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SHOW AND PROVE: THE CINEMATIC AESTHETICS OF HIP-HOP By DAVID SHANE GILLEY Bachelor of Arts in English University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 1997 Master of Arts in English University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, OK 2001 Master of Library and Information Science University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 2018 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2019 SHOW AND PROVE: THE CINEMATIC AESTHETICS OF HIP-HOP Dissertation Approved: Stacy Takacs Dissertation Adviser Graig Uhlin Jeff Menne John Kinder ii Acknowledgements reflect views of the author and are not endorsed by the committee members or Oklahoma State University. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to first thank my fellow grad students on my first go-round at OSU, especially Scott Krzych, Lyn Megow, Kim Tolson, and Debbie Olson. They all were good friends and comrades in the trenches of grad school. A huge thank you goes to the faculty at OSU in the English Department who were so instrumental in my education. Rich Frohock, Ron Brooks, Hugh Manon, Peter Rollins, and Melissa Ianetta all come to mind as being patient and helpful as I made my way. I owe a debt of gratitude to the OSU Graduate College and their willingness to work out my leave of absence. They were always so patient with my questions; if they did not have the answer, they always found one. Thank you also to the current English Department and its Graduate Coordinator Katherine Hallemeier, who was always helpful in my return to the department. My committee has jumped onboard and agreed to be members at the last minute and I appreciate them so much: Graig Uhlin, Jeff Menne, and John Kinder. A special, extra huge thanks to my committee chair Stacy Takacs. Your patience, guidance, and helpfulness then and now have been invaluable in the winding road to the completion of the dissertation. You’re the best!! My mentor and good friend David Macey-thank you for putting me on the road to academia. You saw a working-class kid with a little talent and a little discipline and helped me realize an intellectual life I never knew existed. Betsey Martens at the OU SLIS, you heard how close I had been to the PhD and encouraged me from almost the day we met to pursue it to the end. You always told me it could be a possibility…Lauren Houston, my beautiful, amazing wife—your belief I can do anything I put my mind to has been instrumental. You believe in me when I don’t believe it myself. Your support, your cheerleading, your inspiration have been a giant part of this project. Finally, a big thank you to my mom. She was my friend and always believed in my abilities. She was always so happy that her boy was a Cowboy. And thanks to her for sending me to the Moore Movies the summer of 1984 where I saw Beat Street one summer afternoon and this journey really began… iii Acknowledgements reflect views of the author and are not endorsed by the committee members or Oklahoma State University. Name: DAVID SHANE GILLEY Date of Degree: DECEMBER 2019 Title of Study: SHOW AND PROVE: THE CINEMATIC AESTHETICS OF HIP-HOP Major Field: ENGLISH Abstract: One of the most important and far-reaching artistic movements of the 20 th century, hip-hop transformed many areas of popular culture, from cartoons to fashion, visual arts to music composition. Its influence upon film and filmmakers is undeniable, and several generations of artists have created film under its banner. The film is not always easily identifiable or categorized. A review of the academic discussions about films rooted in hip-hop culture quickly reveals that no uniform definition exists for hip- hop cinema. Names scholars offer for these films include “Black” (Cripps), “Black City Cinema” (Massood), “Blaxploitation” (Koven), “Hip-hop/rap-sploitation” (Sachs), “Cinema of Nihilism” (Boyd), “Black Action Film” (Reid), and the “Ghetto Action Picture” (Watkins). Despite the various scholarly studies of films specifically influenced by hip-hop, no study of conventions that unify them exists. My dissertation identifies common aesthetic traits among a group of films over a period of approximately 30 years. My goal in doing this work is to define hip-hop cinema as a film cycle that uniquely approaches social and cultural politics. Secondly, I hope my research contributes a new understanding and unique perspective in regard to the cinematic and visual importance of the young discipline called “Hip-Hop Studies.” I want to unify a group of films that share a common history, something scholars have yet to do. In my dissertation I locate several aesthetic conventions found within hip-hop film; the most important of these being the sample and cultural syncretism. As a unique addition to film studies and hip-hop scholarship, I examine ways in which cultural cross-over and sampling techniques influence hip-hop cinema’s artistic choices; hip-hop culture and its place in mainstream society; and its historical relevance. Additionally, this study works to understand how these elements work throughout the hip-hop film cycle to discuss a variety of popular ideological stances. By identifying conventions used in hip-hop films I hope to begin a discussion about hip-hop aesthetics and offer ideas that foster continued discussion of the genre. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION: THE MESSAGE: HIP-HOP’S HISTORY, ITS CINEMA, AND BACKGROUND ...........................................................................................................1 II. “YOU HEARD IT ON THE RADIO, YOU SEEN IT ON THE TV SHOW”: THE DOCUMENTARY IMPULSE IN HIP-HOP CINEMA..............................................32 III. PUBLIC ENEMY AND RADIO BROADCASTS: THE SAMPLE AND HIP-HOP CINEMA OF THE GOLDEN AGE ......................................................................70 IV . 50 CENT AND THE READYMADE IDENTITY OF THE MARKETPLACE…97 V. ANCIENT ASIA AND THE RETURN OF MLK: NIHILISM AND THE (RE)VISION OF HIP-HOP ANIMATION ………………………………………………………………………………………..131 VI. AFTERWORD—CREATIVITY AND DIVERSITY COMES WITH AGE…..176 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................182 v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: THE MESSAGE: HIP-HOP’S HISTORY, ITS CINEMA, AND BACKGROUND Hip-Hop, Its Ascendency, and its Cinema In their genre-defining song “The Message” Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s rapper Melle Mel states “I can’t take the smell, I can’t take the noise/Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice.” In one rhyming couplet a rap group captured the feeling of hopelessness many residents of New York City felt in the 1970s and early 80s. The city was bankrupt, the country was experiencing inflation and gasoline shortages, and crime was at an all-time high. In the Bronx, blocks of abandoned buildings, many of them burned by landlords for insurance money, created an urban dystopia punctuated by poverty and violence. It was from this desperate place that hip- hop, the subculture that grew into the one of the world’s most popular artistic expressions, was born. Hip-hop sprang forth from the Bronx to influence dance, visual and graphic arts, fashion, sports, language, music, and technology. There is very little in contemporary culture that hip-hop has not in some way transformed in its own image. If Bronx residents could not physically “get out,” as The Message yearns for, a few enterprising young artists found ways to get out spiritually and artistically— 1 through the burgeoning art form. Hip-hop always had visions beyond its own neighborhood; it is about movement and expression, making connections and performing, showing and proving one’s skill. Starting with DJs spinning records at block parties and skating parties, it built momentum and potential, adding rappers to rhyme over the repeated breaks the DJ isolated. B-boys or breakers began following select DJs from party to party, waiting for them to play longer breaks (hence their name) to showcase their acrobatic dancing. Graffiti, however, was the first element of this new culture to travel beyond the inner-city. In fact, one of the main drives of artists was to go “all city”—to have their art on trains that travel through every borough in NYC. It is telling that hip-hop’s graffiti writers’ preferred medium was not the brick wall, as it was for generations before it, but the subway trains that connected people from the five boroughs, that moved freely throughout the city, and exposed their art to millions of residents every day. It allowed a piece of the writer to travel beyond their confines and have a voice larger than the one they thought possible. These traveling canvases caught the eyes of both the city fathers, who disapproved of the expression, and Manhattan art aficionados and scene makers who saw it as a fresh new expression. Soon after, the localized Bronx phenomenon moved into the other boroughs, and eventually into Manhattan galleries and exclusive night clubs. People affiliated with the artistic movement began recording its progress, the earliest films being Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style (1982), and Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant’s Style Wars (1983). In what can be described as a cultural landslide, hip-hop’s influence rapidly exploded into the mainstream. A multitude of new, cheaply made films looking to cash in on the new youth fad’s success inundated America’s theaters. Swiss fashion watch maker, Swatch, commissioned graffiti 2 artist Keith Haring to design a new line of products 1, the New York City Breakers performed at President Reagan’s second inauguration 2, Afrika Bambaataa became friendly with and inspired punk impresario Malcolm McLaren to produce hip-hop influenced dance tunes 3, and Run DMC became the first rap group to appear on American Bandstand 4.

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