the stream with the other
“victims”...I mean, “spectators”. Thank God I didn’t pay for my ticket.
DJ Kool Herc and Africa Bambaataa
photo by Ernie Panniciolli
Now, Here’s a Little Story That Must Be Told...
What do you think of when you hear the name “Hip-hop”? Do you think of loud
and annoying music pouring out of the souped-up Bose sound system in the latest
and largest SUV? Do think of incomprehensible lyrics slapped haphazardly over a
canvas of scantily-clad, oversexed women and stacks of money, drugs, and a variety of firearms? Is it possible that you think of backwards baseball caps, obscenely
oversized jerseys, and gravity defying baggy jeans? If you are thinking about these
things, then you are not thinking about “Hip-hop”. You are thinking about images
that relate to a particular brand of popular music called “Rap”. Hip-hop is many
things to different people. Like anything, it depends upon your perspective.
It was born in the mid-1970’s in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement. The
Black Power and Black Arts Movements were in full swing and the people needed
something more than what their homeland was giving them. Somewhere in the
urban landscapes of New York, a rythym was pounding. This rythym called out
to the denizens of the streets and ghettos. It promised them a way out; a means to
escape the depravity that their lives had become. What was it? It was an attitude,
a way of life, a mode of thinking,talking,walking and dressing. It whispered it’s
name in the infectious grooves of its creators: DJ Kool Herc, Africa Bambattaa, and
Grandmaster Flash. It said, “My name is Hip-hop and I am here to set you free”.
What is Hip-hop? A remnant of the drum and dance brought over from Mother
Africa and Latin America? A mix of urban style, spoken word, and politics? A braggadocious battle for power to escape from the feeling of overwhelming loss of control? It is all of these things and much,much more.
Grafitti Artist “Kaos”
photo by Ernie Panniciolli
Hip-hop is...a culture.
Hip-hop is not just a genre of music that is exploited by record labels and scattered
amongst other pop-offerings on the Billboard charts. It takes its roots from the oral
traditions of the African griot (storyteller). Black people,since slavery, have always
found a way to express themselves through music, crafts, and dance. Hip-hop
found its origins in the dance halls of Brooklyn and the block parties of Brownsville.
It is no different than the other attempts to recreate a culture that Blacks in America
were cut off from by slavery. Ragtime, Jazz, the Blues, and Rock n’ Roll were also
attempts to recreate a lost culture. They were all adopted by mainstream culture and
accepted as popular music of the time. Hip-hop is the latest incarnation of a method
of spreading oral information. Music and Dance are both forms of communication
but, the spoken word has extremely influential power. One main source of pride in
the Hip-hop culture is the mastery of that power. Hip-hop has a voice, a physical
expression, a mentality, a language, and a visual style all its own.
The four main elements of the culture are: Dejaying or Turntablism, Emceeing,
Breakdancing, and Grafitti. Some add others to the list: Street Knowledge and
Wisdom, Fashion, and Urban Entrepreneurship to name a few. However, everyone
agrees on the main four. Originally, the DJ was the star of the party. The DJ “rocked
the crowd” and mixed captivating beats while the MC kept the crowd hyped up
and in the mood to dance and enjoy the evening. When the Hip-hop sub-culture
was discovered by record execs, the focus began to shift. The DJ was always in the
back, not verbally speaking, and unable to physically engage the audience. The
front man, the MC, was mobile and visible. When Hip-hop eventually joined the
MTV era, it was the MC who became the star. The shift to digital studio production
and the usage of the drum machine left the DJ in the cold. The new duo was the
Hip-hop producer and the MC. This shift heralded an irreversible change in Hiphop culture from having a good time and attempting to unify people through dance
and art to the cold,calculating process of creating a profit. The Hip-hop party was
over. The Hip-hop business was in full swing.
Southern rappers, The Hot Boyz
photo by Ernie Panniciolli
When gangsta-rap hit in the 1990’s, it was like a blitzkrieg. The violence and despair
of the ghetto was brought to the forefront by groups like N.W.A., Easy E, Dr. Dre,
Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube. Lyrics about the drug trade, violence, gang-banging,
and the degradation of women now flowed freely. The money poured in and the
images of the stoic, gun brandishing, thug did too. Gangsta rap had a message as
well. It spoke of the same despair that East Coast rap sought to convey. However, it
did not want to party it’s sorrows away...it wanted to kill them. The anger,violence,
and frustration dominated the Billboard charts and made the record companies millions of dollars. The floodgates were open and angst-ridden teens were bombarded
by gangsta rap videos. Gangsta rap mutated into Mainstream Hip-hop.
Today, top producers craft irresistible beats while one faceless rapper after another
takes their turn debasing women, bragging about the material things they possess,
and daring anyone to take it. Through the marketing and stylization of Hip-hop
culture, the original intent of the culture has been marginalized. Remnants of the
original Hip-hop culture still exists in the music of groups like Talib Kweli, the
Roots, Mos Def, and Common. Hip-hop has a very powerful underground culture
and very devoted fans. But,where is the culture headed? No one can tell but, those
who are truly devoted to the culture hope that this isn’t the last stop on the journey.
Rapper Eazy-E
photo by Ernie Panniciolli
Hip-hop is...improvisation.
Hip-hop is the result of creativity fueled by the necessity to express oneself in an
underprivileged environment. When after- school programs were cut during the
deindustrialization of the late seventies and early eighties, the kids of the ghettos of
New York created their own activities from their surroundings. They improvised.
They didn’t have money or access to music lessons so they took old music, sampled
and remixed it and created something new from it. They couldn’t afford to go to
dance classes so they took the old dances, combined them with their new sound and
with some forms of Capoeira from Brazil to create “breakdancing”. Kids wanted to
take art classes and have expensive materials to work with but they only possessed
Krylon,Rustoleum and the bare walls that encased them on a daily basis. So, they
drew on those walls and subways and simultaneously reclaimed their neighborhoods and themselves. It would have been nice to be able to take acting lessons and
creative writing courses in Brooklyn during those times, I’m sure. However, those
underprivileged children only had the churning maelstrom of thoughts in their heads
and the promise of their release by the microphone. The “mic” was a mediator, a
redeemer, and a catalyst. When an MC held the mic, they were transformed into their
true selves and everyone saw them for the first time. The crowd would be transfixed
by every word and there was peace and unity in the area. No one left a performance
unchanged. Unfortunately, in mainstream Hip-hop, stereotypical representations in
music videos, promotional collateral, and image creation have stagnated the improvisational aspects of Hip-hop. Early Hip-hop stars had no idea how to promote themselves or their image. However, the modern Hip-hop performers have thirty years
of nostalgia and formulaic “tried-and-true” resolutions for such problems. Now, the
image of an MC can be easily transcribed, copied, and dessiminated to the masses for
easy consumption. An image, commercial, or any type of visual expression can now
be designed to be “urban”, “cool”, or Hip-hop. The culture has been totally branded
and commodified.
Hip-hop is...a power fantasy.
Bacardi Rum ad from Source Magazine
50 Cent
photo by Christian Witkin
Strength, skill, and power have always been part of Hip-hop’s culture. In the
beginning,grafitti artists, MCs, DJs, and B-Boys (breakdancers) would “battle”each
other to see whose prowess was superior. If you thought were the best in the neighborhood, there was always someone who thought the same. This led to competition.
However, these competitions would usually be non-physical and centered around
how well an individual could manipulate one of the four elements of Hip-hop. The
patriarchal and highly documented “cool pose” came from the efforts of young Black
teenage boys to be perceived as being powerful, untouchable, and mysterious. In the
low-income housing and urban areas in which these children struggled to become
men, the lack of a father-figure left few role models and a lot of young men turned to
street gangs for support and survival. The first well-known DJ of the Old School Hiphop era, Africa Bambaattaa, was in one of these gangs called the Black Spades. Tired
of the endless struggles for turf and control, Bambaattaa formed the Zulu Nation;
an organization that unified the street gangs and taught its members about finding
power in one’s community, history, and self. However, after Hip-hop went corporate,
the braggadocious MC took the stage and music video promoted a different type of
power – the addictive power of wealth.
Today, Hip-hop’s incredibly misogynist images bombard the air waves. Acts like
Nelly, Ludacris, 50 cent, and Lil’ Jon and the Eastside Boyz weave unabashed tales
of robbing, making money, and conquest of as many eager women as possible.
According to Soundscan, the major consumers of mainstream Hip-hop are suburban
white teenage males. They make up over 70% of the industry’s audience. With statistics like this in mind one can begin to ascertain that the lyrics, style, and power of
Sean “P. Diddy” Combs on the cover
of Vibe Magazine
these images are merely substitutes for the uneasiness and rebellion associated with
the anxiety of simply growing up. The previous subcultures of Rock, Heavy Metal,
Jazz, and even Punk were ways for rebellious teens to cope with life in suburban
America. Hip-hop stars can be exchanged for just about any male power fantasy. For
example, quite a bit of Hip-hop stars wear the names of their favorite superheros or
wear the numbers of their favorite sports stars. The entire culture makes millions
through the reification of the idea of our patriarchal society’s view of what
masculinity is. The image of a “real man” can designed, illustrated, and mass produced ad nauseum.
An example of this is the video game Def Jam Vendetta. It combines two male power
fantasies–wrestling and Hip-hop. In this game, players can select their favorite MC
and actually wrestle in a virtual setting with other MCs. One fantasy can be easily
exchanged for the other. The Hip-hop uniform of a sports jersey, crooked baseball
cap, and saggy jeans can be substituted for a cape, mask, and tights.
If you look at Hip-hop icon Method Man’s clothing line Johnny Blaze, you can see
the wearing of power fantasies taken to another level. You can wear Spider-man, the
Hulk or many other Marvel Comics characters on your chest. Method Man, whose
very stage name alludes to a superhero moniker, takes his secondary stage name and
the name of his clothing line from the Marvel Comics character Johnny Blaze. One
could expect this from a person who owns 50,000 comics. Many MCs and DJs borrow
their stage names from martial arts movies,blaxploitation films and of course comics.
Children need guidance to cope with the hardships of life. More often than not they
will find it on television, in magazines, in the arcade or on the streets. The consumer
culture we live in wants them to. American teens are conditioned to embrace commodified hero worship and in our society...we wear what we worship.
One very disturbing shift in the portrayal of masculinity, particularly black masculinity is the visual trope of the “pimp”,”thug”, or “hustler”. The pimp can be readily
seen in the 1970’s blaxploitation films such as The Mack,Coffy, or Superfly. He is powerful, dangerous, and irresitable to women. Today, the Hip-hop star has adopted this
image to fit into the male power fantasy that they attempt to convey. It works perfectly within a culture that thrives on sampling popular culture and feeding it back
to itself. The image of a gangsta, thug, or pimp is desirable. In recent Hip-hop slang,
the term “gangsta” is a synonym for “good” or “cool”. Imagine being an anxious
young man who feels powerless in this uncertain world. How strong would you be
if you were a gangster? You would be rich from the spoils of robbing other citizens.
They would cower in your wake. Countless women would throw themselves at you
because of the expensive car you drive, the endless supply of cash, and the latest
clothes you wear. Your enemies would mean nothing to you because, if you wanted
to, you could take their life and everything they hold dear. These types of fantasies
are part of today’s Hip-hop image. Endless parties with tons of bikini-clad women,
expensive liquor and an extreme level of hedonistic practices. It’s no wonder that
Hip-hop MCs have begun showcasing pornography and making extremely risque’
videos like Nelly’s “Tip Drill” and Ludacris’ “ Boody Poppin’”.
The level of sexuality, perversion, and misogyny is unprecedented. Violence is highly
celebrated. How else can Shyne, a rapper imprisoned for the next ten years for firing
a gun in a club, get a record deal for three million dollars? The most popular rapper right now is Eminem’s protegee’ 50 cent. 50 cent aka Curtis Jackson was a small
time drug dealer, who was shot nine times and lived to rap about it. It was his talent
to create drama that sold records, not necessarily his talent on the microphone. His
image is one of anger, power, and strength. He is the hero of a nation of misunderstood teens. Some want to emulate him others want to be him. 50 Cent has taken the
utilitarian nature of a bullet-proof vest and changed it into a fashion statement when
Scene from “Def Jam Vendetta” video game
Thug Lordz CD cover
Makaveli clothing ad
he wears it during performances. Because of powerful and repetitious images of this
type, we now live in a world where parents fight for the attention of their children
with an unending array of metaphors,signs, and symbols from an equally exhausting diversity of media. The “battle” is still to see who is best but, what if the today’s
MCs win? How “gangsta” would that be?
Hip-hop is...a virus.
Information takes on the characteristics of a virus if you believe authors like Douglas
Rushkoff and Kalle Lasn. These bits of information, in theory, are passed through
various types of communication and media. They are called memes (pronounced
“meems”). In medical science if you want to create a vaccine for a disease, you take
a sample of it, inject into the blood stream, let the body create anti-bodies, and then
extract them to make a cure. Our hegemonic society has been doing this same thing
to subcultures for generations. If you think of our culture as a being or a body, it has
very close similarities. First, our culture takes the sample of a subculture and exposes
it to the mainstream in abundance. Then, the public takes this subculture and makes
it into popular culture. When the pop culture ‘anti-body’ takes hold it leaves the
original subculture virus emaciated and impotent. The culture, because it is no loner
special, becomes useless to the individuals who created it for the purpose of realizing an empowering self-identity. The society builds a “tolerance’ to the virus because
it is no longer a threat to its hierarchy.
Our culture has attempted to do this to Hip-hop. The use of Hip-hop in film, advertising, and of course, music videos has changed the way we deliver communication.
The culture we live in “samples” subcultures in order to control them. However,
Hip-hop is a different type of information virus. Hip-hop isn’t made from original material. It “samples” popular culture, merges with it, and reinvents it. This
is a form of bricolage; the taking of a commodity or piece of culture and changing
the meaning of it by changing the use. The attempt by mainstream culture to fight
these subcultures is called counter-bricolage. Basically, the controlling society takes
the images, language, and practices of the subculture in question and sells it as
“coolness” or “edginess” to the rest of the consumers. Usually, this would destroy
a subculture by exposing it to the mainstream. However, Hip-hop uses the exact
same method to exist. It changes constantly. Because Hip-hop music is basically oral
rhymes placed over tracks, it can evolve in different areas of the world because of
different language, culture, ethnicity, et cetera.
One very obvious use of Hip-hop against is listeners is the recent use of Hip-hop
imagery on KOOL cigarette packaging. The campaign called KOOL Mixx (complete
with misspellings for extra “coolness”) took the four main elements of Hip-hop and
detailed them on a series of boxes. The Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan
filed suit against the company for the targeting of teens with this campaign. The
cigarettes were to be distributed at the Brown & Williamson sponsored Kool Mixx
DJ Competition Finals in Chicago on July 24,2004. Madigan cited that the obvious
targeting of young people with this campaign clearly broke the agreement struck in
1998 about cigarette companies and their advertisements centered around teens and
teen interests. This is only one isolated instance. Advertisers, in general, are attempting to capitalize upon this phenomenon. If they can successfully create a need for
consumers to build a “commodity self” from Hip-hop culture, they will have a
strong hold the very perception of the culture itself. The commodity self supercedes
the illusions of race and identity. Identity and race are both social constructs imposed
upon us whereas the commodity self centers around the individual’s acquisition of
material objects that illustrate who they are on a very personal levcl.
Hip-hop kids from rural Indiana
Azzure jeans ad from XXL Magazine
Kool Mixx cigarette box illustration/design
However, despite an onslaught of exposure due to urban-themed advertising, true
Hip-hop has survived because improvisation and mutation are part of the underlying structures in the culture.
Gangstaface
Hip-hop covets. It wants the things that are around it. It uses bricolage to acquire
things and add it to its culture. Author Steven Shaviro, in his book “Connected” ,
refers to Hip-hop as “a kind of linguistic and cultural hacking”. It does just that. It
“hacks” into a culture and it alters it...forever. For example, the typeface Old English
based on hand done Black letter calligraphy is used to signify Hip-hop, gangsta mentality, or power. The use of this comes from the L.A. gang scene. Similar typefaces
are used in the conference of power, authenticity, or authority. This is the type of
font commonly used on diplomas, deeds, and even the Constitution. Gangs took this
typeface and ritualistically adorned their bodies with it to signify the addition of a
member to a gang or to symbolize the authenticity of a gangster. Hip-hop has taken
this typeface and graphic designers and fashion designers alike have taken it and
stamped it on every ad,video, and album cover. The original application of this typeface has changed several times. However, all of the intended meanings remain intact.
This is because the different aspects of the audience (ethnicity,social
status,environment) determines the overall meaning of any visual communication.
Jeanetics
Another instance of this acquisition is the wearing of baggy, oversized pants. This
style comes from prison culture. Prisoners are relieved of their belts because they
can be used for suicide or to harm another inmate. Clothing companies like the
Gap, Tommy Hillfiger, and even Ralph Lauren have made millions capitalizing
upon this fad. Levi’s, a classic American company with traditional jeans, didn’t take
heed of this trend until later and lost a great deal of the market share. The company
still hasn’t regained its status in pop culture. Teens of all races now wear extremely
baggy clothes and Hip-hop accessories. Hip-hop artists like P. Diddy, Jay-Z, Eve and
Eminem have capitalized on this trend by starting their own clothing companies.
Many MCs have followed suit. Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ line Sean Jean made three
hundred million dollars in revenue last year. How “gangsta” is that?
Cover design for Atlanta rappers
Dungeon Family
Cover design for New York rapper Nas
What’s in a name? Err Thangg!
Another example of how Hip-hop takes culture and makes it part of itself is simply
the taking of words and misspelling them. The whole culture is in opposition to the
mainstream. It is constantly trying to define itself. MCs will take a word, make it
their name, and misspell it and mispronounce it. This reclamation of self through the
changing of the context of a word is a sign of rebirth. The act of naming something
gives you power over that thing. In a sense, the person that names you is defining
you; telling you who you are. Rebellious urban youth claimed their own identities
through giving themselves new names. They found strength in altering their personalities by adopting other identities–usually names they identified with power.
You can see this in names like OutKast, Ludacris, Mobb Deep, Fabolous,Snoop Dogg,
Foxy Brown, and many, many others. This also feeds into the anti-intellectual aspects
of the current strain of the Hip-hop culture; the constant struggle against the mainstream that seeks to drown it.
Hip-hop personality
The images of the Hip-hop stars themselves have become memes also. Will Smith
has reinvented himself over and over again. He has become one of the highest paid
leading men in Hollywood yet still retains his connections to his past as a Hip-hop
star. Many rappers have become actors, producers,and directors. It’s an easy transition because they have been remixing ideas, imagery, and identities for years.
Magazine ad for J Records artist Yung Wun
A key example of this ability to sample the culture and feed it to itself is epitomized
in the image (or images) or Lil’ Kim. Lil’ Kim is the Hip-hop culture personified.
She raps about street life, extreme sexuality, and the earning of millions of dollars
used to buy Prada, Gucci, and whatever popular brand of the season. She can be
seen strolling down the catwalk in France, “spitting” a rhyme on the street corner, or
partying with any popular fashion designer you can think of in the most exclusive
night spots. She sells sex, power, and Old Navy apparel to us(you can see her in an
Old Navy commercial alongside Fran Dresher’s switchboard operator spouting the
“shizzle” language). Lil’ Kim is the life-sized barbie doll that you have always wanted. She is the Queen Bee (another Lil’ Kim moniker) and the drones can’t get enough
of her because she is always in transition; just like Hip-hop; just like pop culture.
Another iconic rap-star is Calvin Broadus aka Snoop Dogg. Originally a protegee’ of
Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg was one of the super stars of gangsta rap from the early 1990’s.
His image was one of low key, gaunt coolness poured over 70’s funk and accented
by a whiff of canabis. He has an extremely malleable persona – simultaneously dangerous and approachable. Today, Snoop Dogg has become a symbol for “gangsta
coolness”. However, his gangsta image has been replaced by that of a consummate
entertainer. America has embraced his “shizzle” language, his variety show from
MTV, his movies (both mainstream and x-rated), and his new pimp image complete
with actual pimp side-kick Don “the Magic” Juan. Again, another Hip-hop star has
taken the underlying ambiguity of the culture and fashioned themselves into an
undeniable mainstay in American households. This is exactly how Snoop Dogg can
promote his own action-figures on ABC’s “the View”.
Lil’ Kim
photo by Ernie Panniciolli
Hip hop is...the American Dream.
Hip-hop started in the ghetto and has ended up everywhere from broadway to the
runway. It is another avenue for a “have not” to become a “have”. In our modern
society, money is power. American culture thrives on competition. Hip-hop is a
reflection of that culture. It has taken the pop culture that sells us myriad fantasies
and made those fantasies real. America’s obsession with excess in sex, power, and
the accumulation of material wealth now has a very present symbol. It’s Hip-hop.
Hip-hop has become a way to create a balance in society. If you have the skills, the
image, and the proper PR you can live the American Dream. However, everyone
can’t be a Hip-hop star.
Most of us have to settle for less glitzy professions. These romantic notions of
the small individual making good and becoming the boss of his or her life is an
American fairy tale in which we would all like to partake. The images on the television says that it can be you. You can be a millionaire. You can have all the fame
and respect. The trouble is, these images are not real. In his book Simulation and
Simulacra, French social theorist Jean Baudrillard defines his concerns about the
“procession of simulacra and the breakdown of meaning”. The images that the MTV
audience sees on the screen are not real; not even in a physical sense. When we see
an MC in a video, he or she has been taken out of historical and spatial context. This
lack of context causes the image to lose all meaning because it has no connection to
the original referent. It is ironic that a culture that prides itself on “keeping it real”
has no true basis in reality. Impressionable audiences are attempting to emulate a
character or state of reality that is total fiction. This is a total state of hyperreality.
Technology has robbed images of meaning because of their proliferation and constant mixing. Without context, the audience is free to make up its own meaning.
With no basis in reality...meaning breaks down. America has been sampling cultures
and remixing them since the signing of the Constitution. Hip-hop thrives on doing
the same thing.
Lil’ Kim
photo by David LaChappelle
Pop artist Res in Ecko Clothing Ad
We live in a constant state of flux and Hip-hop culture is a reflection of the
aggressiveness,anger, and turmoil of what it’s like to live in a culture of this nature.
We are all Hip-hop because we are all samples of different experiences.
The Fade Out...
I have had a love affair with Hip-hop culture for a long time. I have seen it morph
and grow in unexpected directions. I have both bobbed my head to the beat
and shook my head in disgust. During my time as a professor at Jackson State
University in my native state of Mississippi, I used my appreciation of Hip-hop to
relate to my students and helped rebuild the Art Department there. My own work
and research is highly influenced by the relationship of Hip-hop and popular culture to the people that create it.
I am currently very involved with my colleague Professor Will Patterson at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in aiding his efforts to provide course
development for the Center for the Study of Hip-hop Culture. At the time of this
writing I am involved with the curation of a show in Atlanta centered around showcasing artists, designers, and photographers who are influenced by Hip-hop culture.
This includes legendary Hip-hop photographer Ernie Paniciolli and the first truly
conscious rapper KRS-One. My design work has been used to promote new underground Hip-hop groups like Chicago’s own The Primeridian, New York City
lyricist...Semaj, and spoken word poet Collage; also from New York. I am also collaborating with a colleague and fellow designer, Michael DeForbes, who uses Hiphop culture to engage impoverished and “at risk” youth and teach them about society, design, and business. We would like to create some vehicle to further these
endeavors in inner city communities. In addition to these projects I am currently
writing a book based on my research in visual communication and how Hip-hop
influences and informs popular culture.
The reason why I am so involved in these projects is because I believe in the original
intent of Hip-hop culture. I think that if the design community really took the time
to understand it instead of simply regurgitating it to make profit, we can use Hiphop’s appeal to affect positive change. The culture’s current mainstream incarnation is highly inbalanced and as a designer, balance is something that I have been
trained to want. I still feel that design is a verb; not just a job description or simply
a tool used to promote products. It also has the responsibility of mediation. For, if
we don’t mediate and control the imagery in mainstream Hip-hop... it will control
us. That’s not a track that I want to listen to. I suppose – in the end, after all of the
negative and potentially detrimental images we are exposed to, I still choose to spell
Hip-hop with a silent “e” at the end.
Peace.
Magazine ad for Sprite Remix soda
Sprite ad with Hip-hop spokesman
Thirst