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It's a Hip-Hop World Author(s): Jeff Chang Source: Foreign Policy, No. 163 (Nov. - Dec., 2007), pp. 58-65 Published by: Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25462232 . Accessed: 22/02/2015 11:26

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This content downloaded from 71.225.66.233 on Sun, 22 Feb 2015 11:26:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Rap musichas longbeen considered a formof resistanceagainst authorify. Boostedby the commercialization of themusic industy, that message has

provenits appeal tojouthall aroundthe world. Now, from Shanghaito Nairobi toSao Paulo, hip-hop isevolving into a truTh .4I. globalart of communication.

By Jeff Chang

IT'SAHip-Ho

J nside the steamingwalls of a nightclub in the other fornot speaking properMandarin. His theheart of one of theworld's most dynam opponent fromHong Kong snaps back to thebeat ic cities, you can hear the sounds of the in a trilingualtorrent of Cantonese, English, and future.Hundreds of people gyrate rhyth Mandarin, dissing theBeijing rapper fornot repre mically as a DJ spinshot beats.On stage, a pair of sentingthe people. The crowd goes wild, raucously rappersface off, microphones inhand, tradingvers voicingdelight and dismay. es of improvisedrhyme. They look like typicalhip This annual rap battle,called the IronMic, isn't hop artists,dressed in baggy pants and baseball takingplace inNew York or Los Angeles, but in caps. But listenclosely and you notice something Shanghai,where itsfounder, 32-year-old Dana Burton, unusual:They're performingin Chinese. One rapper has unexpectedlyfound fame and fortune.The Detroit spitsout words ina distinctiveBeijing accent, scolding nativearrived in China in1999 to takea job teaching English.During his firstweek in town,he went to a JeffChang is editor of Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics nightclubthat advertised hip-hop music. But theclos of Hip-Hop (New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2007) and est thingto hip-hopwas a Michael Jackson imper author of Can't Stop,Won't Stop: A History of theHip-Hop sonator.So, Burton embarked on a mission tobring the Generation (New York: St. Martin's Press, 200.5), which real thingto theMiddle Kingdom. "I thoughtabout won the 2005 American Book Award. what I could offerChina," he says. "Itwas hip-hop."

58 FOR IC;N PO[LICY

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Burtonbegan tomoonlight as a rapperand developed mini historyof hip-hop, from itsurban American a following.He notv only performed_ himself but X also beginningsto itsChinese apotheosis. It was theperfect helpedothers-foreigners and Chinese-get_ theirown brew-an _ _w v _ sovx XAfrican-American entrepreneur promoting acts off theground by hostingparties and hip-hop a Polish vodka owned by a French corporation nightssuch as IronMic. Admirerscalled him "thegod usingChinese performerspracticing an Afro-Latin fatherof Chinese hip-hop." influencedart form that originated in the inner Burton soon began topromote toursfor famous cities of theUnited States.Welcome to hip-hop's hip-hopartists visiting from the United States.Today, new world. multinational corporations includingIntel, Coca Cola, and Adidas turnto himwhen theywant help inmarketing their consumer goods toChina's boom A SERIOUS BUSINESS ingyouth market. Burton then taps intohis pool of To theuninitiated, hip-hop hardly looks or sounds L more than300 Chinese rappers,DJs, dancers, and like a brave, new art form.It's more like a sonic n:cr graffitiartists. jackhammer,a visual eyesore, and a C) conceptual In a recent campaign forWyborowa vodka, nuisance. Critics often call hip-hopmaterialistic, Burton took his crew on the road, presenting150 misogynistic,homophobic, racist, vulgar, and violent. shows in40 Chinese cities.His artistsperformed a It's a hotmess, the roarof totalchaos.

NOVEMBER IDECEMBER 2007 59

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D Asianart: Graffiti isone d_.of ,Me>4nthe :original = j6 !_E :| elements 8_R,4jo A-_z_of_American-style hip-hop that China's urban youth have made their own.

Some of that is true.But rapmusic isonly a part transcendgeography, culture, and even skin color of themovement, and ifyou look beyond stereo remainship-hop's central promise. types,it's clear thathip-hop culture has become one Today, themessage of hip-hop is even tran of themost far-reachingarts movements of the scendingborders. From xi ha inChina to "hip-life" past threedecades. The best artistsshare a desire to inGhana, hip-hop is a lingua franca that binds breakdown boundaries between "high" and "low" young people all around theworld, allwhile giving art-to make urgent,truth-telling work thatreflects themthe chance to alter itwith theirown national the lives, loves, histories,hopes, and fearsof their flavor.It is the foundationfor global dance compe generation.Hip-hop is about rebellion,yes, but it's titions, themeeting ground for local progressive also about transformation. activism,even the subjectof studyat Harvard and At thecore of hip-hop is thenotion of something theLondon School of Economics. called the"cipher." Partly for competition and partly But one thingabout hip-hophas remainedcon for community,the cipher is the circle of partici sistentacross cultures:a vitalprogressive agenda that pants and onlookers that closes around battling challenges thestatus quo. Thousands of organizers rappersor dancers as theyimprovise for each other. fromCape Town toParis use hip-hop in theircom Ifyou have theguts to step into thecipher and tell munities to address environmentaljustice, policing your storyand, above all, demonstrateyour unique and prisons,media justice,and education.In Gothen ness, you might be accepted into the community. burg,Sweden, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) Here iswhere reputationsare made and riskedand incorporategraffiti and dance to engage disaffected stylisticchange is fostered.That thiscommunitarian immigrantand working-class youths. And indigenous honoring of merit-whether it's called "style," youngpeople inplaces as disparateas Chile, Indone "hotness,"or whatever the latestslang forit is-can sia,New Zealand, andNorway use hip-hop to push theirgeneration's views intothe local conversation. u) IL Hip-hop is also a serious business.More than 0 ForMore Online i 59 million rap albumswere sold in theUnited States Watchtwo Chinese hip-hop performers do baftle at I alone last year.But that number representsonly ForeignPolicy.com/extras/hiphop. a small part of hip-hop's influence.It sells an esti

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This content downloaded from 71.225.66.233 on Sun, 22 Feb 2015 11:26:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions mated $10 billionworth of trend-settingluxury and RISING UP consumer goods everyyear-not just inmovies, With itshumble origins, no one could have foreseen shoes, and clothingbut in everythingfrom snack theglobal phenomenonthat hip-hop would become. crackers and soda drinks to cars and computers. Thirtyyears ago, New York City bore littleresem This "urban aspirational lifestyle"market is expect blance to theglittering metropolis of today,particu ed to continue togrow exponentially.According to larlythe embattled streets of theBronx. Race riots, a 2006 reportby business researchcompany Pack urban renewal,arson, and governmentneglect wiped aged Facts, thepotential purchasing power avail out educationaland social serviceprograms, eviscer able to thismarket in theUnited States alone is ated housing stock, accelerated white flightand worth $780 billion. job loss, and created American rapper 50 an internationalsym Cent is one of the bol of urban despair. many savvy busi Meanwhile, the nessmen in hip-hop poor youth of the who's fullygrasped Bronx foundways to this potential. In pass the time:rapping 2004, he agreed to in a style adapted endorse flavoredbev fromJamaican reggae erage VitaminWater with Bronx slangover for a small stake in funky Afro-Latin Glaceau, the compa influencedgrooves, ny that produced it. dancingwildly to the In June,Coca-Cola percussive breaks, purchased Glaceau spray-painting their for $4.1 billion. nicknames on walls, When thedeal closed, buses, and subway 50 Centwalked away trains.These were hip with a rumored$100 hop's original "four million overnight,just elements"-MCing, for lendinghis name DJing, b-boying (or to a drink. "breakdancing"),and Of all therappers graffiti. The street out there,mogul and culturewas aliveto the renaissance man eccentricities of the Shawn Carter, better politicallyabandoned known as Jay-Z, is neighborhoodand themost successful Can't stop:A South Korean b-boy tears up Seoulwith his acrobatic moves. thechildren who still example of thegrow populated it.And the ingpower of hip-hop.When he took overUniver innocent leisure choices of teens, taken together, sal Records' Def Jamunit in2004, Jay-Zwas put representedthe early makings of an artisticvanguard. incharge of a billion-dollar business. Some indus In 1973, two Jamaican-American immigrant tryinsiders believe that today,Def Jam's overseas teenagersdecided to throwa back-to-schoolparty. business outpaces its domestic business. Jay-Z's CindyCampbell and herbrother Clive, betterknown own albums have sold 33 million copiesworldwide, in theneighborhood as DJ Kool Herc, organized the and his latestalbum, released lastNovember, sold dance in the recreationroom of theirgovernment 680,000 copies in theUnited States alone during subsidized apartmentbuilding at thenow famous the firstweek. He runspopular nightclubs inNew addressof 1520 SedgwickAvenue. They had exquisite a a York and Atlantic City-with plans to open more timing.After years of gang violence,teens in thearea nextyear inLas Vegas, Tokyo, andMacau. The for were growingweary and looking fora new way to z mer drug dealer who grew up in poverty in the expressthemselves. "When Iwent to [the]party, it was 1 housing projectsof Brooklyn isnow worth an esti likestepping into another universe. The vibewas so mated $500 million. strong,"says Tony Tone, a gangmember who later

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became part of thepioneering rap group theCold dancers,artists, and DJSon thefirst hip-hop tour out Crush Brothers. The Campbells' Bronx parties side theUnited States.Bambaataa saw suchvisits as became so popular theysoon had tomove themout a keyway to expandUniversal Zulu Nation and to doors to a nearby park. Crowds flocked to them. espousewhat he considered thecore values of hip Instead of gettinginto troubleon the streets,teens hop: peace, unity,love, and having fun.Everywhere now had a place to expend theirpent-up energy. hewent, he planted theseeds forthe hip-hop move "Hip-hop saved a lot of lives," recallsTone. ment inEurope, Africa, and Asia. One such life France, inpartic saver was a gang ular,caught thehip leadernamed Afrika hop virus. In the Bambaataa. Inspired 1990s, MC Solaar byDJ Kool Herc, he became thefirst non too began hosting American rap super hip-hop parties. star.Solaar was born Aftera soul-altering inSenegal toparents visit to Africa, he fromChad, and dis vowed to use hip coveredZulu Nation hop to draw poor, and the music of angry kids out of Afrika Bambaataa gangs,and formeda as a young teenager streetorganization in Paris. His multi called Universal culturalbackground Zulu Nation tohelp Revisitingroots: Senegalese hip-hop artists tackle themes of poverty and oppression. appealed to youths spread hismessage. throughoutthe Fran Soon, New York underground journalistswere cophone world, which quickly developed into the writing that Bambaataa was "stopping bullets largestnon-English-speaking rap market. with two turntables." With this message of The emergingpopularity of cable and satellite empowerment, rap updated African-American televisionthroughout the world in the late1980s fur poetic traditions,and bore witness to the joyful, ther spread the seeds of hip-hop. In 1988, MTV soulful,and sometimesangry stories of lifein their debutedan experimentalpilot program in theUnited forgottenAmerica. States called Yo! MTV Raps, which aired hip-hop videos once a week in an after-hoursslot. Soon, the show grew so popular itwas broadcast six days a PLANET HIP-HOP week. African-Americanand Latino urban stylewas Less than a decade after theCampbells' famous instantlyaccessible tomillions of youths, and not party,hip-hop began to seep outside theUnited just in theUnited States.Yo! MTV Raps became one States. In 1982, Afrika Bambaataa and his group of thenetwork's first globally televised shows-airing indozens of countries,first on MTV Europe, and thenon MTV Asia and MTV Latino a fewyears later. Althoughhip-hop ismainstream inmany places One of the groups to get the most airtimewas Public Enemy, a today,itis still considered a voice for the oppressed. collectiveofmostly college-educated, activist-mindedyoung men with audacious ambitions and the out 0 Soulsonic Force released a single called "Planet sized talentto match. Emerging from the largely black 0I Rock," which borrowedmusical motifs from German innersuburbs of Long Island,New York, thegroup's z electropop,British rock, and African-American disco lyricsdecried police brutality,racial profiling,gang rap. They blended the elements together,offering violence, and political apathy.Their rise convinced C.D hip-hop as a new vision forglobal harmony.The many skepticsthat hip-hop could be a lasting,poten record stormed the chartsworldwide. That same tially lucrative,even socially importantart form. year,Bambaataa ledNew York's leading rappers, Taking a page fromBambaataa's book, PublicEnemy

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This content downloaded from 71.225.66.233 on Sun, 22 Feb 2015 11:26:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions embarkedon extendedworld tours.Its influencewas forthe oppressed, and a provocationto thosein power. far-reaching.When Public Enemy reachedBrazil's In fact,the culture wars thathip-hop spawned in the shores in the late 1980s, hip-hop exploded inLatin mid-1990s in theUnited States,with congressional America. " [Their]song 'Don'tBelieve theHype' was hearingsand CD-crushingcampaigns, have appeared so important,"says legendaryBrazilian rapperEliefi inBritain, where nationaldebates overhip-hop have of thehit singlethat championed black power. "We stood in fordeeper discussions over thethorny issues had neverseen black folksin a militant stance before." of race and immigration.In 2003, BritishCulture Althoughhip-hop has becomemainstream in many Minister Kim Howells turnedhis bully pulpit on partsof theworld today,it is stillconsidered a voice "hatefullyrics that these boasting macho idiotrappers

Fromjazz to rock to salsa, there have been plenty ofmusical movements that have traveled around the world. Buthip-hop's cultural and political resonance ismaking it the most powerful art form yet

Why Hip-Hop Is Like No Other

By S. Craig Watkins Boone to soften rock-and-roll's N o youthtrend is more visible edges,rap music aroundthe world today than has remained,by hip-hop.It is not,of course, and large,a defi thefirst popular musical art anty"black" musi formto transcend geographical borders. cal formr.That does Bornin the late 1940s, rock-and-roll notmean that other music spreadacross theAtlantic, ethnicities and spawnedthe British Invasion, and pro nationalitieshave videda soundtrackforyouth rebellions notembraced rap worldwidein the 1960s. Likewise, in keepin'it reals Hip-hop's power lies in itssocial message. andfashioned itto the late1950s, Brazil's bossa nova speakto their own beganto influencethe musical sen andsold hip-hop with a ferocitythat is conditions.Itdoes, however, mean that sibilitiesof American jazz artists, as boldand intenseas themovement authenticityand participation inhip demonstratingthat the global flow itself.And because hip-hop isn't just hopare intimatelyconnected to local and influenceof culturalcreativity music-it's also attitude and culture socialand political realities. movesin many directions. theseglobal media companies partner Hip-hopmatters, quite simply, Whatthen, ifanything, distinguish with fashion labels, beverage brands, becauseit is thevoice of thestreets. es theglobalizadon ofhip-hop from the and sportsfranchises to sella total Andthat remains true today, regardless globalpassage of other art forms? In hip-hoplifestle. ofwhether it's the poor youth in the manyrespects, rap music is a continu Butthe most interestingelement suburbsof Paris or indigenouspeople aVonof the global joumey that pop music drivinghip-hop's global appeal is itscul fightingfor their dignity inColombia. made throughoutthe 20th century, turaland politcal resonance. Yes, hip-hop Hip-hophas connectedwith the pow repletewith percussive beats and social has beenan astonishingmoneymaker, erless in a waythat no one could have messages.But part of the uniqueness of butit has beenan equallyastonishing predicted or, now, can control. hip-hop'sgrowing presence can be sourceof youth expression and empow

0 attributedto the rise of global media erment.Perhaps unlike any otherform of S. CraigWatkins isprofessor ofsociol conglomerates.The size,scope, and popularculture in recent memory, hip ogy,African-American studies, and C/ reachof today's media companies sim hophas becomethe voice of choice radio-television-filmat : theUniversity plydidn't exist when rock-and-roll or foryoung people who find themselves of Texas,Austin, and authorof Hip z bossa nova firstmade themselves on themargns. Whereas record labels HopMatters: Politics, Pop Culture, and heard.Record companies such as Uni inthe 1950s, for example, used per theStruggle for the Soul of a Movement versalMusic and Sony have packaged sonalitieslike Elvis Presley and Pat (Boston:Beacon Press, 2005).

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come up with." Hip-hop has come up against the African.Since then,the proportion of artistsfrom the same resistancein France. Two years ago, angryrap continenthas risen,and thenetwork says ithopes to made by thesons of disenfranchisedAfrican and Arab reach50 percentAfrican programmiing in thenext year. immigrantsserved as the soundtrackto riots in the But on theradio, hip-hop from overseas is increas Frenchbanlieues, and again inpostelection riots this inglybecoming thenorm. Stations such as Britain's past spring.Two hundredFrench members of parlia Capital FM and locallyowned KISS FM selladvertis ment signeda petitionto curb hip-hop.The petition ingto multinational corporations like Motorola and failed,but theepisode was anotherreminder of how Nokia. They preferto program American artists such hip-hop can clash with thepowers thatbe.

ALL HIP-HOP IS LOCAL As hip-hop grows ever more popular,it becomes squeezed in the uneasy space betweencommer cial and economic glob alizationfrom above and borderless,cultural grass rootsglobalization from below. Commercial rap made in the United States-with itsethic of "get richor die tryin"' is displacing local rap pers and musicians on Fightthe power: Young Palestinian rappers give voice to theirgeneration's political frustrations. the radio and television airwaves inAfrica, Asia, theCaribbean, and South as 50 Cent because such rap helps corporationssell America,while servingas thesoundtrack for aggres consumergoods. But local rappers,whose music cri sive,youth-oriented consumer goods marketing. tiquesgovernment and poverty,dub American rap, This rampantcommercialism is often at oddswith ironically,"white-boy oppressor music," even though hip-hop'soutsider ethos. InKenya, for instance,two theartists are predominantlyAfrican American. differingvisions-one as a resistanceculture oriented Nairobi nativeMichael Wanguhu, who created toward social justice,the other as a popular culture thedocumentary filrn Hip-Hop Colony, saysthis kind focusedon commoditycapitalism-may be increas of culturalhomogenization and commercialsponsor inglyheaded towarda reckoning.For someKenyans, shipare becomingmajor worries. "It'screating oppor hip-hophas allowed a new generationof postcolonial tunitieswhere therewere none before,"he says,"but Africansto speakout. Young Kenyan rappers'lyrics there'sno room formusic that is enlightenedand in sheng,a creolized languagethat includesEnglish, empowerspeople." Still,he is bullish on hip-hop's Swahili, and Kikuyu words-tackle the themesof expansion. "Hip-hop inAfrica is like thenew Pan joblessness,poverty, and theolder generation'sfail Africanism,"he says. "It'sdiffusing all theborders we ures. Indeed,young artistsare buildingcommunities have and creatingnew organizationsand expanding thatactively support the development of culturalpol thatwhole market." iticsunique to thecontinent. One KenyanNGO, Words and Pictures,has been travelingto Ghana, Senegal, SouthAfrica, and Tanzania to promotenetworking THE GLOBAL CIPHER ILCr among local hip-hoppioneers. The recentarrival of EveryOctober inBraunschweig, Germany, 8,500 MTV Base Africamay accelerate these trends.The hip-hop fans fromaround theworld gather towit networkwas launchedin South Africa at thebeginning ness thebiggest global hip-hop dance competition, of 2005 with a playlist thatwas roughlyone third theBattle of theYear. First organized byGerman

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This content downloaded from 71.225.66.233 on Sun, 22 Feb 2015 11:26:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions b-boy Thomas Hergenrother 16 years ago as a synchronizedunderdogs sportingpatriotic white, tinyshowcase for a handful of dance crews from red, and aqua-colored hooded track suits. "What Germany and Hungary, the event has expanded Germany or France did in 15 years,"Hergenrother into nothing less than theWorld Cup of hip-hop sayswith awe, "theymanaged in five." dance. Elimination competitions are held in 20 In one scene, theGerman team-whose crew countries, including Albania, China, Estonia, prominentlyfeatures African and Arab immigrants Malaysia, New Zealand, Serbia, and SouthAfrica. choreographs a humorousAladdin's magic carpet At the finals, twentyteams featuringabout 200 sequence, taking a pointed jab at the country's dancers representtheir respective countries on the continuing immigrationwars. "So many different main stage of Braunschweig'sVolkswagen Halle. people came togetherunder thename of hip-hop, Film directorBenson Lee captured the 2005 thathip-hop changedmusic, arts completely,"says competitionfor his documentary,Planet B-Boy. In a German b-boywho goes by thename "Storm." telling the story of one year in the contest, Lee But the essence of hip-hop is the cipher,born reveals the diversityof hip-hop's global partici in theBronx, where competition and community pants-working-class immigrants rejecting the feed each other. It is here that hip-hop always hopelessnessof theParisian suburbs,youths trying returns.In the finalround of Battle of theYear, the to spring themselves from the homogeneity of crews lineup and verballyattack each other,either Tokyo's urban retailscapes, even conscripts from one-on-one or "commando style," all at once. It theSouth Korean army. "These kids aren't thugs. is always a nightof riotousexplosion of bodies, as They are artists," says Lee. "The main essence of dancers burst to the breakbeats. The climax of hip-hop is community." thebattle, themost thrillingpart, is itselfthe deep Hip-hop events such as theBattle of theYear est kind of communication. "It happens in an create spaces fora globalization fromthe bottom, exchange," says Storm. "He's givingme some bringingpeople togetheracross thebarriers of geog thingthat I can relate to and I have to answerwith raphy,language, and race.Lee's movie revealstensions somethingthat he can relate to so thatwe can con betweenthe American and Frenchteams, which both tinue this battle." It's the kind of exchange that performwith aggressive,bold attitudes.Everyone happens daily, among millions, in almost every fearsthe upstart South Koreans, a teamof superbly corner of theworld. m;

[Want to Know More?]1

JeffChang explores the sociocultural influence o f hip-hop inCan't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of theHip-Hop Generation (New York: St. Martin'Is Press, 2005). Chang also edited an anthology on the hip-hop arts movement, Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics ofHip-Hop (New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2007).

Tricia Rose inaugurated hip-hop studies with her highly readable Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in ContemporaryAmerica (Hanover: UniversityPress of New England, 1994). Raquel Cepeda presents a bracing selection from hip-hop's best writers inAnd It Don't Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop joumnalismof theLast 25 Years (New York: Faber & Faber, 2004).

Tha Global Cipha: Hip- Hop Culture and Consciousness,by JamesG. Spady,H. SamyAlim, and SamirMeghelli (Philadelphia:Black History Museum Press,2006), capturesthe energy of theglobal hip-hop movement in the artists' own voices. To see how hip-hop has taken hold of Kenya, watch Michael Wanguhu's filmHip-Hop Colony. The documentary Planet B-Bo chronicles a year in an international breakdancing competition. For a lushly photographed essay on how hip-hop has mani festeditself around theworld, seeJames McBride's "Hip-Hop Planet" (NationalGeographic, April 2007).

>)For links to relevant Web sites, access to the liP Archive, and a comprehensive index of related FOREIGN POLICY articles,go toForeignPolicy.com.

NOVEMBER IDECEMBER 2007 65

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