Hip-Hop: Busting the hegemony or normative capitalism

A philosophical thought piece on the nature of hip-hop.

Hip-hop has two natures, an intrinsic Janus-face if you prefer. I use the term Janus-face, because this two faceted nature is a set of diametrically opposed expressions. The first is the political face, made famous through such groups as Naughty by Nature, early
2Pac (2pacalypse now etc.). The other face, probably most famous of the two, is the social-pornographic face. Artists ascribing to this face would be the likes of Snoop Doggy Dogg, 50Cence etc. (Though I would like to argue that the first was indirectly political in his heyday.) I will argue that hip-hop was not always Janus-faced, but that there has been a transition of time. To paraphrase Theodor Adorno – art is political in its very nature, as it rises above the crowd and just is. It has no use, it is not a tool of capitalism and through its mere expression as art, it is dynamic, contrary to the norm and opposed to the hegemony. (The last term is Antonio Gramsci’s) In such a sense, early groups such as The Rock Steady Crew are political even though their lyrics are nothing as compared to blatantly political texts such as the modern: “they keep the 3rd world in a stagnant position / cause they profit by holding it down” or “it’s money makes money makes people act funny”, both by Roots Manuva. The point being that early hip-hop was political in its mere essence, whilst the hip-hop of today must be blatantly so in order to be termed political. The Rock Steady Crew, one of the first major hip-hop bands, could be called political because they, like early jazz before it, claimed a black expression – opposed to the norm, the popular music dominated by white artists. Their lyrics were anything but political – not only not political, they can best be described as naïve: “There’s a new headline, there’s a new sensation / Ev’rybody’s talking about the situation / Bodies in expression of music inspiration / Tell us when you feel it ‘cause we’re gonna rock the nation.” This was a clear statement, yet it was not political in classical terms. The message was – listen, we have our own expression and it’s coming your way. Popular music was never to be the same again. Would a brand new band with the same lyrics be considered political? The banality of the question reveals the answer. Some of the explanation in how Rock Steady Crew, despite of this, can be considered as a political band can be found in theories of the Other and Representation as found in the works of Edward W. Said. He attacks thinkers like Karl Marx for their idea that the Other cannot represent, it must be represented. The Rock Steady Crew in a sense opposes the Marxist doctrine and follows Said – here is “our” expression! In such a sense much of the early gangsta rap can be said to have been political - “Yeahhh so we gonna smoke an ounce to this / G's up hoes down while ya motherfuckas bounce to this. / Rollin' down the street smokin' endo sippin' on gin n juice / Laid back--with my mind on my money and my money on my mind” – can be said to have been an internal expression, a wake up call for “rich” Americans, where the “gangstas” expressed themselves. This is our life, we enjoy it, we’re more than mere statistics in your criminal records! As with Rock Steady Crew the “show” cannot be repeated, as with all art it has an effect in the now – an effect that phases out. Today 50Cence can write similar lyrics but he is 10-15 years too late. Now his expression is part of the grand musical industry – he has lost expressional credibility – he has become institutionalized so to speak. Now the same lyrics express what an average hip-hop fan expects. What is hip-hop without the guns, the tits and the crack? It’s all about money now, 50Cence cannot, in Adorno’s terms, rise above the norm – he is the norm. It is here that the implicit political context of “old school hip-hop” vanishes and modern artists are forced to be explicitly political in order to be considered political at all.
Perhaps this is not true for female hip-hop artists. Although women have always featured in hip-hop (the lead singer of Rock Steady Crew for example was a woman), they have usually played the role of a chorus or the subjects of the lyrics: “I got a pocket full of rubbers and my home boys do too / So turn off the lights and close the door / But for what--we don't love you hoes”. (Snoop Doggy Dogg) In this context it might therefore be considered to be political when artist such as Beyonce sing: “Tonight i'll be your naughty girl / I'm callin all my girls / We're gonna turn this party out / I know you want my body / Tonight i'll be your naughty girl / I'm callin all my girls / I see you look me up and down / And i came to party” The point here being, as with Snoop Doggy Dog and Rock Steady Crew, this could be considered a case of the “Other” representing itself. Tired of being the sexual theme of male hip-hop, female hip-hop singers are now “liberating” themselves, expressing their own sexuality. Sex is still the theme, being naughty is still a hip-hop virtue, but here it is the woman being naughty by her own nature, she runs the show and she brings her girls rather than having them being called on. Politics and art are temporal – what was political yesterday is no longer politics today, and what was art yesterday is capitalistic reproduction today. The hope for hip-hop must be that it is able to realize the nature of transition and always keep one step ahead of the music industry.