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 183<br />
venue marketed to African Americans, would an African American<br />
audience attend <strong>in</strong> full?<br />
While Riley’s claim about market<strong>in</strong>g and promotion is largely<br />
correct, many hip-hop shows at Cat’s Cradle reveal limitations with any<br />
view that does not also consider o<strong>the</strong>r factors. Despite do<strong>in</strong>g primarily<br />
street-based market<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> area and <strong>the</strong> presence of a large African<br />
American population <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> areas immediately surround<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> club,<br />
Cat’s Cradle hip-hop audiences are often largely white, even for iconic,<br />
Afrocentric groups such as Brand Nubian. In general, <strong>the</strong> hip-hop acts<br />
that perform at Cat’s Cradle do not get a lot of ma<strong>in</strong>stream airtime on<br />
radio or cable television. As such, it is reasonable to assume that urban<br />
radio stations <strong>in</strong>fluence not only <strong>the</strong> purchas<strong>in</strong>g decisions of African<br />
Americans, but to some extent <strong>the</strong>y also determ<strong>in</strong>e <strong>the</strong> artists with<br />
whom <strong>the</strong>ir listeners are familiar. This situation is problematic for<br />
groups such as The Coup and dead prez <strong>in</strong> light of Dyson’s accurate<br />
claim that radio executives usually opt for “pop rap as more acceptable<br />
than its realistic, <strong>political</strong>ly conscious counterpart” (8). For those urban<br />
hip-hop fans who do not have ready access to <strong>the</strong> Internet or college<br />
radio, this situation could prevent <strong>the</strong>m from not only hear<strong>in</strong>g a<br />
group like The Coup, but from hear<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>the</strong>m. So if white kids are<br />
attend<strong>in</strong>g hip-hop shows and listen<strong>in</strong>g to music <strong>in</strong>tended primarily for<br />
African American audiences, it is partly due to choices made by urban<br />
radio stations, television executives, and corporate media nearmonopolies<br />
such as Clear Channel. Consequently, The Coup often<br />
“acts <strong>in</strong> concert” with an audience different than <strong>the</strong> one <strong>the</strong>ir music<br />
is made to reach.<br />
The blame, though, does not rest solely with promoters, clubs,<br />
radio executives, and television producers. The <strong>political</strong> content of an<br />
act such as dead prez may turn off some African American (and white<br />
and Lat<strong>in</strong>a/o) listeners. The cover of <strong>the</strong>ir debut album let’s get free<br />
(2000) shows young sub-Saharan Africans rais<strong>in</strong>g automatic weapons<br />
<strong>in</strong> a revolutionary stance; a sticker that covers <strong>the</strong> guns claims: “this<br />
artwork has been censored by <strong>the</strong> powers that be, due to its <strong>political</strong><br />
content.” Thus, dead prez preemptively claims that <strong>the</strong>ir music enters<br />
<strong>the</strong> market under prohibition; <strong>the</strong>y are keenly aware that <strong>the</strong>ir message<br />
may marg<strong>in</strong>alize <strong>the</strong>m. When dead prez engages an audience<br />
with <strong>the</strong> call-and-response question “Where are all my vegetarians<br />
at?” before <strong>the</strong>y perform <strong>the</strong>ir vegetarian an<strong>the</strong>m “Be Healthy,” it is<br />
likely that <strong>the</strong>y are not try<strong>in</strong>g to reach a ma<strong>in</strong>stream audience, black or<br />
white. They could be said to marg<strong>in</strong>alize <strong>the</strong>mselves <strong>in</strong> much <strong>the</strong> same<br />
why that <strong>the</strong> Language poets do (although with entirely different<br />
motivations and aes<strong>the</strong>tics). F<strong>in</strong>ally, revolutionary content may not