Hip hop portrays the progression of black music. It is a culture and a lifestyle, and it is both political and informative. Hip-hop artists represent different ranges of the community. Urban dictionary has 41 different definitions for hip hop, representing the various ways hip hop affects lifestyle and culture. Many believe hip hop to be dead because the mainstream media and MTV introduce artists that do not represent the true definition of hip hop.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hip-hop
SONGS
• Blackalicious – Blazing Arrow
• Wale – Good Girls
• Lil Wyte – Oxycontin
• Spank Rock – Pu$$y
• People Under the Stairs – Acid Raindrops
VIDEOS
• Kanye West – Good Life
• Pussycat Dolls ft. Missy Elliot – Watcha Think about That
• Fugees – Ready or Not
• Young Jeezy – Put On
• Lil Wayne – Mrs. Officer
Power 103.5 plays “#1 for blazing hip hop and R&B.”
KJ 103, or 102.7, plays pop music and hip hop and rap.
SoBe utilizes hip hop culture in their commercials. In the SoBe Lizard Lake commercial the lizard ends the commercial with a grin that reveals a full grill.
Gap has a khaki commercial that features several different people dancing and break dancing while wearing khaki.
Jay-Z plugs Motorola in his song “I Just Wanna Love U,” singing, “Motorola two-way page me.”
Steve Stoute, VP of Black Music for Interscope Records, created a company called PASS that matches urban music and musicians with advertisers (The Village Voice).
Hip Hop’s presence in the media has been developed largely through the use of words created by hip hop artists and celebrities. A lot of hip hop artist’s play on words and create different ways of describing things. One example being ‘fo shizzle.’ This word is heard in movies, music, commercials, television programs, etc. Snoop Dogg coined a term that even politicians use. Another untraditional word is ‘munchies.’ Urban dictionary defines this word as a term used by people who get hungry after they smoke pot. However, munchies are now a brand of chips sold in stores and gas stations across the US.
My mom listened to heavy metal, classic rock and pop. She loved Metallica and went to one of their concerts in the 80s. She listened to a lot of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, who primarily sing classic rock. Lastly, she loved The Beatles, but who didn’t during the 60s and 70s?
I think that hip hop discusses a lot of the same topics that other music genres discuss. Artists rap about women, money, drugs, politics and current events, all of which can be summed up by any Police song. I think a lot of people stereotype rap and hip hop because they are uninformed. Wale’s “Good Girls” says that good girls never give it up on the first night, and Young Jeezy’s “Put On” music video portrays the current economic recession and how it affects the streets of America. A lot of artists demean women in their lyrics and music videos. However, Spank Rock and the Pussycat Dolls portray themselves in a sexual manner, proving that the harsh lyrics do not affect their sexuality.
I believe there are both sides to this issue, I think that a lot of hip hop artists parade scantily clad, beautiful women around their music video set, but I also believe there are artists who don’t discuss sex and women, like Blackalicious and the Fugees. There are two sides to every issue, and stereotyping hip hop, like stereotyping anything, can be proven false when researched. A stereotype can be a definition only if you allow others to write your views for you.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Subtle Prejudice in the Media
The Norman Transcript, Newspaper, Friday, April 3
There were 18 photos throughout the news section of the paper and only two showed people of color. One was a photo of the new International Student of the Month, the other was on the last page of the paper in a clothing advertisement.
The Oklahoman, Newspaper, Friday, April 3, 2009
There were 22 photos, one of which showed Pres. Obama; the other, his wife with the Queen of England.
JCPenney, Store Circular, 2009
The front page of the circular showed a little black girl holding a gift box. However, throughout the 191 pages of the circular, only 17 pages showed children or adults of color. Only was Asian adult was shown, and the same Asian child model was used multiple times, but was the token Asian child.
Newsweek, Weekly Magazine, March 2009
11 of the 62 pages featured only white people. Every other page represented multicultural and multiracial pictures.
Norman Living, Monthly Magazine, January 2009
The cover features an image of a Native American; however, not another Native American is shown until the cover’s feature is discussed on page 34, where yet only a painting represents Native American diversity. Interestingly, the only picture portraying a black person is shown on the next page, and is of Courtney Paris.
Southern Living, Monthly Magazine, March 2009
The magazine consists mainly of recipes, locations and gardening, without very many pictures. However, there were only two advertisements that featured African Americans. One was of a man holding cats, advertising kitty litter. The other was of a couple going on their honey moon to a romantic location.
Better Homes and Gardens, Monthly Magazine, January 2009
There were several features, quotes and recipe ideas, but they were all from white people. The only time you saw black people featured in the magazine was in the form of advertisements.
Vogue, Monthly Magazine, April 2009
The cover features Beyonce and says, “real women have curves.”
Where’s the Beef?, Wendy’s Commercial, YouTube
Three older, white women asking repeatedly, ‘where’s the beef?’
SoBe Lizard Lake Game Day, Super bowl Commercial, YouTube
There is a lot of diversity in this commercial. All of the men are athletes, and only one is white (granted there are a lot of lizards, as well).
Reflection:
This assignment has made me aware of some of the issues the media has regarding race. Every form of print media I viewed contained a form of diversity; however, the amount and the variety were extremely questionable.
The Norman Transcript portrayed a particularly low amount of diverse groups in its news edition. Norman is not the most diverse community, but for its paper to exclude every race except white people is shocking. The only article that pictured a person of color was (how cliché) an article over the International Student of the month. Besides that, the paper didn’t show another person of color until the last page, which was of an advertisement for business wear, featuring a single black woman pictured twice in different clothing.
The Oklahoman did little better than the Transcript. The entire paper left void all people of color that were not of celebrity status. The paper, which is supposed to represent all of Oklahoma, portrayed a state made up of white men and women. Michelle Obama is featured with the Queen of England in an AP photo where only half of her face is seen as she is embracing the Queen. A thumbnail picture of Pres. Obama is shown in the “Your Views” section of the newspaper, where the opinionated article discusses the contempt he feels toward Obama’s selection to speak at Notre Dame’s commencement.
Norman Living, another local circular, was very disappointing in relation to the amount of diverse races shown throughout its pages. The only African American shown was Courtney Paris, who was featured beside an events calendar highlighting OU basketball games. Native Americans, who were on the cover of the magazine, were not pictured at all except through Native American art. The article was about images of the American west and Native American art and did not reflect toward the Native American painters or their current culture. Paris’s picture was on the page following the Native American feature, grouping the two diverse groups together and leaving the rest of the magazine ‘color free.’
Newsweek is a weekly magazine that discusses international and national issues. After analyzing the magazine’s content, I found that many diverse groups were represented. Several of the media forms I viewed showed only white and black people, with very little representation of other races; however, Newsweek portrayed people from the Middle East, Spain, China and Africa, just to name a few. The magazine also tackled the controversial issue of race in American schools, noting how many people were advocating the removal and Black History Month from public schools.
I also viewed the SoBe Lizard Lake game day commercial and analyzed it for this assignment. The commercial showed four athletes, three of whom were black and one was white. The commercial was shown during the Super Bowl this January. I liked the commercial because it portrayed a white male to be the minority.
Overall, I was disappointed with the lack of diversity in print media. Many of the magazines I viewed left out different races entirely, save the advertisements. I did not find that minorities were faded into the background in advertisements, however. Every advertisement I viewed that portrayed a minority, either showed minorities by themselves or within equal distance and of the same importance with white people. Perhaps it was the mediums I viewed, but I did not notice racial stereotyping in the form of advertisements. The article assigned for March 31 is dated 1984 and 1993, so perhaps the media has moved forward slightly. I do believe that races are represented equally, but I think advertisements have slightly improved, and do not use minorities to solely provide background focus anymore.
There were 18 photos throughout the news section of the paper and only two showed people of color. One was a photo of the new International Student of the Month, the other was on the last page of the paper in a clothing advertisement.
The Oklahoman, Newspaper, Friday, April 3, 2009
There were 22 photos, one of which showed Pres. Obama; the other, his wife with the Queen of England.
JCPenney, Store Circular, 2009
The front page of the circular showed a little black girl holding a gift box. However, throughout the 191 pages of the circular, only 17 pages showed children or adults of color. Only was Asian adult was shown, and the same Asian child model was used multiple times, but was the token Asian child.
Newsweek, Weekly Magazine, March 2009
11 of the 62 pages featured only white people. Every other page represented multicultural and multiracial pictures.
Norman Living, Monthly Magazine, January 2009
The cover features an image of a Native American; however, not another Native American is shown until the cover’s feature is discussed on page 34, where yet only a painting represents Native American diversity. Interestingly, the only picture portraying a black person is shown on the next page, and is of Courtney Paris.
Southern Living, Monthly Magazine, March 2009
The magazine consists mainly of recipes, locations and gardening, without very many pictures. However, there were only two advertisements that featured African Americans. One was of a man holding cats, advertising kitty litter. The other was of a couple going on their honey moon to a romantic location.
Better Homes and Gardens, Monthly Magazine, January 2009
There were several features, quotes and recipe ideas, but they were all from white people. The only time you saw black people featured in the magazine was in the form of advertisements.
Vogue, Monthly Magazine, April 2009
The cover features Beyonce and says, “real women have curves.”
Where’s the Beef?, Wendy’s Commercial, YouTube
Three older, white women asking repeatedly, ‘where’s the beef?’
SoBe Lizard Lake Game Day, Super bowl Commercial, YouTube
There is a lot of diversity in this commercial. All of the men are athletes, and only one is white (granted there are a lot of lizards, as well).
Reflection:
This assignment has made me aware of some of the issues the media has regarding race. Every form of print media I viewed contained a form of diversity; however, the amount and the variety were extremely questionable.
The Norman Transcript portrayed a particularly low amount of diverse groups in its news edition. Norman is not the most diverse community, but for its paper to exclude every race except white people is shocking. The only article that pictured a person of color was (how cliché) an article over the International Student of the month. Besides that, the paper didn’t show another person of color until the last page, which was of an advertisement for business wear, featuring a single black woman pictured twice in different clothing.
The Oklahoman did little better than the Transcript. The entire paper left void all people of color that were not of celebrity status. The paper, which is supposed to represent all of Oklahoma, portrayed a state made up of white men and women. Michelle Obama is featured with the Queen of England in an AP photo where only half of her face is seen as she is embracing the Queen. A thumbnail picture of Pres. Obama is shown in the “Your Views” section of the newspaper, where the opinionated article discusses the contempt he feels toward Obama’s selection to speak at Notre Dame’s commencement.
Norman Living, another local circular, was very disappointing in relation to the amount of diverse races shown throughout its pages. The only African American shown was Courtney Paris, who was featured beside an events calendar highlighting OU basketball games. Native Americans, who were on the cover of the magazine, were not pictured at all except through Native American art. The article was about images of the American west and Native American art and did not reflect toward the Native American painters or their current culture. Paris’s picture was on the page following the Native American feature, grouping the two diverse groups together and leaving the rest of the magazine ‘color free.’
Newsweek is a weekly magazine that discusses international and national issues. After analyzing the magazine’s content, I found that many diverse groups were represented. Several of the media forms I viewed showed only white and black people, with very little representation of other races; however, Newsweek portrayed people from the Middle East, Spain, China and Africa, just to name a few. The magazine also tackled the controversial issue of race in American schools, noting how many people were advocating the removal and Black History Month from public schools.
I also viewed the SoBe Lizard Lake game day commercial and analyzed it for this assignment. The commercial showed four athletes, three of whom were black and one was white. The commercial was shown during the Super Bowl this January. I liked the commercial because it portrayed a white male to be the minority.
Overall, I was disappointed with the lack of diversity in print media. Many of the magazines I viewed left out different races entirely, save the advertisements. I did not find that minorities were faded into the background in advertisements, however. Every advertisement I viewed that portrayed a minority, either showed minorities by themselves or within equal distance and of the same importance with white people. Perhaps it was the mediums I viewed, but I did not notice racial stereotyping in the form of advertisements. The article assigned for March 31 is dated 1984 and 1993, so perhaps the media has moved forward slightly. I do believe that races are represented equally, but I think advertisements have slightly improved, and do not use minorities to solely provide background focus anymore.
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