Materialism In Hip Hop?

tay1

tay1

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It's a question I've been asking myself lately. Why do we take part in the glorification / support of things most of us here will probably never obtain?

Now I know that materialism isn't only limited to Hip Hop, it's more American culture in general, but as far as music goes, materialism is most prevalent in Hip Hop. But what do we get from listening to other people live lives we'll never say? I just want to here people's opinions about it
 
Poor people wanna get away from their reality for a bit. Hear and talk and think about nice things.

For some, it's aspirational.

For others, it's motivational.

There are people who don't think they'll never see that good life; they feel like they are this close to quote Pusha T. When they feel like it's slipping away, they might throw on some Jeezy and get motivated to push harder toward their goals, word to Michael Phelps. When they want to imagine what the good life is like, they might sit back relax and throw on Jay Z's Feelin' It.

It just once in a blue moon when there's nothin to do and
The tension's too thick for my sober mind to cut through
I get to zonin, me and the chick on the island and we're bonin'
I free my mind sometimes I here myself moanin
Take one more toke and I leave that weed alone man
It got me goin......****
 
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knowledgebones72 said:
Poor people wanna get away from their reality for a bit. Hear and talk and think about nice things.

For some, it's aspirational.

For others, it's motivational.

There are people who don't think they'll never see that good life; they feel like they are this close to quote Pusha T. When they feel like it's slipping away, they might throw on some Jeezy and get motivated to push harder toward their goals, word to Michael Phelps. When they want to imagine what the good life is like, they might sit back relax and throw on Jay Z's Feelin' It.

It just once in a blue moon when there's nothin to do and
The tension's too thick for my sober mind to cut through
I get to zonin, me and the chick on the island and we're bonin'
I free my mind sometimes I here myself moanin
Take one more toke and I leave that weed alone man
It got me goin......****
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I mean I guess I can somewhat feel that, but I have a hard time believing that's what's going through everyone's mind when they'r listening to **** like I woke up in a bugatti when they don't got a car, just riding on the bus.
 
........dawg.

it sounds good to people. there is SOME psychology

behind it. but that's with anything in life...but if you're

talking about what's going through there minds: "oh...i like how this sounds...i'll keep listening."

"hmmm. i liked that song...maybe i'll play it again.
 
niquefreak94 said:
........dawg.

it sounds good to people. there is SOME psychology

behind it. but that's with anything in life...but if you're

talking about what's going through there minds: "oh...i like how this sounds...i'll keep listening."

"hmmm. i liked that song...maybe i'll play it again.
Click to expand...

I'm just talking about the lyrical content, not the musical aspect of it.
 
tay1 said:
I'm just talking about the lyrical content, not the musical aspect of it.
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that's what i'm talking about. it sounds good.

like my favorite Jeezy line "i'm a black Tee wearin/ hell naw i ain't carin/
i'll wreck this ***** and come back in a McClaren" I don't want a McClaren
I don't care if Jeezy has the means to wreck his already expensive car
and go buy a brand new equally expensive one. it just sounds good.
it gets me hype. makes me wanna repeat. there are plenty of lyrics
that have some thought out reason as to why i like them, but trust me
it ain't that serious with most people.
 
Sounds good, part of the reason I like Ross. Sometimes I am just in the mood for something with a hard beat and lavish lyrics, simple or nah.
 
The thing about materialism in hip hop is, it's not just people bragging about how rich they are. When you look deeper into it, you see that it's about people celebrating that they came from humble beginnings with the odds against them, and worked hard to achieve success. You don't hear rappers bragging about how they had a trust fund. They always talk about hustling and putting in work to get to where they are, through whatever means.


It might have turned into something else now that it's been exploited, but I feel the original purpose/spirit behind that type of music was to inspire other disadvantaged people in the urban community to succeed. And a lot of the artists who rap about stuff like that, still go back in the hood and give back to others. Guys like Ross, Meek Mill, etc all give back to the communities they came from and aspire to be inspirational figures. That side of it doesn't get publicized though. And that's not the rappers fault, that's the fault of the media.


Materialism rap has clearly become a played out meme, however that is due to the corporate marketing/exploitation of that specific type of music over others. Ideally that brand of music would always exist and have it's place, but wouldn't drown out other types of music like it is now.
 
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DT43 said:
The thing about materialism in hip hop is, it's not just people bragging about how rich they are. When you look deeper into it, you see that it's about people celebrating that they came from humble beginnings with the odds against them, and worked hard to achieve success. You don't hear rappers bragging about how they had a trust fund. They always talk about hustling and putting in work to get to where they are, through whatever means.


It might have turned into something else now that it's been exploited, but I feel the original purpose/spirit behind that type of music was to inspire other disadvantaged people in the urban community to succeed. And a lot of the artists who rap about stuff like that, still go back in the hood and give back to others. Guys like Ross, Meek Mill, etc all give back to the communities they came from and aspire to be inspirational figures. That side of it doesn't get publicized though. And that's not the rappers fault, that's the fault of the media.


Materialism rap has clearly become a played out meme, however that is due to the corporate marketing/exploitation of that specific type of music over others. Ideally that brand of music would always exist and have it's place, but wouldn't drown out other types of music like it is now.
Click to expand...

Yeah you don't hear them bragging about trust funds, but they're basically bragging about how much they have over and over. I could understand some artists talking about how they overcome where they were in their previous life, but the **** we hear doesn't come off like that. At least I don't hear it like that.
 
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Diddy was a "spearhead" for this movement. Morphed Biggie from a red flannel wearing street rapper, into a Versace wearing willy on the radio. "Still got a Benz that I ain't even drove yet". SMH. Diddy did away with the ruggedness that hip-hop was known for in the 90's, and made it all cushy, materialistic, generic, and boring.
 
the ANTIhype said:
Diddy was a "spearhead" for this movement. Morphed Biggie from a red flannel wearing street rapper, into a Versace wearing willy on the radio. "Still got a Benz that I ain't even drove yet". SMH. Diddy did away with the ruggedness that hip-hop was known for in the 90's, and made it all cushy, materialistic, generic, and boring.
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I'm somewhat young and I can't really speak much about Diddy's impact but that's interesting to hear. Why you call him a willy tho? :rofl:
 
the ANTIhype said:
Diddy was a "spearhead" for this movement. Morphed Biggie from a red flannel wearing street rapper, into a Versace wearing willy on the radio. "Still got a Benz that I ain't even drove yet". SMH. Diddy did away with the ruggedness that hip-hop was known for in the 90's, and made it all cushy, materialistic, generic, and boring.
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You're right I'm 32 & Diddy basically created the Swag Rapper after Biggie died Mase took over and that's all Mase really rapped about was materialistic things, Jay-Z also but he had a little more substance. Badboy made hip hop more commercial.
 
DT43 said:
The thing about materialism in hip hop is, it's not just people bragging about how rich they are. When you look deeper into it, you see that it's about people celebrating that they came from humble beginnings with the odds against them, and worked hard to achieve success. You don't hear rappers bragging about how they had a trust fund. They always talk about hustling and putting in work to get to where they are, through whatever means.


It might have turned into something else now that it's been exploited, but I feel the original purpose/spirit behind that type of music was to inspire other disadvantaged people in the urban community to succeed. And a lot of the artists who rap about stuff like that, still go back in the hood and give back to others. Guys like Ross, Meek Mill, etc all give back to the communities they came from and aspire to be inspirational figures. That side of it doesn't get publicized though. And that's not the rappers fault, that's the fault of the media.


Materialism rap has clearly become a played out meme, however that is due to the corporate marketing/exploitation of that specific type of music over others. Ideally that brand of music would always exist and have it's place, but wouldn't drown out other types of music like it is now.
Click to expand...
This is what is discussed in the book.  The aspirational nature of hip-hop.  Formed out of a necessity to belong and fit into what is being modeled as a favorable and acceptable way of living through marketing which often excluded "urban" youth 
 
People will always love a fantasy. Thats why we go to movies, read books, watch TV shows, play video games, gamble, go clubbing and listen to music.........
People want what they cant have. All the things I mentioned are selling you a fantasy life 99% of people will never have, but like to see and for that short time take their worries off of their miserable lives.
 
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the ANTIhype said:
Diddy was a "spearhead" for this movement. Morphed Biggie from a red flannel wearing street rapper, into a Versace wearing willy on the radio. "Still got a Benz that I ain't even drove yet". SMH. Diddy did away with the ruggedness that hip-hop was known for in the 90's, and made it all cushy, materialistic, generic, and boring.
Click to expand...
ALL THIS I'm 28 & I remember when rap was all about our culture but when UNCLE PUFF came on the scene he complete changed this hiphop culture which is OUR (BLACK PEOPLE) culture into a commercial machine..I remember when rappers in the mid-late 90's hated all commercial rappers because they were wack & watered down ex.THE SHINY SUIT ERA MC'S wanted to be so far removed from the commercial realm they didn't wanna stay on BAD BOY...Thats pretty much why the LOX left & plus they saw how much a snake PUFF was...Hiphop has been on its deathbed & PUFF is a big reason for that as I think back I sided with BAD BOY during the east coast vs west coast rap war as a kid but really SUGE & DEATH ROW was kicking the real at the 95' SOURCE AWARDS..When he said "IF YOU WANNA BE ON A LABEL WHERE YOU CAN BE AN ARTIST WHERE THE PRODUCER NOT ALLLLLLL IN THE VIDEO, ALLLLLL ON YOU SONG COME TO DEATH ROW" Back then everybody felt like SUGA was hating but flash forward to 2014 & how many stories have we heard about former BAD BOY artist being charged by PUFF to use his cars in their videos or getting on a track ad-libbing wanting to get paid?? PUFF was one of the worst things to happen to the hiphop culture...
 
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Materialism was always there, it just overpowered the substance in the late 90s...

****** really started gettin rich off this rap ****.

****** in the early 90s couldnt have afforded to make videos like "Victory" or "Hypnotize" if they wanted.

production overpowering rhymes had a lot to with it too, but theres plenty of non mainstream hip hop out there with substance thats quality music.
 
Are you just now finding out about these things? materialism has been rampant in commercial pop and hip hop music for a long time. You don't have to listen to the artists you deem materialistic if you're still bothered by it.
 
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