american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
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CONTESTATORY URBAN AGENCY 165<br />
with and identify with <strong>the</strong> group immediately above” and “to<br />
dist<strong>in</strong>guish oneself from <strong>the</strong> group immediately below” (136). Many<br />
rappers’ lyrics suggest that those <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> hip-hop community who flaunt<br />
materialistic values—it is tempt<strong>in</strong>g to th<strong>in</strong>k of iconic figures such as<br />
Combs, Jay-Z, and 50 Cent—strive to identify with America’s ultra<br />
rich and to dist<strong>in</strong>guish <strong>the</strong>mselves from poor African Americans,<br />
<strong>the</strong>reby judg<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>m for perceived <strong>in</strong>adequacies. In disidentify<strong>in</strong>g<br />
with poor urban communities, <strong>the</strong>y <strong>in</strong>advertently identify with <strong>the</strong><br />
richer, dis<strong>in</strong>terested larger American culture. In B.I.G.’s “Th<strong>in</strong>gs Done<br />
Changed,” an urban African American male has just three options—<br />
hip-hop, drug deal<strong>in</strong>g, or athletics—for ga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g ei<strong>the</strong>r type of capital,<br />
which is a common but dangerous perception <strong>in</strong> much hip-hop. He<br />
raps: “if I wasn’t <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> rap game / I’d probably have a key knee deep<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> crack game / because <strong>the</strong> streets is a short stop / ei<strong>the</strong>r you’re<br />
sl<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g crack rock or you got a wicked jumpshot.” Be<strong>in</strong>g a drug dealer<br />
or star basketball player can provide <strong>in</strong>ner-city youth with symbolic<br />
capital—status, dist<strong>in</strong>ction, and a command on resources <strong>in</strong>dependent<br />
of economics—and potential economic capital. For <strong>the</strong> former “occupation”<br />
<strong>the</strong> economic ga<strong>in</strong>s can be immediate, but unsusta<strong>in</strong>able, as<br />
Boogie Down Productions’ “Material Love (Love’s Gonna Getcha)”<br />
shows (see note 1); for <strong>the</strong> latter, however, a big payday may never<br />
arrive even for an extremely gifted player. Thus, though Cheryl L.<br />
Keyes rightly suggests that hip-hop music is a symbol of socioeconomic<br />
mobility <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>ner-city (172), this position glosses over <strong>the</strong><br />
lack of practical alternatives for poor African American youth. How<br />
many, after all, become rap stars or basketball stars?<br />
In “Respect,” B.I.G. ultimately exposes <strong>the</strong> mutable nature of<br />
material ambition. He extols material success even as he laments—<strong>in</strong><br />
h<strong>in</strong>dsight—his bad decisions. While he celebrates money made from<br />
sell<strong>in</strong>g drugs (“mak<strong>in</strong>g cream / on <strong>the</strong> drug scene”) and his hopes of<br />
becom<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> “k<strong>in</strong>g of New York,” he realizes that <strong>the</strong>se pursuits are<br />
fraught with peril. After be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>carcerated he realizes that “all <strong>the</strong><br />
money stacked was all <strong>the</strong> money for bail.” Even though socioeconomic<br />
conditions limit possible actions, until actions fail, <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual<br />
is not likely to modify <strong>the</strong>m. But when <strong>the</strong>y do fail, <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual,<br />
<strong>in</strong> this case B.I.G.’s drug dealer persona, 6 can move from “practical<br />
consciousness,” which is based on a tacit knowledge of constra<strong>in</strong>ts—<br />
here a lack of choices and economic resources—to conscious reflection<br />
(Giddens 5). B.I.G.’s persona’s conscious reflection thus leads to<br />
a reassessment of <strong>the</strong> relative worth of drug deal<strong>in</strong>g. “Respect” <strong>in</strong>dicates<br />
that this type of feedback loop is built <strong>in</strong>to both <strong>the</strong> actions of<br />
<strong>in</strong>ner-city actors and <strong>in</strong>to hip-hop’s contestatory urban agency.