Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 1-1-2014 Re/presentation Of Hip-Hop: An Exploration Of White Hip-Hop Fans, Consumers And Practitioners Dale Compton Anderson Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Anderson, Dale Compton, "Re/presentation Of Hip-Hop: An Exploration Of White Hip-Hop Fans, Consumers And Practitioners" (2014). Wayne State University Dissertations. Paper 1113. This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. RE/PRESENTATION OF HIP-HOP: AN EXPLORATION OF WHITE HIP-HOP FANS, CONSUMERS AND PRACTITIONERS by DALE ANDERSON DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2015 MAJOR: COMMUNICATION Approved by: ______________________________________ Advisor Date ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ DEDICATION I am dedicating this to my uncle, Wade Telaar, and my Grandparents, Leon and Doris Anderson. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank everyone that has provided assistance, support, guidance, and/or time to this project. I attempt to express my appreciation for everyone in my life, regularly. However, I am not always as thorough as I need to be. So thank you to any that has entered my life, even those that did so briefly and/or indirectly. Specifically, I would like to thank Stephanie and Amelia Anderson, Leon, Jr. (Andy) and Jane Anderson, Timothy Anderson, and Ann Telaar. I would not have been able to finish this project without your support. My confidence stems from knowing each you are there for me. I must extend a special thanks to my committee members, Dr. Karen Tonso, Dr. Sandra (Sandy) Pensoneau-Conway, Dr. Karen McDevitt, and Dr. Kelly Young. Karen, Karen, and Sandy, I hope that you see your influence on me while you read this project. You have all shaped who I am as a person and a scholar. Each of you pushed my writing, research, and theorizing. Without the knowledge you have shared with me, I would not have been prepared to engage or write this dissertation. Kelly, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule and step into my committee at this late date. Also, to my advisor, Dr. Donyale Padgett, you are the perfect advisor for me. You allowed me the freedom to explore my intellectual interests and gave me opportunities to grow my skills. Allowing me to guest lecture in graduate level course made me to look at myself as an expert and gave me the confidence to express my ideas and theories. I am proud that I got to be your first, full advisee. Finally, I must thank my brother, Joshua (Jae) Anderson. I am so grateful that our programs overlapped. I cannot express how much you have helped with this project and my education. I am glad that I had someone that understood this process that could be as supportive and brutally honest as an older sibling. Discussing our projects have elevated my research. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION _______________________________________________________________ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ______________________________________________________ iii CHAPTER 1 “INTRODUCTION: WELCOME TO 1520 SEDGWICK” __________________ 1 Disclosing My Intent _________________________________________________________ 3 Overview of Hip-Hop Scholarship ______________________________________________ 9 Charting My Dissertation ____________________________________________________ 11 CHAPTER 2“THEORETICAL LENS: VINTAGE CAZEL FRAMES” _________________ 13 Hip-Hop Culture(s)/Community _______________________________________________ 13 Subculture as an Arm of Critical Cultural Studies _______________________________ 17 Subculture and Post-Subculture: Tension or Potential Collaboration _________________ 19 The Re/presentation and Conceptions of Hip-Hop Authenticity ______________________ 25 Hip-Hop and African Diaspora ______________________________________________ 26 Hip-hop and Whiteness/White Consumption ___________________________________ 33 Hip-Hop Authenticity _____________________________________________________ 35 Critical Race Theory and White studies: Framing White Hip-Hoppers Conceptions of Race 41 Critical Race Theory/Studies ________________________________________________ 42 Construction and Function of White[ness] _____________________________________ 47 Debates and Controversies in Whiteness/White studies ___________________________ 56 Contribution of the Dissertation _______________________________________________ 60 Contribution to Hip-Hop Studies _____________________________________________ 60 Contribution to White[ness] Studies __________________________________________ 63 Shaping the Field(work) ___________________________________________________ 64 CHAPTER 3 “METHODOLOGY: DON’T SWEAT THE TECHNIQUE” _______________ 67 Paradigmatic Positioning_____________________________________________________ 68 Justification of Ethnographic Data Collection Strategies ____________________________ 69 Description of Ethnographic Data Collection _____________________________________ 71 Data Collection Strategies __________________________________________________ 71 Building in Trustworthiness during Data Collection to Ensure Quality _________________ 76 Data Analysis Strategies ___________________________________________________ 77 Analysis through Diagramming ______________________________________________ 78 iv Analysis through Coding ___________________________________________________ 79 Analysis Using Theoretical Lens _____________________________________________ 79 Building Trustworthiness during Data Analysis and Display to Ensure Quality __________ 80 Incorporation of Autoethnographic Data and Creative (Non)fiction ___________________ 82 Issues Faced by Researcher _________________________________________________ 82 Researcher/Participant and Insider/Outsider Positioning __________________________ 83 Incorporating Autoethnography _____________________________________________ 84 Concluding Methods Defense _________________________________________________ 86 CHAPTER 4 “FINDINGS: THE ROOTS’ UNDONE” _______________________________ 88 Hip-Hop Subculture/Post-subculture Community _________________________________ 90 Digital Consumption, “Hipsterism,” and National Acts Shows _____________________ 94 Live Interaction, Local Scene, and “Old School” Artists _________________________ 110 Corporate Consumption and “Commercial” Artist ______________________________ 125 Multiple Hip-Hops _______________________________________________________ 131 Other Music Permeating Hip-Hop ___________________________________________ 139 Conception of Hip-Hop Authenticity __________________________________________ 142 McLeod’s Dimensions of Hip-Hop Authenticity _______________________________ 144 Other Conceptions of Hip-Hop Authenticity ___________________________________ 161 Hip-hop Authenticity is Changing ___________________________________________ 168 Re/presentation of Hip-Hop Authenticity _______________________________________ 172 Roles Played in Hip-Hop. _________________________________________________ 173 Framing Hip-Hop Authenticity _____________________________________________ 178 White Hip-Hoppers Discuss Race _____________________________________________ 181 Hip-hop’s Connection to the African American Community ______________________ 184 Deliberating Whiteness ___________________________________________________ 187 CHAPTER 5 “DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: HIP-HOP IS DEAD?” ____________ 190 Metamodernist Sensibility in Hip-Hop _________________________________________ 191 A Brief Overview of the Metamodern ________________________________________ 192 Metamodernist Sensibility and My Findings ___________________________________ 194 Examples of Metamodernists in Hip-Hop _____________________________________ 197 Hip-hop Authenticity in a New Form ________________________________________ 201 v Convenient Conceptions of Hip-Hop Authenticity ________________________________ 203 Conceptualization over Re/presentation ______________________________________ 204 Accentuation and De-emphasis of Authenticity Dimensions ______________________ 205 Manipulation/Altering Authenticity Dimension ________________________________ 207 Re/presentation by Reinvention of Hip-Hop Authenticity __________________________ 209 Re/presentation Occurs as Visual/Behavioral Performance _______________________ 209 Re/presentation as Connection to Hip-Hop ____________________________________ 211 The Influence of Whiteness__________________________________________________ 211 Other Factors than Hip-Hop: Space of the Progressive White _____________________ 211 Whiteness and Hip-Hop Authenticity ________________________________________ 212 The Influence of Hip-Hop _________________________________________________ 214 Research Possibilities ______________________________________________________ 215 Acknowledging Additional Possibilities in this Project __________________________ 215 Launching Point for Future Research ________________________________________ 216 Appendix A: Research Information Sheet (v. 1) ___________________________________ 220 Appendix B: Research Information