Triangular relationships between commerce, politics and hip-hop : a study of the role of hip-hop in influencing the socio-economic and political landscape in contemporary society

[摘要] This study will argue that; (i) that the evolution of hip-hop arises out of theneed by young people to give expression and meaning to their day-to-daysocio-political and economic struggles and the harsh realities of urban life,and (ii) that hip-hop has become the audible and dominant voice of reasonand a platform that allows youth to address their plight, as active citizens, and(iii) that, as a music expression, the hip-hop narrative can be used as anunsolicited yet resourceful civic perception survey to gauge the temperatureand the mood of society at a point in time.My research question is premised on the argument that the youth looks atsociety and their immediate surroundings through the lens of rap music andthe hip-hop culture. It presupposes that it is this hip-hop lens that has becomethe projector through which the youth views and analyses society and theninvites the world to peep through, to confirm and be witnesses to what theysee.It is not the purpose of this research to argue how much influence hip-hop hason young people, but instead to look at how youth is using hip-hop to expresstheir discontent and what the various sites are where their relentless desire fora better life is being crafted and articulated. In my investigation, I have arguedthat it is at these social sites that open or discreet creative expressions areproduced/created by the hip-hop generation as the subordinate group anddirected to those perceived to be the gatekeepers to their aspirations and theirrites of passage. In my investigation I have explored how, out of indignationand desire, the hip-hop generation has employed creative ways to highlightand vent their frustration at a system that seems to derail their aspirations.This is the story of hip-hop where Watkins (2005) argues that the youth havecrafted a vision of their world that is insightful, optimistic and tenaciouslycritical of the institutions and circumstances that restrict their ability to impacton the world around them (p. 81)With regard to hip-hop in South Africa critical questions and a central thesis tothis paper begin to emerge as to whether hip-hop, as an artistic expressionand a seemingly dominant youth culture, has found long-hidden voicesthrough which young people now engage with this art form to address andreflect on their socio-economic and political conditions as active citizens insearch of a meaningful social contract.By investigating the triangular relationship between commerce, politics andhip-hop, this study looks at how creative, adaptive people with unrealisedpotential, who find themselves trapped by illusion and exploitation (realistic orperceived), always try to find a meaning to make sense of their worlds.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand