I would like to turn your attention to the confusing yet slightly addictive website www.visualorgasm.com . If the URL alone doesn't entice you, please click on it to peruse some of the features of the site. Mostly, at the top of the page, you can click on the various canvases used by hip hop graffiti artists. I'll pause here for you to click around...
It took me a little while to figure out what was going on and only through random investigative clicks of my mouse did I see the potential of the site. Visualorgasm.com has hundreds of photos of graffiti done by relatively anonymous artists from all over the world. Once I found the pictures and learned how to navigate the "galleries", I spent a good while amazed by the handiworks of so many artists.
This site is a great accompaniment to the book "Painting without Permission", that I analyzed for my annotated bibliography. The book written by Janice Rahn investigates Vancouver based graf-artists, their origins, inspirations, etc. Although the book includes a few illustrations of the walls and trains painted, the black and white photos do not do the works justice. Enter Visualorgasm.com. Though the artists mentioned in the book are not always available on the website, the huge sampling of train cars, walls, and canvases compliment the book and allow readers to grasp what Rahn writes about.
Although available to the public, the website seems relatively private. Graffiti is a highly controversial art, often times illegal. The site promotes sharing of ideas between artists not in the same geographic location. Therefore, the contributors are largely anonymous, only known by their various tags. Some of the jargon used on the site is unknown to me, especially when talking about the writers and their locations. I almost feel as if I have walked down the wrong street in NYC and have a huge neon sign pointing at me that says "DOESN'T BELONG HERE".
The site is a great archive for the wonderful paintings done by some amazing artists, but the term 'hip-hop' graffiti still confuses me. I'm not sure why a music style has its own art form...can you imagine 'country' graffiti? or even 'classical' graffiti? I understand that the origins of hip hop do include the tagging characteristic of graffiti. By the art form and the music style have become so independent of each other (at least from my viewpoint) that I question the name "Hip-hop graffiti". The only two similarities that I see are the rebellious nature of both activities and the usually urban essence. I would prefer to call 'hip-hop graffiti' the potentially more accurate 'urban painting' (that's the best I can come up with). Now my only problem is convincing the homeboys in the South Bronx to pick up what I'm putting down...
word.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Internet: Singapore's Link to Hip Hop
The creation of hip hop in Brooklyn, New York, has rippled through the cultural scene across the globe. Coupled with the Internet, the wave moved faster, and has since reached far away places such as the nation of Singapore. Yasser Mattar's article "Virtual Communities and hip-hop music consumers in Singapore" explains how the Internet and other communication devices have helped consumers join a global hip hop identity as well as define their own.
A global identity in Singapore is attained by looking at the use of the Internet. Nearly half of electronic purchases are music related, and many sites like MTV.com contain a heavy influence from hip hop. Naturally, combining the high intake of music with sites that markets a specific genre regularly yields an increased popularity in that genre. In addition to consuming music using the Internet, Singaporeans use the Internet to live in virtual communities. Web forums like Delphi and Yahoo!groups allow users to communicate with an international culture as opposed to just their own. Although from different countries, most users speak a similar language, largely Ebonics, in the chat forums.
Just as international groups meet in chatrooms, so do locals. The local identity forms from the use of the Internet as a meeting place for Singaporeans. Locals can chat about up and coming artists, concert venues, and new releases. The forums also provide a medium in which different groups can disagree "peacefully". Although virtual, the channels and threads can be territorialized and unwelcome users verbally harassed. The local identity of a Singaporean hip hop fan falls into the "authenticity question" by some members of the global group. Mattar found many examples of Singaporeans made second class fans because they were not the originating race. Just as white people who dress "ghetto" are wiggers, Singaporean fans were described as "chiggers".
As well as discovering identities, Mattar relates hip hop to Hodkinson four characteristics of a subculture: identity, commitment, consistent distinctiveness and autonomy. Identity refers to the placement of 'selves" within the hip hop. The characterisitic commitment is most visible during concerts of local artists, displayed on clothing, phonograms, and turntables. Mattar mentions consistent distinctiveness but for an unknown reason, does not go into any specifics. He does say that hip hop as a global identity has distinct characteristics such as Ebonics and hand gestures. The underground 'scene' of Singapore hip hop demonstrates its autonomy by self-producing tapes and videos and organizing concerts.
This article illuminates answers to some question such as, "how can a subculture travel?" and "how does it grow?" In addition to explaning parts of the Singapore hip hop identity, it produced some examples of Hodkinson's characteristics of a subculture, which can be used in future analysis. Mattar's discussion of a subculture's identiy is different from the previous article. Instead of trying to escape and be someone else, Singaporeans want to express who they are, both on a local and global scale.
A global identity in Singapore is attained by looking at the use of the Internet. Nearly half of electronic purchases are music related, and many sites like MTV.com contain a heavy influence from hip hop. Naturally, combining the high intake of music with sites that markets a specific genre regularly yields an increased popularity in that genre. In addition to consuming music using the Internet, Singaporeans use the Internet to live in virtual communities. Web forums like Delphi and Yahoo!groups allow users to communicate with an international culture as opposed to just their own. Although from different countries, most users speak a similar language, largely Ebonics, in the chat forums.
Just as international groups meet in chatrooms, so do locals. The local identity forms from the use of the Internet as a meeting place for Singaporeans. Locals can chat about up and coming artists, concert venues, and new releases. The forums also provide a medium in which different groups can disagree "peacefully". Although virtual, the channels and threads can be territorialized and unwelcome users verbally harassed. The local identity of a Singaporean hip hop fan falls into the "authenticity question" by some members of the global group. Mattar found many examples of Singaporeans made second class fans because they were not the originating race. Just as white people who dress "ghetto" are wiggers, Singaporean fans were described as "chiggers".
As well as discovering identities, Mattar relates hip hop to Hodkinson four characteristics of a subculture: identity, commitment, consistent distinctiveness and autonomy. Identity refers to the placement of 'selves" within the hip hop. The characterisitic commitment is most visible during concerts of local artists, displayed on clothing, phonograms, and turntables. Mattar mentions consistent distinctiveness but for an unknown reason, does not go into any specifics. He does say that hip hop as a global identity has distinct characteristics such as Ebonics and hand gestures. The underground 'scene' of Singapore hip hop demonstrates its autonomy by self-producing tapes and videos and organizing concerts.
This article illuminates answers to some question such as, "how can a subculture travel?" and "how does it grow?" In addition to explaning parts of the Singapore hip hop identity, it produced some examples of Hodkinson's characteristics of a subculture, which can be used in future analysis. Mattar's discussion of a subculture's identiy is different from the previous article. Instead of trying to escape and be someone else, Singaporeans want to express who they are, both on a local and global scale.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Godzilla...was he compensating for something too?
Scouring the internet and library resources for articles relating to hip hop, I found this little gem by Nina Cornyetz (http://www.jstor.org/stable/466835?seq=20). She has an interesting theory as to why hip hop is booming in Japan. It has less to do with the music and more about what's...down under.
Japanese hip hop (the music) is like many hip hop cultures of the world, with DJs, beats, and rhyming, but the fans in cities like Osaka and Tokyo take it to a different level. At the concerts, patrons not only dress as if they were straight out of Brooklyn, but colour their skin as well. Using various make up techniques, many Japanese males attempt to look African American. It is not a mockery of a different race, but rather an idolization, or as Cornyetz would argue...a fetish.
Cornyetz reports that post-war Japan has been emasculated by occupying white soldiers. This enfeebling has perpetuated the stereotype that Japanese men have smaller penises than American males. Through books and political comics, the Japanese men were seen to be inferior to Americans, especially in the bedroom. But where does hip hop come into the post war Japan?
As Japan began to reassert itself among the world powers, especially the US, it grew and grew out of the US's shadow. The new generations are born with a decreasing inferiority complex to the US, but the social stigma of lacking "manhood" remained. Therefore many Japanese began emulating a culture "reknowned" for have a larger penis than whites...African-Americans. As Cornyetz says on page 120, "Japanese youths have responded to the media images of African Americans by attempting to incorporate the signs that recreate themselves in the black image." Their new image is the hip hop style, since most of their images come from movies and songs. The new image means not only dressing like them, but colouring their skin with make up.
Males as well as females buy and wear clothes that the stereotypical black Brooklynite would wear. With the females, it's not so much an idolization, but more of attracting a black mate. Cornyetz reports that there is an increasing trend for affluent Japanese females to court a black partner. Many of these women treat their partners as pets and wear them on their arm as a status symbol.
Cornyetz's theory is a fascinating one. In all of my initial research, I have not found an origin theory as unique as this one. Many other hip hop cultures rebel against pop music, politics, etc. but never a stereotype of how much...heat they are packing. I have known white males to dress up as if they were "straight from da hood" but as far as I know, it's not because they felt they had some shortcomings. It's difficult for me to disagree with her research having never been to Japan myself. I wonder how big the trend of Japanese females going for a black lover really is. She says a friend came to Japan and noticed the same thing, but without much empirical data, I guess I'll have to stay skeptical. In the article, she mentioned that many of these relationships were for phsyical and social reasons only and did not expect to be long term. Thus we could not look at the marriage rates of a mixed couple. Perhaps a look at the overal marriage rates between single race couples, but an increase or decrease would not necessarily correlate to Japanese-African marriages.
Since this is a blog and therefore contains my own thoughts, I would like to leave with a joke...
Q.Why did Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella?
--------------------------------------------------
A. Fo drizzle.
Japanese hip hop (the music) is like many hip hop cultures of the world, with DJs, beats, and rhyming, but the fans in cities like Osaka and Tokyo take it to a different level. At the concerts, patrons not only dress as if they were straight out of Brooklyn, but colour their skin as well. Using various make up techniques, many Japanese males attempt to look African American. It is not a mockery of a different race, but rather an idolization, or as Cornyetz would argue...a fetish.
Cornyetz reports that post-war Japan has been emasculated by occupying white soldiers. This enfeebling has perpetuated the stereotype that Japanese men have smaller penises than American males. Through books and political comics, the Japanese men were seen to be inferior to Americans, especially in the bedroom. But where does hip hop come into the post war Japan?
As Japan began to reassert itself among the world powers, especially the US, it grew and grew out of the US's shadow. The new generations are born with a decreasing inferiority complex to the US, but the social stigma of lacking "manhood" remained. Therefore many Japanese began emulating a culture "reknowned" for have a larger penis than whites...African-Americans. As Cornyetz says on page 120, "Japanese youths have responded to the media images of African Americans by attempting to incorporate the signs that recreate themselves in the black image." Their new image is the hip hop style, since most of their images come from movies and songs. The new image means not only dressing like them, but colouring their skin with make up.
Males as well as females buy and wear clothes that the stereotypical black Brooklynite would wear. With the females, it's not so much an idolization, but more of attracting a black mate. Cornyetz reports that there is an increasing trend for affluent Japanese females to court a black partner. Many of these women treat their partners as pets and wear them on their arm as a status symbol.
Cornyetz's theory is a fascinating one. In all of my initial research, I have not found an origin theory as unique as this one. Many other hip hop cultures rebel against pop music, politics, etc. but never a stereotype of how much...heat they are packing. I have known white males to dress up as if they were "straight from da hood" but as far as I know, it's not because they felt they had some shortcomings. It's difficult for me to disagree with her research having never been to Japan myself. I wonder how big the trend of Japanese females going for a black lover really is. She says a friend came to Japan and noticed the same thing, but without much empirical data, I guess I'll have to stay skeptical. In the article, she mentioned that many of these relationships were for phsyical and social reasons only and did not expect to be long term. Thus we could not look at the marriage rates of a mixed couple. Perhaps a look at the overal marriage rates between single race couples, but an increase or decrease would not necessarily correlate to Japanese-African marriages.
Since this is a blog and therefore contains my own thoughts, I would like to leave with a joke...
Q.Why did Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella?
--------------------------------------------------
A. Fo drizzle.
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