The Commercialization of Hip-Hop - Essay Example

? HIP-HOP: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Introduction Hip hop is an artistic culture and a form of musical expression that originated inNew York City in the 1970s. The Asian, Latino and African- American communities living in Bronx were the responsible for the rise, growth and development of the hip-hop culture. Hip hop played an important role in the society during those times. It was used to keep children away from the streets and it gave them an avenue to channel their energies intomeaningful pastime activities that prevented them from joining gangs. Hip hop encouraged peaceful and constructive messages through shrewdly written rhymes(Edward, 1994). It was very entertaining using dictionaries to write rhymes and rapping about science and issues that affected the society.Hip hop is made up of four basic elements: DJing,MCing, Breakdancing and Aerosol Art (Graffiti).AfrikaBambaatana, popularly known as ‘Godfather of Hip-hop,’ pioneered the first artistic battles that incorporated the four elements of hip-hop as a tactic in substituting violent disputes. Discussion In the recent times, gangster rap has grown to become mainstream and thus influencing children so much that they don’t have interest in listening to hip-hop that fails to mention pimping, smoking of blunts or drinking(Holmes&Brad,2008). Media on the other hand has played a major role in fusinggangster rap and hip-hop. Gangster rap is classified under MCing, and this is just one –fourth of what hip-hop is made up of. It is therefore not logical to define hip-hop basing on gangster rap since it does not address the contribution made by the other three elements. However, gangster rap has been glamorized by the corporate media(Holmes & Brad, 2008). They have managed to use it in marketing of their products and labeling it ‘Hip-hop.’ It is beyond any doubt that in our recent society, hip-hop has proved to be very marketable hence being used as a marketing strategy for selling products ranging from clothes to shoes to liquor to dolls, just mention but a few. Most corporate companies which use hip-hop to advertise and promote their products have led to the emergence of postmodern generation of youths with massive buying power. These corporate companies are on the fore front in theorizing pedagogies of consumptions as a way of appropriating the differences facing the youths in different locations and sites. For instance, Co-cola Company used a famous song ‘Waving Flag’ by a Somali born musician K’naan. The song received lots of attention from the youth all over the world because of its strong message and entertaining rhythm. Coca-Cola Company must have chosen the song because of its richness in culture and the energy. The song mixes the Ethiopian culture with that of other parts of the world. K’naan’s song is rich in language and very interestingly combines the Canadian accent with the Somali accent. In this case, the song has managed to bring the two languages together and thus the youths coming from the two locations appreciate each other’s language as well as culture. Being a Somali born and living in Canada,K’Naan has managed to bring people from different races together with his song. The song was unanimously acclaimed by people from different races since it did not look down upon other races. Coke successfully managed to use K’Naan’s song as a campaign song for the 2010 Fifa World Cup tournament in Africa. The music captured the host-continent’s spirit and the celebratory mood associated with soccer in stadiums. Coke wanted a song that could cross borders easily and capture people’s heart. They needed a song that would be in line with its world marketing strategy, a song that would open happiness and bring joy to its target group. The artist was also to have an inspiring backstory(Duane, 2010). Coke’s marketing team fell in love with K’Naan, his multinational upbringing and the sweeping melody and chorus of his song, “Waving’ Flag”. The song talked of K’naan’s darker life in Somalia when he was a child. The chorus goes, “When I got older…I will be stronger.” All they asked K’naan was to write another version of the song having more lyrics that befits a soccer tournament.K’naan did just that and made the song more entertaining with the addition of chanting and drums. The song’s lyrics now emphasized on the tournament taking control of the field and fans enjoying the game.Recording various versions of the song with other pop stars such as Will-i-am of Black Eyed Peas and David Bisbal from Spain also broadened the appeal of the song. Coca-Cola Company together with Vivendi Universal Music, co-owned the rights of the celebration mix of the song ‘Waving Flag.’The profit Coke has accumulated from the sales emanating from the song’s downloads have been used to an initiative dubbed, Replenish Africa. This program is charged with the responsibility of providing clean water that is safe for drinking and to improve the sanitation facilities in African countries(Duane, 2010). Coke has put Africa in its long term growth plan with the intention of alleviating the water scarcity problem. They view the water problem as a long term threat that would at one time distract the company’s beverage production as well as consumption. Coca-Cola Company was right in selecting the song because they knew it would bring the celebratory mood of the youth while hey enjoyed watching the World Cup tournament in South Africa. They successfully managed to tie their brand, coke with two things that youths all over the world are obsessed with: pop music and soccer. The song did well in South Africa and received acclamation from all parts of the world. We can say, hip-hop managed to make coke a brand associated with celebrations and enjoyment, a marketing slogan that Coca-Cola Company has always believed in.In this case, hip hop was successfully used by coke to promote their brand. Hip hop has also been used successfully to promote Magnum, a sub-brand large condom from Trojan. The parent company, Church and Dwight had never advertised Magnum, though it was registering numerous sales and was increasing its share market. In order to increase its sales to unimaginable levels, Magnum introduced an advertising campaign that comprised print, radio and online advertisements dubbed ‘Magnum Live Large Project.’ Ludacris featured as its ambassador. Print ads premiered in May 2010 issues of XXL and Vibe magazines and in June 2010 in the Thee Source. The campaign was characterized by a contest whereby individuals were to download tracks from Magnum Live Large website and then record their own lyrics based on themes relating to Magnum. After that they were to upload their recorded lyrics back to the site. The entries were then voted by people who visited the site, and the winner was to receive a prize of $5,000 and a fully paid trip to Birthday Bash, a hip-hop festival which was to take place in Atlanta on the 19th of June(Andrew, 2010). During the show, the winner was to be taken to stage by Ludacris and entertained. A print ad with the image of Ludacris The Magnum marketers claimed that they were not looking for people to make commercials for them, but they wanted to give their customers and consumers a chance to be involved in the marketing of their brand. Their aim with the marketing strategy was to erase the notion held by most people that the large condoms implied large physical attribute. They were looking for lyrics that would embrace the Magnum lifestyle and explain to the masses what it meant to live large(Andrew, 2010). They wanted a song that would explain to the people that living large did not mean the condom size or what it is put on. They wanted the masses to understand that it meant living life across the board. The advert was meant to inform people that they knew how to handle their business and they were being given an opportunity to celebrate their understanding level. Hip hop was therefore successfully used to promote Magnum since its sales improved within months and furthermore outselling their arch rival, Durex by $12million. This increase in sales could have been achieved by the fact that the hip hop enabled people to fully understanding the notion of ‘live large.’ It enabled people view Magnum as a positive symbol and a positive lifestyle badge. The true meaning of large size was fully understood to be ‘above-average prowess.’ Ludacris played a major role in the campaign and he was chosen since he had been actively involved in public announcements concerning AIDS awareness. Marketing Vice president at Trojan,Jim Daniels was impressed by Ludacris involvement in campaigns regarding people’s health, and that was why they chose him. The print ads were meant for adults in sexually active ages. Having knowledge regarding Magnum condoms was going to help them since they would protect themselves accordingly from sexually transmitted infections and prevent unwanted pregnancies (Andrew, 2010). Due to its comfortable size, it also proved important to them since they would enjoy sex. The element of hip-hop that was used in this advert is Mcing. The composition of lyrics and singing is rap which is classified under Mcing. The youth could have been targeted a lot by the print ads and the online ads and the increase in sales recorded in the period during which the campaign was running shows that the message was reaching home and people were complying with the message they were getting from the ads. Other hip hop artists such as Lil Wayne, Eminem, Kid Rock, among others have mentioned Magnum in their lyrics. This has also contributed much to the widespread use of Magnum condoms. In as much as critics would claim that hip hop promotes sexual behavior among the youths, it is not always the case at all times. As we have clearly seen that Ludacris is a leading example of a hip hop artist fighting the war against HIV/AIDS. Conclusion In a nutshell, hip hop has a great influence in the society and can either change it for the best or for the worst(Edward, 1994). Having understood this, the corporate and advertising companies are using it as a tool to create awareness to the masses and the same time make money out of it. They have commercialized hip hop and gave it another role that it was not created for. References Andrew, A. (2010). “A Hip-Hop Contest to Promote a Brand.” Posted on April 27th 2010, Accessed on 27th Oct 2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/business/media/28adco.html Duane, S. (2010). “Coke's World Cup Song Is a Marketing Winner.” Posted on July 15th 2010, Accessed on 27th Oct 2011 from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_30/b4188024314746.htm Edward, Said. (1994)."Themes of Resistant Culture."Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Holmes, M. & Brad, S. (2008).Race and police brutality: roots of an urban dilemma: "Stereotyping and Outgroup Bias." State University of New York Press: New York. Read More