UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles the Hard Cashless Society
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles The Hard Cashless Society: Millennial Economics and Street Hop in Johannesburg A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology by Abimbola Naomi Cole Kai-Lewis 2016 © Copyright by Abimbola Naomi Cole Kai-Lewis 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Hard Cashless Society: Millennial Economics and Street Hop in Johannesburg by Abimbola Naomi Cole Kai-Lewis Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, Co-Chair Professor Cheryl L. Keyes, Co-Chair The concept of the cashless society emerged in the nineteenth century through the writings of author Edward Bellamy. In his work, Looking Backward: 2000-1887 (1888), Bellamy described the implementation of a card-based credit system that eventually replaced cash payments. Widely recognized as the first literary allusion to a cashless society, Bellamy presented a utopia where monetary exchanges were substituted with an established credit model. His socialist-activist writing suggested the possibilities of impending millennial economic transactions and proposed a time when every citizen would be apportioned credit to make purchases. Subsequent writings by anthropologists, economists, eschatologists, and futurists predicted the global implications of an imminent cashless society. However, there were additional interpretations of the cashless society generated by hip-hop artists. In 2003, South ii African hip-hop collective Cashless Society released their debut album, African Raw Material, Volume One. The group embraced the name of the financial principle as a means of representing monetary transitions from hard currency (coins and paper bills) to credit and electronic payments. Yet, Cashless Society also created the metaphor of The Hard Cashless Society, a world in which credit systems result in ever widening gaps between the wealthy and the unbanked poor who may not be able to survive within this financial framework. Thus, Cashless Society emphasized the polarizing duality of an increasingly credit driven world. This dissertation explores hip-hop collective Cashless Society’s lyrical accounts of The Hard Cashless Society. It draws upon fieldwork conducted in Botswana and South Africa between 2005 and 2008. The study incorporates Philip Feifan Xie, Halifu Osumare, and Awad Ibrahim’s hip-hop tourism methodology (2007) involving artist interviews, lyrical analyses, video analyses, virtual communication mediated through the Internet, as well as ethnographic accounts drawn from visits to sites that were integral in the development of the group Cashless Society. By these means, this dissertation seeks to highlight how hip-hop music and culture can be used to provide an unexamined perspective on the economics of a cashless society in the new millennium. iii The dissertation of Abimbola Naomi Cole Kai-Lewis is approved. Scot Brown Anthony Seeger Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, Committee Co-Chair Cheryl L. Keyes, Committee Co-Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2016 iv DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my father, Oladipo Samuel Cole, who continually encouraged me to complete this study because having put my hand to the plow, there was no turning back. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract of the Dissertation ii Committee Page iv Dedication v Table of Contents vi List of Figures ix Acknowledgements x Preface An Introduction to The Hard Cashless Society xiv Vita xix Introduction Street Hop and the Creation of a Cashless Society 1 Statement of the Problem: A Hip-Hop Model of the Cashless Society 3 Visualizing Cashless Society: Street Hop and Street Stylization 9 Cashless Society’s Megacity 19 Chapter One Methodology: A Hip-Hop Tourism Approach to Studying Cashless Society 22 From Gaborone to Johannesburg 39 Organization of the Dissertation 41 Chapter Two Literature Review: Perspectives on Hip-Hop and the Coming Cashless Society 42 History of Hip-Hop Music and Culture 43 The Development of Hip-Hop Culture in South Africa 46 vi Hip-Hop and the Cashless Society 49 Economic Perspectives on the Cashless Society 51 Religious Interpretations of the Cashless Society 62 Conclusion 69 Chapter Three Initial and Mass Gazes: Heroic and Virtual Interpretations of Cashless Society 71 The Hip-Hop Matrix and Virtual Communities 81 Creating Buzz through Virtual Communities 85 Chapter Four Authentic Gaze: Critiques of Bling and the Cashless Society 98 Hip-Hop Music and the Bling Economy 100 Cashless Society’s Response to Bling 103 Hip-Hop Dematerialization 105 A Brief History of Hip-Hop and Bling 107 Conclusion Cashless Redux Revisiting The Hard Cashless Society 118 Research Findings and Further Research 128 Appendices Appendix 1: Cashless Society Electronic Press Kit Video Transcript 133 Appendix 2: Cashless Society Song Lyrics 138 Appendix 3: CNN Inside Africa Commercial Lyrics 196 vii Appendix 4: CNN Inside Africa Commercial Log 197 Appendix 5: “Taxi Wars” Video Log 199 Appendix 6: “Hottentot Hop” Video Log 201 Appendix 7: Draztik Lyrics (“Chasin’ Money” and “Certified Fireman”) 204 References 210 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 (Introduction): Cashless Society posing for Hype magazine ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am thankful to God for His continued grace and mercy over the course of this study. There have been unexpected blessings at each stage of my research and the writing process. I know that they can only be attributed to God’s awesome power. Research for this study was funded by a UCLA Summer Research Fellowship, J. William Fulbright Award, and UCLA Quality of Graduate Education (QGE) Award. Preceding grants included a UCLA Eugene Cota Robles Award which funded my fees and tuition throughout the course of my coursework at UCLA. I also benefitted from UCLA Academic Year Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (2003-2004), Yale University Zulu Group Project Abroad Fellowship (2003), and UCLA Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships (2002, 2005). I must also thank the ladies of the Century City Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated for awarding me their Mary Murphy Academic Scholarship. Each of these forms of funding was immensely helpful in my academic journey. During my time in the field, I was surrounded by love from Wame Mosime and her family. I wish to thank the Jallow and Mbaakanyi families for always providing advice and encouragement at family celebrations, events, and gatherings. At the moments when things seemed most difficult, I was extremely fortunate to have an unfaltering network filled with generosity and love. I also must extend thanks the members of Exodus Live Poetry! (ELP!), who introduced me to some of the most talented musicians and poets in Botswana and South Africa. It was at an ELP! performance that I met Maakomele “Mak” Manaka - the spoken word artist that changed the direction of my study. The Yarona FM deejays and station manager, Owen Rampha, in Gaborone welcomed me each time I entered the studio to share my poetry on air and x to discuss my research. Media personalities Shike Olsen and Losika Seboni gave me my first opportunities at journalism in the Botswana Gazette, L Magazine, and Lapologa. The staff at Mafia Soul Clothing, now known as Urban Soul, led me to Cashless Society’s music and Unreleased Records mixtapes. The artists and producers Thato “Scar” Matlabaphiri, Gram Pressure (formerly known as Grampa), and Ralph “Stagga” Williams, III contributed through interviews and conversations that gave me insights into the evolution of hip-hop music in Botswana. DJ Sid and Skizo also helped me to bridge connections between local house music and hip-hop music. My two faculty advisors at the University of Botswana, Alinah Segobye and Maude Dikobe, were integral in assisting me with my research and creating opportunities for me to use institutional facilities and resources. My 61371 family helped me to think creatively at our executive table in Maru-A-Pula and during consultancy trips. Thank you to Imara Rolston and Drew Thompson. At UCLA, I am deeply indebted to my dissertation committee: Professors Cheryl L. Keyes, Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, Anthony Seeger, and Scot Brown. Their feedback and suggestions on my dissertation produced new perspectives on this work. They made my defense enjoyable and pushed me to persevere with my research on Cashless Society. I am grateful for their presence. Additionally, I appreciate all of the advice and guidance that I received from Sandra McKerroll as I completed the dissertation from the East Coast. My Agua de Coco family always managed to make me smile with their amazing musical talent. Thank you, Niva Flor, Birgitta Johnson, and Selina Traylor Perera. Valerie Dickerson Cordero also offered encouragement throughout the process. I am extremely grateful for her friendship. xi My family – Jacqueline Cole, Omotayo Cole Cineus, Channing Cineus, Chase Cineus, and Wilma Spradley – lifted my spirits during difficult times. They supported me and reminded me that the most important thing was finishing strong. My family enabled me to maintain my joy through laughter and love. I received further support through the prayers and reassurance of cousins, aunts, and uncles who are part of the Aberdeen, Ademu-John, Amedu, Coker, Cole, Johnson, and Thomas families. One of my best friends, Trichita Chestnut, also prayed for me, set an awesome example for me through her own doctoral work at Howard University, and offered endless tips during the writing process. Thank you. In New York, my church family at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brooklyn prayed for me and gently pushed me to complete this study. I must acknowledge my pastor, Reverend Anthony L. Trufant, and Executive Pastor, Reverend Shareka Newton. I benefitted from the insights of the remaining pastoral staff. I am especially glad that Deacon Ruth Corbett took the time to pray with me in the months leading up to my dissertation defense. The Sacred Arts Ministry has been a complete blessing. My choir director, Kevin Wheatley, was an inspiration as I finished my study.