This picture was taken from the music video known as “Otis”, which was performed by Jay Z and Kanye West.  In this picture Jay Z and Kanye West are approaching a Maybach which is a very expensive vehicle.  In their hands there is a torch and a circular saw which they use on the car in the video.  Throughout the music video Jay Z and Kanye West are demolishing this car and making it into their own masterpiece.  At the end of the video they have fully stripped the car down and turned it into a not as flashy convertible car.  They completely took off the glass roof and trashed it, then they took off all of the doors and then welded them to the back along with the grill.  After that they took sheets of metal and welded them on to the car as fender walls.  A Maybach like this can cost up to $400,000 and  Jay Z and Kanye West destroyed a car that many people dream of one day owning.  After their fun with this car it is not drivable or street legal so therefore it wouldn’t do someone any good to own for driving reasons. 

            After this video came out there were many articles where journalists and critics expressed their feelings.  One journalist from the somanymp3’s website said that ““Otis” takes the concept of being the richest rappers to an entirely new level.”(somanypmp3s)  This journalist also says that there are plenty of artists who in their videos drive fancy cars, pop bottles, and show off their houses but none are on the same level as Jay Z and Kanye when it comes to smashing a $350,000 car (somanymp3s).  There were many reviews about people who liked the video but there were also a few with negative critics (somanymp3s).  Some people said that the video went well with the song and then there were others who said that the video was pointless and a waste of money (somanymp3s). 

            This video is a very good example of consumerism.  When two artists completely demolish a $350,000 car it is clear that money is not a problem for them.  Many artists show off things they have such as cars jewelry or other things like that but two artists had not yet demolished a Maybach.  When some people see things like that it angers them because they feel that the artists are showing it off and rubbing it into less fortunate people’s face but that is not the case.  If these artists worked hard for their money they can spend it as they please. 

Discussion of Consumerism

Lil Wayne surrounded by mounds of money

Consumerism is defined as the attachment to materialistic values or possessions (Dictionary).  There are many materialistic things that artist can become attached to such as houses, cars, or money says Lechuga, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso (Lechuga).  Lechuga also says “The artists expressions range from accessorizing vehicles to consuming expensive illegal drugs, but common through all the expressions is excess: the artists repeat again and again their success through vocalizing lists upon lists of their material assets” which is very true because all artist write about all the things that they have and own (Lechuga).  Bette Noble wrote an article titled “Crown Do Well” which discusses the ways hip hop affects Americans today.  Noble says that children are influenced by media that they see or hear because all that they are taking in when looking or listening to this stuff is that it is so great to have a lot of money or have a bunch of nice things.  When children watch hip hop music videos they see big houses, many nice cars, flashy jewelry and other things of the sort (Noble).  Noble says that when children see these types of things when they are young it influences them and they think they want to be just like that when they get older and have money.  It may not seem like it but consumerism plays a big role with hip hop but it also plays a big role with younger generations because they see things like this and they think that this is the stuff that they want (Noble).  Roopali Mukherjee, a journalist who studies black culture, wrote an article that talks about the changes that hip hop has made over the years.  Artist are no longer focusing on just their music, they are now also focusing on the image that they portray.  Hip hop artists are trying to make a name for themselves by wearing nice jewelry and drinking expensive champagne and other things like that.  Artists have a new term to describe the nice stuff they have and that new term is ‘bling’.  Artist use their lyrics and their music videos to show off everything they own and all the money that they have.  Mukherjee explains that it is no longer about the music to the artists.  These artists are only worried about the things that they own and showing it off for everyone to see.  Some artists believe that they will be respected more if they have nice clothes and nicer cars and sadly it is true (Mukherjee).  Hip hop has come a long way because it used to be all about the music but that is no longer the case (Mukherjee).  

            Since the start of hip hop in the 1970’s there have been many changes that have taken place.  Hip hop used to be all about the music but now things have changed and a lot of hip hop is now about the materialistic things that the artist has.  Throughout this paper that one question that I have asked myself over and over again is “why has hip hop become so materialistic.”  When hip hop was first started all the artist wrote their music about their feelings and what was going on in their life.  Artist today still write about their feelings and what’s going on in their life but not too the same extent as earlier artist.  As time keeps passing people and writing less about their feeling and more about the things that they own.  In almost every hip hop song the artist is rapping about things that they have and own.  Wiz Khalifa came out with a song named “Chuck” which is a remix to Lil Wayne and Rick Ross’s song “John” and the first words of the song are “Big house four whips hells tattoos.”  The first six words or this song are describing expensive thins that he own: cars, house and tattoos.  Many people ask why do all artist have to talk about these things in their music  but what these people don’t understand is that the audience likes to hear about all those things.  A hip hop artist has many goals but his main goal is to keep his audience entertained so that they will keep listening to his/her music and keep purchasing their albums.  If an artist has to write music about the things that he owns then he will do what he has to do to make more money.  An artist gets their money from how many records they sell and in order to keep their sales up they must write about things that will attract their audience. 

            Another reason why artist might write about materialistic things is because there is a steady competition going on between all the artists.  No artist wants to be second best, they all want to be on top.  Not only does the artist want to have more sales but they also want to have nicer and more expensive things than their competition. Hip hop artist feel that they will be superior to everyone else if they have nicer cars, more girls or a bigger house.  Hip hop artist don’t want their hard work to go unrecognized and that could also be a reason why they write about the things they own.  Many artists did not have many opportunities while they were growing up and they want people to realize that.  It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to go from nothing to one of the richest people in the world. These artists want people to respect them for all the work that they put in to get where they are at.  They write about what they had when they were growing up and what they have now and there is a big difference and they just want their audience to realize that.

            Hip hop music affects many people in many different ways but, especially their young viewers. Young children watch these artist and they take in all that they see and hear because they are young and easily influenced.  When young kids watch these artists perform they see all of the nice things they have like cars, money, houses, jewelry, and other things of the sort.  Noble says that kids notice how happy the artist is showing off all of these things and that is when kids start thinking that this is what they want in life (Noble).  Yes the young viewers see all of these nice things but what they don’t see is the countless hours of hard work and dedication that the artist has put into his career to achieve what he now has.  If you are a hip hop fan you know that there are many artists who have a bad attitude when it comes to music and the way they feel about other people.  When they act the way they do on television and in their music people notice it especially young kids and they start to think that they will be just like them if they act like the do says noble (Noble).  Many people don’t realize that there are many kids who look up to artist or famous people as their role models, especially kids who do not have a father figure in their life.  When kids see the attitude that these artists have, it rubs off on the kids and the kids will start to act like that which will affect them in their home and school life.  People don’t realize how much the hip hop industry affects its young viewers. 

Alternative to Consumerism

Lupe Fiasco

Although there is a lot of people in the hip hop industry that are the epitome of materialistic people and those who do things in consumerist ways there are those who don’t.  Not every hip hop artist is all about the money, cars, and other expensive things.  There are those artists who sing and write music because that is what they love to do and they sing what they feel and what is going on in their life.  Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, better known as Lupe Fiasco, is one of those artists who write music because that is what he loves doing and he writes for himself as well as for his audience.  Lupe Fiasco is an artist from Chicago who became famous in 2006 with his album “Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor.”  One of Lupe’s famous songs is called “The show goes on.”  In this song Lupe talks about some hardships that people go through when they are growing up.  In one part of his song he says “So no matter what you been through, No matter what you into, No matter what you see when you look outside your window, Brown grass or green grass, Picket fence or barbed wire, Never ever put them down, You just lift your arms higher, Raise em till’ your arms tired, Let em’ know you’re their, That you struggling and survivin’ that you gonna persevere (Music and Lyrics).”  Basically what he is saying here is that no matter what you are going through you should never give up and always strive to overcome obstacles in your life.  That was only one portion of the song but that is what the whole song is about.  There is a couple different things that can be done to reduce consumerism in hip hop.  One fix to this problem is for artists to write their music more for themselves.  Many artists write their music based on what the audience wants which I understand but at the same time they need to write music for themselves too.  These artists should write more about how they feel and what they have been through.  Another fix to this problem would be for artists to write songs and sing for a reason other than the money.  There are some artists who sing just for the money.  If they did it because they love doing it then I feel it would be less of a materialistic game.

Reflective essay

Throughout this semester I have learned many new things from Dr. Carey.  She has taught me things that I have never learned before and it made it a very interesting class.  I really like the way that Dr. Carey taught in class because the way she ran her class helped us as students.  Every day there would be a time where we would work independently and she would be open to help us with anything that we were working on.  Our final paper was a big assignment for us this semester and she always offered us help.  She gave us many chances to talk to her and get her help and her opinion on our work.  We all had at least one conference but we had the chance for many more.  Dr. Carey told us students the exact way and order our paper needed to be in which was a major help.  She also told us exactly what to put in each section.  If Dr. Carey had not helped us as much as she did then this final paper would have been a whole lot more difficult than it was because we would have had to figure it out all on our own.  Almost every day in class we were doing an assignment where class participation was necessary.  I’m not the type of person who likes to do a lot of participating in class but Dr. Carey made it to where everybody had to participate.  I feel like I have done my fair share of participating this semester.  I feel like I should be able to move on because I have done everything that was required for me to do this semester.  I have completed all of my assignments and turned them in on time.  I don’t think I would have been very successful in this class without Dr. Carey’s help.

Works Cited

"Consumerism." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. Web. 22 Apr. 2012.      <http://dictionary.reference.com/>.

Is Hip-Hop Too Materialistic? Music Oakland, Berkeley & the Bay Area." Oakland, Berkeley           & East   Bay Events, Restaurants, Music, Arts & News. Web. 09 Feb. 2012.     <http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/is-hip-hop-too-                materialistic/Content?oid=1090155>.

"Kanye West and Jay-Z: “Otis” Music Video Review." Somanymp3s.com. 12 Aug. 2011. Web.                 <https://www.somanymp3s.com/kanye-west-jayz-otis-video-review/>.

Kriel, Celeste. "Hip Hop: From Activism to Consumerism." Multimedia and News Coverage of     The        National Arts Festival. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://cue.ru.ac.za/music/2009/hip-hop-    activism-consumerism.html>.

Lechuga, Michael A. 50 Cent on the Dollar: Shortchanging Contemporary Popular Hip-Hop            Consumers through Authenticating Dominance. The University of Texas at El Paso, 2007         United States -- TexasProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT). 8 Feb. 2012

Mukherjee, Roopali. "The Ghetto Fabulous Aesthetic In Contemporary Black Culture." Cultural                 Studies                 20.6 (2006): 599-629

"Music and Lyrics." Lyrics. 2005. Web. 28 Apr. 2012. <http://www.directlyrics.com/>.

Noble, Bette. "Crown Do Well." Materialism vs. Self Esteem (2007). Print.

Perry, Imani. Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. Durham: Duke UP, 2004.       Print.

Suddreth, Courtney B. Hip-Hop Dress and Identity: A Qualitative Study of Music, Materialism,    and        Meaning. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009 United States --            North    CarolinaProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT). 8 Feb. 2012