A Study of the Rap Music Industry in Bogota, Colombia by Laura
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The Art of the Hustle: A Study of the Rap Music Industry in Bogota, Colombia by Laura L. Bunting-Hudson Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2017 © 2017 Laura L. Bunting-Hudson All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT The Art of the Hustle: A Study of the Rap Music Industry in Bogota, Colombia Laura L. Bunting-Hudson How do rap artists in Bogota, Colombia come together to make music? What is the process they take to commodify their culture? Why are some rappers able to become socially mobile in this process, while others are less so? What is technology’s role in all of this? This ethnography explores those questions, as it carefully documents the strategies utilized by various rap groups in Bogota, Colombia to create social mobility, commoditize products and to create a different vision of modernity within the hip-hop community, as an alternative to the ideals set forth by mainstream Colombian society. Resistance Art Poetry (RAP), is said to have originated in the United States but has become a form of international music. In conducting ethnographic research from December of 2012 to October 2014, I was able to discover how rappers organize themselves politically, how they commoditize their products and distribute them to create various types of social mobilities. In this dissertation, I constructed models to typologize rap groups in Bogota, Colombia, which I call polities of rappers to discuss how these groups come together, take shape, make plans and execute them to reach their business goals. I was also able to document the inconsistencies, problems and negotiations that the members of these entities encountered as they attempted to become successful musicians in the current global economic environment. This dissertation offers explicit details of how the rap musicians in the polities under study, were able to utilize their social networks in the process of commodifying their products for distribution in the hip-hop market place. I also tackle current academic discussions about how the rappers use digital technologies to assist them with this process. Engaging with concepts from economic anthropology, social mobility literature, political economy and globalization studies, the findings here demonstrate various entrepreneurial strategies utilized by rap musicians in this location. TABLE OF CONTENTS Charts, Images and Tables ii Key Acronyms and Common Colombian Rap Jargon iv Acknowledgements vi Dedication viii INTRODUCTION Chapter 1: The Importance of Exploring the Development of a Rap Music Industry in Bogota, Colombia 1 Chapter 2: The Rise of Rap Music Here and There 33 Chapter 3: The Art of Studying Gangster Rap: Gaining Entrée, Methods and Limitations 67 FINDINGS Chapter 4: Corporate Models : Creating Social Mobility through Strategic 96 Social Network Formation or Gang, Gang Chapter 5: Erratic by Nature: Adhoc Rap Groups in Bogota 129 Chapter 6: Polities of Boss Bitches in the Rap Game 157 Chapter 7: Commodified Content: Rap Lytica and the Saleability of the Struggle 191 Chapter 8: The Art of Production: Beats, Equipment, Recording and Masterization 219 Chapter 9: Distribution: The Processes of Making Rap Music Accessible to 247 the Audience CONCLUSION Chapter 10: Hip-Hop Entrepreneurs and Horizontal Business Strategies for Social Mobility: The Processes of Building a Rap Music Empire 275 BIBLIOGRAPHY 302 APPENDICES 319 i CHARTS, IMAGES AND TABLES Image 2.1 Limpieza Social Flyer 50 Image 2.2 Choqui Town 61 Image 2.3 Crack Family 62 Image 2.4 Daddy Yankee and Wizin Yandel 64 Image 2.5 Mujeres, Recuerdas que…. 65 Image 4.1 Fuck the Illuminati 98 Image 4.2 Just Say No to Gangs 99 Graphic 4.3 Corporate Hierarchy 110 Graphic 4.4 Bricolage of the Corporate Rap Gang 112 Graphic 4.5 Polity Dynamics 113 Image 4.6 Kings 116 Image 4.7 Red Life 117 Graphic 4.8 International Gang Structure 119 Graphic 5.1 Organizational Structure of Adhoc Group 138 Graphic 6.1 Corporate Women 160 Graphic 6.2 Adhoc Women in Rap 174 Image 7.1 Crack Pipes 195 Image 8.1 Corporate Rap Studio 224 Table 8.2 Corporate Model’s Input Costs to Production 224 Image 8.3 AdhocModel’s Home Studio 225 Table 8.4 Adhoc Model’s Input Costs to Production 225 ii Image 8.5 The Lab 232 Image 8.6 Foam Insulation 233 Image 8.7 Egg Crates 236 Table 10.1 Economic Class Stratification in Colombia 297 iii KEY ACRONYMS AND COMMON COLOMBIAN JARGON Bazuka – A form of Crack Cocaine. BTA – nickname for Bogota City. Callejero – a person from the streets. Creída – a spoiled brat, in Colombian slang. DAS – Departmento Administrativo de Seguridad (or Department of Administering Security) in Colombia. DIY – Do It Yourself; referring to businesses, in this context. Gomelo – a preppy, middle class person in Colombia. Hip-hop Al Parque – a music festival held once every year in the Fall which showcases international and local rap talents in Bogota, Colombia. HHNL – Hip-Hop National Language IDARTES – the Ministry of Arts and Culture in Bogota. They are responsible for putting together Hip-hop Al Parque. Limpieza social – a social cleansing program run by DAS (Departmento Administrativa de Seguridad) and private militia groups in Colombia to eliminate socially undesirable people like drug addicts, dealers, prostitutes, juvenile delinquents, and homeless people. Lukas – A Colombian slang term referring to money. Minga – A term that has historically meant an indigenous person and is meant as a derogatory term. However, many of the rappers that I worked with used this term endearingly and were proud to be a signifier of the term. Nea- A shortened slang term for ‘gonorrea’ or gonorrhea that friends call each other as a joking insult. Ñero(a) – A term that means someone from a lower strata barrio, who is your friend. It is short for the Spanish word compañero(a). Olla – a neighborhood or block of abandoned factories or apartment buildings where drugs are sold and consumed. iv Pareza/Paresoso(a) – to be lazy or a lazy person. Pueblo – A term in Latin America used to talk about the majority, the lower classes, or the poplar class. This term is used with endearment to discuss the average person. It is sometimes used in a paternalistic fashion to discuss the government’s responsibility to the noble people who live in small towns with humble means. Raperos – A Spanish term for people involved in the rap music scene. Rolo/a – a slang term, meaning a person from Bogota, Colombia, in Spanish. Stratas – economic segregation in the city of Bogota based on people’s income level. Appendix A offers a map of the official economic strata divisions determined by the Departmento de Ingresos y Acuarios Nacional (DIAN) of Colombia. Vagos – a classist term indicating someone who is materially needy because they are lazy and make poor lifestyle choices. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express my most sincere gratitude to my mentors, Dr. Hervé Varenne, Dr. Nicolas Limerick, Dr. Juliette de Wolffe, Dr. Ray McDermott, Dr. Charles Harrington, Dr. Paige West, Dr. Lambros Comitas and the late Dr. George Bond for providing intellectual stimulation, guidance and support for this project. My humble gratitude is also extended to my dissertation defense committee members, Dr. Grey Gundaker, Dr. Brian Boyd, and Dr. Hope Leichter. I would like to express my deepest thanks to the community at Columbia University, especially to Teachers College and the staff at the school of Graduate Studies in the Arts and Sciences for providing resources, feedback and a creativee academic environment, which enabled the fruition of this dissertation research project. I would also like to thank Dr. Sally Merry, Dr. Árlene Dávila, and Dr. Thomas Abercrombie at New York University and the Intercollegiate Doctoral Exchange Program for the opportunity to work with researchers from neighboring institutions. Dr. Aldo Civico has earned my gratitude for providing the platform for which I contacted the rap community in Bogota, Colombia. This research was made possible by financial support from the US Department of Education, Teachers College, Columbia University and Bronx Community College. I express my gratitude also to the Universidad Nacional de Bogota, Colombia, to Dr. Ricardo Sueño and a fellow colleague in the field, Frederico Chaparro for their guidance and assistance in navigating the field of rap music in Bogota. For the incredible assistance that I received in conducting my field work with all of the rappers in the scene, I would like to give a special thanks to Louisa F. Escobar, for her assistance in transcribing many pages of interviews and rap lyrics in Bogota, Lorenzo Masnah, John Jairo Castillos, Carlos Cedeño, Guillermo Comacho, Felipe Farietta, LG Prada, Andres Vargas, Tania Violeta Zambrano and Kat Fernandez for assistance in making connections in the field. I would also like to thank IDARTES vi and Paulo Escheverria for offering important insights into the government’s support and development of rap music in Bogota, Colombia. DJ David Nelson Fresh, Corrine Ramirez, Dana and Owen Rodriguez, thank you for extending me your home and offering me a mecca of hip- hop to observe the diversity, love and peace that is the BEST of hip-hop in Colombia. I would also like give a special thanks to Dr. Gabrielle Oliviera, Dr. Scott Freeman, Dr. Daniel Souleles, Meghan Chidsey, Sarah French Brennan, and Chelsea Abbas for their countless hours of reading my work, offering feedback and providing suggestions throughout preparing the dissertation. And to the cohorts behind us with strong members, Sarah Glinski, Darlene Doubisson, and Jill Spivek – you all have offered great comments and support as well, thank you. The encouragement offered by my family and friends has been extremely important to the success of my dissertation.