After reading about mainstream
culture and the construction of commodity’s of subculture as a way of
normalizing by Hebdige I wanted to look at some commodity’s that were made that
normalize or deconstruct the hip hop subculture. Hidbige states that there are
two different ways of dealing with the threat of subculture first is
trivializing or naturalizing the other and secondly transforming it into
“meaningless exotica, a pure object, a spectacle, a clown.” The first commodity
I found was a Halloween costume of a rapper, the description said, “Dressing up in a rap costume for Halloween
is a popular choice for a teenager Halloween costume, an adult Halloween
costume, or even for little kids who want to dress up as a rapper.” It
continues to say, “Rap stars have found a way to make everything look cool, and
it is now possible to dress up like your favorite rapper this Halloween.” This
is a picture of the costume,
This Halloween costume turns the hip hop subculture into a
“spectacle” playing at some of the stereotypes of the hip hop culture like the
baggy pants, jewelry, sideways hat, the slang writing on the shirt and
pretending to hold a gun sideways.
The second commodity that I decided to look at was Rappin’
Rockin’ Barbie. Rather then making a “clown” out of the hip hop culture this
Barbie is a good example of normalization. It suggests that hip hop is more of
just a fashion trend then a serious cultural movement. To me it seems similar
to the picture depicting the punk kid that is sitting in the back yard with their
mom, it makes hip hop look more like a phase then a culture.
I love this! I think this is a great way to look at how hip hop has been commodified. I honestly would have never thought of studying a halloween costume or even Barbie (do you see how much swag she has? Shit, don't even get me started on that crimped hair and leg warmers). I also think what's clever about the costume is how the graffiti writing says "imposta." To me this implies that not only the wearer of the costume is an imposter (not belonging to hip hop culture) but that the costume itself is an imposter. It's not real clothing. Not real style. Not real hip hop. Just made for a market. It's also interesting how Hip Hop was born from predominantly Black and Latino spaces, yet Barbie and this "wanksta" are both white. The boy dressed in baggy clothing is also implying he's holding a gun with the way he's shaping his hand. It certainly mocks hip hop culture, belittles it and even perpetuates stereotypes. I wonder what Grand Master Flash would have to say about this one..
ReplyDelete