Popular Culture Review Vol. 5, No. 1, February 1994 | Page 72

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^ P o £ u la ^ u ltu r^ e v ^ ^

Yourself," the life of a drug dealer eventually leads to bloodshed and
prison, but, unlike "You Played Yourself," the conflicts exist outside of
drug dealing and drug dealing alone is not the source of the problem.
The criticism of America goes beyond that of the traditional messages
of rap because it is a criticism of economic oppression and not just
racial oppression.
Above I noted that the emphasis on individualism and selfrespect was limiting in its failure to recognize that exploitation came
also from econonuc sources. Still, the message of self-respect is
clearly a positive force. In fact, although it confirms elements of a
dominant discourse, these same elements may be radical to the extent
that they encourage black youth to no longer accept their status as the
subordinate group in society. Paul Willis showed in his study of a
British working class youth culture how the reaction to education of
the students he studied actually confirmed their belief that they
were intended to be subordinate. Rap overturns this belief, and it is in
this sense that while confirming the elements of a donunant discourse
it has the potential to subvert other elements of this discourse.
While the youth that Willis studied found self-respect through
rejecting education, the message of rap is to reject white education but
encourage education about oneself. In a simplistic sense, the attempt
to build self-respect and discourage drug dealing is a progressive force
in a community where self-respect may be accomplished through drug
dealing.
Yet, it must be emphasized that radical aspects of the music are
undercut by the dominance of the commodity in rap culture. Adorno
and Horkheimer powerfully show how culture is made to serve the
commodity system and rap music is no exception. Advertisers for
items such as fast food and laundry soap have quickly found the
profitability of the form.^^ In order to overcome this. Rap needs to
draw attention to economic oppression, and show how individual
economic wealth is frequently tied to the exploitation of others. This
involves attacking not only an ideal deeply embedded in American
culture but an ideal which is in nrany ways central to rap culture—the
"hip-hop" style. The difficulty of this attack can be seen in the
disappearing political significance of African medallions.
Originally replacing gold chains because of gold's link to the South
African regime, this meaning was quickly lost and subverted. As the
medallion simply became another commodified symbol of the culture.