Theories of Pop Culture on Hip-Hop Music

           The theories of pop culture discussed in this class were the cult of celebrities, beliefs, icons, rituals, heroes, stereotypes and myths. The pop culture hip-hop music can apply any of these theories. The one theory that stands out the most for hip-hop music is stereotypes. Hip-hop artists are stereotyped all the time.

            Some of the stereotypes are positive, but I think hip-hop music receives many more negative stereotypes than positive stereotypes. I think many people think of these musicians as vulgar because of the language and also because of how they dress in their baggy pants. I find this interesting because country musicians wear cowboy hats, but they don’t get the same rap as hip-hop musicians. I also find it interesting that many people think of hip-hop musicians as musicians from the streets and uneducated. But how does the one even know the education level of a musician?  And do people who don’t like hip-hop music even understand the culture? I feel these stereotypes are unfair, and I for one enjoy hip-hop music and will continue to enjoy it.

            So after studying the theories of pop culture, I will keep an open mind about other pop culture items. I know I don’t like the negative stereotyping of hip-hop music, and so I need to keep an open mind about other pop culture items liked by others. After all, I don’t want to talk down pop culture items important to my children just because I find no value in them. So this class taught me this great lesson.  So thanks for teaching me not to repeat my parent’s behavior and put down pop culture items of the younger generation.

Formulas in Popular Culture

Hip-Hop: Concept of Formulas

Erika Kamph

Popular Culture

Professor Burriss

September 12, 2016

            As I explore the concept of formulas on my chosen pop culture item, hip-hop music, I will be discussing the categories of conventions and inventions and how these relate to hip-hop music. In popular culture, conventions are parts of the culture that remain the same and do not change and can and are repeated over and over. Whereas inventions are new parts or processes of popular culture that create change.

            So in the hip-hop music industry, the convention formula is the basic process of creating hip-hop music. Someone writes the lyrics to a song and adds the notes of the music to the song.  This formula is repeated over and over by not only hip-hop musicians but all musicians that create songs. Where the invention formula comes into play is the style of the instruments or technology used in the music and the lyrics of the song that go along with the actual music. As technology is used more and more in the music industry – the convention formula is growing even more in the popular culture of hip-hop music. Also because each piece of music is unique – even voice changes are an invention because new styles are being created by new artists.        

            Now that I understand the concepts of formula in popular culture I pay more attention to the makeup of popular culture items and trends.  I appreciate the inventions by new musicians that have new sounds because it opens what I like to hear. And in watching TV, I like to watch romantic movies, but I can’t believe how many shows have a convention of the same old story – girl meets boy, girl and boy fall in love, and girl and boy live happily ever after. Now I watch for the formula invention – how interesting can the story be told with the same old story line.

            To conclude I’ve always said if I could just invent the next popular toy or item, I would be rich. Little did I know my future product is a formula of popular culture - invention.

New American Hero: Dexter, Serial Killer for the Masses

New American Hero: Dexter, Serial Killer for the Masses

Erika Kamph

Popular Culture

Professor Burriss

September 6, 2016

            The journal article, The New American Hero: Dexter, Serial Killer for the Masses was written by Ashley Donnelly. Ashley’s article is about how people are fascinated with vigilante characters in TV and film. She explores this concept from the book “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” which became a TV series. The TV show Dexter – is about the character Dexter who is a forensic technician, who has a secret life as a vigilante serial killer, killing people who have slipped through the justice system. This TV show was highly successful, and the author makes note that some of the highest rated TV shows are about crime and vigilante “heroes”. Her article labels these characters as deviant Others and Ashley explains “The serial killer, in particular, gave us something real to fear within our own society. The fears provoked by serial killer films are those fears we have about ourselves as human beings” (Donnelly, 2012, para. 11). Because Dexter kills those that have slipped through the justice system, he is embraced as the “new American hero” by many Americans.

            The article jumped around a lot making it choppy to follow. It started with the discussion of the TV show Dexter and then on to vigilantes throughout the history of America. The same point was made over and over about how serial killers are stereotyped as people with mental disorders or were abused at some point in their life but that vigilante serial killers are different. I felt Ashley could have done a better job explaining why Americans are attracted to these types of TV shows or movies and why Americans make the vigilantes heroes. But one good point Ashley made was with all of the ugliness going on in the United States shows like Dexter empowers all of us to cry out for justice thus characters like Dexter become heroes to many of us. 

            There were parts of the article I did agree with Ashley. One being throughout time Americans have been fascinated with vigilantes as heroes which make TV shows or movies about vigilantes very popular. In the movies or TV shows, Americans feel people like Dexter are justified to murder because those they kill are people who have committed crimes and gotten away with it. If the law does not punish them – they still need to be punished and if it takes a vigilante to do it so be it. Another point Ashley made was that Dexter is the “new American hero”. I do agree that Dexter ia considered the “new American hero” especially since acts of terrorism are so rampant today. I feel Americans label people heroes if they are doing good for society such as by getting rid of “bad people” even though vigilantes may be committing the same crime as the “bad people”.   

            I think this article is important because it showed thru the different time periods Americans were fascinated with vigilantes especially in movies or TV shows. I think this article shows where Americans have come to as a society that vigilantes are being hailed as the “new American hero” which says something about America. This article also is also important because it makes all of us look inside of ourselves to see why we like the show like Dexter so much.

            In conclusion, Ashley’s article is good because it shows the mental state of Americans and so in our popular culture deviant characters labeled Other are well liked in TV shows and movies. Americans even label vigilantes as heroes and Ashley showed this fascination throughout American history which was very interesting to me. 

             

Reference

Donnelly, A. (February, 2012). The new American hero: Dexter, serial killer for the masses. The Journal of Popular Culture, 45(1), 15-26.

Heroes and the Cult of the Celebrity

Hip Hop Music: Heroes and the Cult of the Celebrity

            As I have been studying theories of the popular culture hip-hop music, I have learned a lot. This paper will explore the theories of heroes and the cult of the celebrity as it relates to hip-hop music.  

            First I will define what a hero is - A hero is “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities” or “a person who is greatly admired”  (Hero, 2016).  An example of a hero can be a real life person who saves someone that is drowning, or a hero can be a sports figure that young players look up to or a musician that is respected and admired for the work the musician creates. Many fans that listen to hip-hop music have their favorite musician that is called a hero because fans admire them. They admire them because of the words in the songs that are about real life problems and fans relate to the words and feel a connection to the hip-hop musician sometimes because they have experienced the same thing. Courage is another characteristic of a hero and with a hop-hop musician, it takes courage to expose real life experiences to fans.

            Hip-hop musicians are part of the cult of celebrity which is a cult you join once becoming a celebrity. Celebrity is defined as “the state of being famous or celebrates” or “a person who is famous” (Celebrity, 2016).  Many hip-hop musicians who reach celebrity status show their status by the material things they have such as expensive cars, expensive jewelry, and mammoth homes. The reason they show their wealth this way is that many of them came from poor backgrounds having nothing, and these items are status symbols to and have become part of the culture of being a hip-hop celebrity.

             The insights I have gained from applying these theories to hip-hop music is that people relate to heroes for many reasons. One a reason hip-hop musician is thought to be a hero is because they may have shared the same experience with a fan. I never thought of hip-hop musicians as heroes but after doing this research, I better understand why some fans do. As far as hip-hop musicians being part of the cult of celebrities, I do understand when you come from nothing and become famous and wealthy your possessions are important to you. To me, celebrity becomes a hero when they use their power and wealth to help society either financially or through supporting causes.

References

Celebrity, 2016. Merriam-webster.com. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-

            webster.com/dictionary/celebrity

Hero, 2016.  Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieve from http://www.merriam-

            webster.com/dictionary/hero

Rituals & Stereotpyes in Hip Hop Music

Hip-hop Music: Rituals and Stereotypes

            Having been around since the inception back in the 70s, hip-hop music has created rituals and  stereotypes with some being positive and some negative. I will explain some rituals of hip-hop music and some of the stereotypes people have with hip-hop music.

            One ritual that came from the pop culture hip-hop music is the annual BET awards program. The awards program began in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Network. This award program celebrates music and other venues by African Americans. Among the many attendees is a large population of hip-hop artists where awards are presented for their contributions to hip-hop music industry (BET Awards, 2016).  Another ritual is the yearly World Hip-hop Dance Championship which is an international hip-hop dance competition with many international companies. In 2015 about 3,000 people participated from all over the world (World Hip-hop Dance Championship, 2016).

            Even though both positive and negative stereotypes have been associated with hip-hop music, there are more negative stereotypes than positive stereotypes.  One positive stereotype is hip-hop is filled with stories about personal and professional struggles and how the artist overcomes them. Unfortunately many people stereotype hip-hop music into categories that degrade women and encourage drugs, violence, and sex. Some videos portray African American women only as booty poppin people and men as gangsters and criminals (Simmons, n.d.).    

In conclusion, yes hip-hop has rituals and stereotypes. The insight I have gained from applying the theories of stereotypes to hip-hop music is that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I always considered hip-hop music BAD music but the more I learn about its history and positive impact the more I am open to listening to it. 

References

BET Awards (Wikipedia, 2016). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BET_Awards

Simmons, R. (n.d.). Six Reasons You Should Let Your Child Listen to Hip-hop. Retrieved from

            http://rosssimmonds.com/leadership/children-hip-hop/

World Hip-hop Dance Championship (Wikipedia, 2016). Retrieved from 

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Hip_Hop_Dance_Championship

Icon Analysis Blog

            The three pop culture icons I selected are a coke bottle, Apple Inc., and Kim Kardashian West. All of these represent pop icons which by definition are a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in pop culture constitutes a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The categorization is usually associated with elements such as longevity, ubiquity, and distinction.  In 1915, the Coca-Cola Company gave a brief to its design team, a brief that was so simple it became history: “a bottle which a person could recognize even if they felt it in the dark, and so shaped that, even if broken, a person could tell at a glance what it was.” In 2015, Coca-Cola celebrated the 100 years of its iconic Contour coke bottle, its timeless and most famous brand ambassador. Apple Inc. Apple, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of mobile communication, media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players. The firm offers products and services under the iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple Watch, and Apple TV brands. And Kim Kardashian West is an American reality television personality, actress, socialite, businesswoman and model.

            I choose the coke bottle because it is timeless and people of all ages recognize it. Even though now coke is sold in cans everyone has memories for the coke bottle. For many, Coca-Cola is indeed the brand that comes to mind when getting into the holiday spirit. This is more than reasonable, if not completely understandable, since Coca-Cola has been hard at work on branding themselves for the holidays since 1931. The Coke bottle icon brings back memories of Christmas to me and reminds me of fun times in my childhood. As children we were not allowed to drink pop but at Christmas but since it is such a special time we were allowed to drink coke with our cousins, grandparents and aunts and uncles. And I looked forward every year to getting to drink coke. So the coke bottle represents a part of my childhood and Christmas memories.

Next I choose Apple Inc. because Apple has changed everyone’s daily lives. Apple has produced products that have changed the way people around the world communicate, obtain information and entertain themselves.  Whether it’s iPods, iPhones or iPads, they have become a part of daily life for people around the world. Even when you travel, everybody’s got a device including little kids, parents, and older adults. When was the last time you were somewhere and you did not see someone with an iPAd, ipod or cell phone? For me Apple has made a huge impact on my life. I use an iPad at work and is so much lighter than the laptop I used to carry to meetings. I also use an iPhone  to be connected to work, family in friends wherever I go to keep up with emails, texts, phone calls and the world. My children also use Apple iPads and download games from their App Store. So everyone in my family would say they could not live without Apple.

Lastly I chose Kim Kardashian West as my last icon because Kim Kardashian is a marketing genius. And what she markets is herself. Yes she did have family connects (her father was Robert Kardashian - O J Simpson’s lawyer ) but she always leveraged her connections to put herself in the spotlight at the correct time. She is photogenic and she has no shame exploiting her beauty. But she is the master at marketing herself and is worth over $150 million but never went to college. To me Kim Kardashian West represents the opportunities in America – you can be whatever you want to be.  Yes, she came from some money but she has gone well beyond her beginnings and to me is truly an inspiration for me that if you work hard and can accomplish your dreams.  

Popular Culture Blog

What is popular culture, and what does it mean to you?

Popular culture is culture based on the collection of ideas, thoughts, attitudes, images preferred by the mainstream population. It is the contemporary lifestyle and items that are well known and generally accepted, cultural patterns that are widespread within a population. This can be the music we listen, the clothes we buy, the hair color and style of hair we wear, because they are the trend that is in right now, the most popular movie that is showing today. 

Why is an understanding of popular culture relevant to you in a business environment and in your present and future career?

Understanding popular culture is very relevant in a business environment today.  If your business sells merchandise to the mass population it is critical to know what people are interested in or want these days because it helps decide how to market the product or service offered. A business staying up to date with the popular culture can be the difference in staying in business or going out of business or how well a business performs and how profitable a business is for a time period. Also, Human Resource departments must understand popular culture in creating policies such as dress code because of the age and talent of employees the company is trying to attract.

What would you consider to be an example of a pop culture artifact? And why would you choose it? 

I chose the XBox One as my pop culture artifact. I chose this because today this video game system is very popular and there are many kids as well as and adults alike who own a XBox One system. What fascinates me the most is that not only do kids love to play the Xbox One but also adults plan nights to play this game interactively through the internet. So not only game you play games on Xbox One but you can also access Netflix, Facebook and watch movies. So it is more than just a system to play games.