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Analyzing the Rhetorical Forms and Functions of the Hip Hop Underground

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Analyzing the Rhetorical Forms and Functions of the Hip Hop Underground CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Sonic Jihadists: Analyzing the Rhetorical Forms and Functions of the Hip Hop Underground A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies By Erik Holland December, 2015 The thesis of Erik M. Holland is approved: ____________________________________ ________________ Dr. Peter Marston Date ____________________________________ ________________ Dr. Bernardo Attias Date ____________________________________ ________________ Dr. John Kephart, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Acknowledgments This work would not exist without the incredible support from friends and loved ones, the assistance of CSUN faculty and administrative staff, and the indefatigable patience of Dr. John Kephart III iii Table of Contents Signature Page ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract vi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Justification of Artifacts 5 Statement of the Problem 13 Chapter 2: Method and Literature 16 Method 16 Literature Review 22 Chapter 3: Publics and Counterpublics 39 Publics and Counterpublics of Hip Hop 44 Chapter 4: Analysis 55 Group 1 – Role of the Author 58 Group 2 – Overt Criticisms 75 Group 3 – Elements of Counterpublics 93 Chapter 5: Conclusions/Implications 104 iv Conclusions 104 Implications 107 References 113 Discography 123 v Abstract Sonic Jihadists: Analyzing the Rhetorical Forms and Functions of the Hip Hop Underground By Erik M. Holland Master of Arts in Communication Studies This thesis engages in a critical discourse analysis of three hip hop albums from the early 2000s to interrogate the rhetorical forms and functions of underground hip hop art and artists. Examining the work of Immortal Technique, Mr. Lif, and Paris, this work argues that the three constitute a representative sample of a counterpublic discursive space within hip hop (as both a musical medium and cultural terrain). Combining theories on publics and counterpublics with the work of contemporary rhetorical scholars, this thesis argues that the rhetorical products of this counterpublic space function to circulate critiques of social and political forces both inside and outside the scope of hip hop. Further, they reveal that applying too generic interpretations of hip hop voices dilutes the potential for embracing hip hop within academia as a site for productive political and social praxis. vi Chapter 1: The Hook – Introductory Remarks On September 11, 2001, hijacked aircraft crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon, forever changing the course of both domestic and global events. There seems little question that every American can vividly remember what they were doing (and what they did) on that fateful day. An event of such magnitude, like so many others before it (the attack on Pearl Harbor, the assassinations of JFK or Dr. King, etc.), created what Bitzer (1968) referred to as a “rhetorical situation.” There was an immediate context that necessitated the production of rhetorical discourse (Bitzer, 1968, 1). Most remember the remarks of President George W. Bush in the aftermath of these attacks as well as the steady stream of rhetorical moments that followed. The events surrounding 9/11, including (but not limited to) the declaration of a War on Terror also made possible a new and lively discussion/debate within and across public spaces on the nature of these events and the American response. I (and others) argue that we witnessed the production of one dominant, public narrative that attempted to position the United States government as the unwitting victims of a completely unprovoked attack. In speeches by government officials, public government documents, and a steady stream of television and radio broadcasts from major network channels and their affiliates, this carefully crafted narrative circulated in public spaces with the intent of participating in a national mourning, reinvigorating a sense of American patriotism, and drumming up support for a series of retaliatory measure including (but not limited to) the PATRIOT Act, the War on Terror, and the 1 Invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. A series of public spaces latched on to the basic form of the narrative being disseminated through government channels and circulated them more broadly (across television, radio, the internet). As with most dominant narratives, this rhetorical situation saw a plethora of responses from a variety of outlets. There were a series of active protests over, for example, the supposed crackdown on civil liberties, or questioning the justifications for sending troops and military resources overseas. It comes as no surprise, then, that popular culture saw its own variety of responses and/or engagements with this “situation.” In this work I attempt to examine and address the implications of one such production of rhetorical discourse: the critical, politicized messages that emerged from the fringes of the hip hop community. As with any art medium, music has long been a powerful tool for protest, and hip hop in particular has been a space for critiquing the official narrative on social and political issues of the time. From its early origins, hip hop was a vibrant venue for political thought and enunciation of social and political critique. From the classic, 1983 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five song, “The Message,” to the hard-hitting, militant musings of Public Enemy and N.W.A., early hip hop established the genre as a site for engaging, critical commentary.1 While that message-driven element of hip hop didn’t go away, it slowly became supplanted by another form of hip hop: one more driven by the demands of mainstream media and record company executives. Hip hop academic Tricia Rose (1994; 2008) identifies the two divergent elements as “underground” and “mainstream,” 1 I identify “The Message” as, perhaps, the modern origin of socially conscious hip hop because previous iterations are either not fully classifiable as hip hop or they seemed more of an extension of early dance hall, improvisational, call-and-response style performances. This is not to say that this work represents underground hip hop, rather it points to the evolution of the type of rap now circulating in underground spaces. 2 providing a useful set of terminology to distinguish works emerging from this larger public space. What she finds in 21st Century hip hop are a series of forces at play that privilege the production of mainstream hip hop while pushing iterations from the underground to the periphery. One might characterize the mainstream as the public face of hip hop, while the underground operates as a counterpublic. Like many other elements of popular culture, hip hop responds to rhetorical situations in its own way, and the voices from underground hip hop represent a unique collection of carefully crafted social and political critiques. But even within the counterpublic space of the underground, different artists are driven by differing concerns and, thus, their works coalesce around particular social and/or political agendas. 9/11 and the War on Terror certainly prompted a specific set of concerns that animated the work of a particular group of artists but perhaps more importantly, it presented a rhetorical situation that reinvigorated a collection of voices from the underground. This thesis examines the works of a few members of these voices. While the events surrounding the 9/11 attacks were the initial driving force for this work, what emerged was a different rhetorical situation, one that was, most likely, present within the hip hop community prior to 9/11/01. There was a crisis of conscience within hip hop, itself, that became more visible (or, perhaps, audible) upon the examination of texts supposedly aimed at demystifying the prevailing narratives on/about 9/11. The economic forces that drive the privileging of certain artists, styles, and content choices over others actively works to police the boundary between the mainstream and underground spaces. It is this boundary that serves the major impetus for the discourses emerging from the underground. 3 Mixing approaches from both cultural and rhetorical studies, I investigate whether we can understand a collection of voices emerging from the hip hop underground as a select counterpublic discursive space, prompted by certain exclusionary measures put in place by broader public spaces (including the mainstream hip hop community), and responding directly to the context of 9/11. I argue that a select group of artists, and their accompanying works (Mr. Lif’s Emergency Rations, Immortal Technique’s Revolutionary Vol. 2, and Paris’ Sonic Jihad), represents a demonstrative sample pointing to the continued existence of such a counterpublic space. Further, I contend that analyzing and articulating how this space functions helps to broaden scholarship on hip hop, theories of publics and counterpublics, and the rhetorics of politics and race. That there are a series of power dynamics that regulate these spaces and that offer up monolithic and/or normalized notions of how hip hop, and that a rhetorical analysis provides a better understanding of how these spaces and relationships function. This occurs, in part, by examining the ways in which counterpublic theory can challenge static notions of identity formation within hip hop spaces. Because publics and counterpublics activate discussions of power relations (between government and public, across different publics, and the interplay of public and counterpublic)
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