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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186 AMERICAN POLITICAL POETRY<br />
dom<strong>in</strong>ant text that <strong>the</strong> marg<strong>in</strong>s with<strong>in</strong> hip-hop comment on <strong>the</strong><br />
center, both <strong>in</strong> hip-hop and <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> greater culture. This dynamic<br />
makes small club live shows and <strong>the</strong> voices of contestatory urban<br />
agency critical because <strong>the</strong>y often <strong>in</strong>terrogate <strong>the</strong> consumerism that<br />
marks commercial rap. Potter’s analysis of this commodification aptly<br />
sums up this situation: “s<strong>in</strong>ce bourgeois culture craves difference,<br />
appropriat<strong>in</strong>g subcultural forms and turn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>m <strong>in</strong>to commodities<br />
solves two problems <strong>in</strong> one blow” (120). As such, dispossessed black<br />
youth are transformed from threat to commodity, and now, more<br />
dangerously, <strong>in</strong>to tools for promot<strong>in</strong>g capitalism and consumerism.<br />
Strangely enough, though, what threatens hip-hop culture also <strong>in</strong>vigorates<br />
it. There is both a creative and market equilibrium that keep <strong>the</strong><br />
diverse culture <strong>in</strong> balance, at least for those participants capable of and<br />
will<strong>in</strong>g to search beyond <strong>the</strong> ma<strong>in</strong>stream. If <strong>the</strong>re is hedonism, <strong>the</strong>re<br />
will also be a community-based ethos, and so on. However, that balance<br />
has tilted negatively s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong> late 1980s and early 1990s, which<br />
suggests that hip-hop values may be cyclical; that corporate-run<br />
record companies and radio and television stations have greater control<br />
than <strong>the</strong>y did <strong>the</strong>n; or that <strong>the</strong>re is more money to be made and<br />
<strong>the</strong> temptation to make it too great.<br />
The paradoxes of hip-hop are too complicated to sort out <strong>in</strong> a s<strong>in</strong>gle<br />
chapter, however, as a scholar and fan of, and a participant <strong>in</strong>, hip-hop<br />
culture, I can draw one certa<strong>in</strong> conclusion. In <strong>the</strong> twenty-first <strong>century</strong>,<br />
responses to urban crises of racism, oppression, poverty, and <strong>in</strong>adequate<br />
water supplies and health care will be more important than ever.<br />
Here’s why: In 1950, <strong>the</strong>re were 86 cities of one million-plus <strong>in</strong>habitants.<br />
In 2004, <strong>the</strong>re were 386 cities with <strong>the</strong>se demographics. By<br />
2015, at least 550 cities will have populations exceed<strong>in</strong>g one million.<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> current global urban population of 3 billion is greater<br />
than <strong>the</strong> world’s 1960 population, and, <strong>in</strong> 2004, <strong>the</strong> world’s urban<br />
population surpassed <strong>the</strong> number of rural <strong>in</strong>habitants for <strong>the</strong> first time<br />
<strong>in</strong> recorded history (Davis “Planet” 17). How are <strong>the</strong>se demographics<br />
relevant to hip-hop? With <strong>the</strong> growth of urban populations and of<br />
“megacities” (over 8 million) and “hypercities” (over 20 million), poor<br />
urban residents will struggle to survive and to be heard, and because<br />
much of this population will be m<strong>in</strong>orities and <strong>in</strong>digenous, <strong>the</strong>y will<br />
face <strong>in</strong>stitutionalized racism. Hip-hop artists have struggled with <strong>the</strong>se<br />
forces <strong>in</strong> similar contexts for nearly three decades. The voices of contestatory<br />
agency, <strong>the</strong>n, will echo, whe<strong>the</strong>r consciously or not, millions<br />
of pleas from Bogotá, Mexico City, Lagos, Dakar, Rio, and Jakarta.<br />
Governments <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> developed and develop<strong>in</strong>g worlds will not be able