Last week, while slothfully staring at the television, I found myself completely aware of how ubiquitous rap has become. This epiphany came after watching four commercials in a row that had rap-infused themes.
The first was a Budweiser commercial using Jay-Z as spokesman. The second was a Chevy commercial with rapper T.I. at the wheel. The third was the humorous Amp'd Mobile commercial of an Asian American rapping the lyrics from E-40's U and Dat in a public restroom. The fourth was an advertisement for Def Jam: Icon, an action fighting video game where rappers fight to achieve the ultimate status of Icon.
Rap clearly has become a force to be reckoned with. It hasn't become just part of mainstream culture ' it is mainstream culture. It dominates airwaves and MTV, spawned reality shows, bred shoes and clothing lines and infiltrated the automobile market and professional sports. It isn't just music anymore. Can this be too much of a good thing?
First of all, rap has become trite. The plethora of songs that flow in and out of the market are starting to repeat themselves. There seems to be no filtration. Sure, a catchy beat may propel one to listen to the song's entirety; however, where are the lyrics? Saying Mike Jones over and over just doesn't do it for me.
These sorts of images are commercialized hip-hop. What we are now seeing on MTV, BET, commercials and television shows is the corporation's distorted view. Now that the mammoth beast has been seduced by big business and spawned eggs in all walks of American life, we could very well start to see a backlash.
Hindsight is 20/20, however. We often seem to wear blinders. During the late 1960s and early '70s, the rock 'n' roll culture ' inspired from the counterculture ' became part of the masses. Television shows, games, clothing, daily products, advertisements and music seeped acid-induced imagery. It wasn't long before the music went from a sort of folklore status to a banal fad. Big business made its money, America became exhausted and the counterculture, along with its music, was no more.
Rap is on the same path. Music that once was fresh, political, dangerous, intense, and profound is now comfortable and like anything that is too comfortable it becomes worn. And that's when we throw it away.
17 Archives
Collin Minnis
