Friday Night Fishfry Forever has been thinking about the politics of appropriation in hip hop, prompted by Timbaland & Magoo’s release Indian Flute. Of course, Western art music composers have always “stolen” from exotic others (their own peasant classes, gypsies, or the “orient”). In recent times, the issue was discussed at length in relation to the “world beat” boom of the late 1980s – represented most famously by Deep Forest. It was less simple when the “others” are inside, not outside, one’s own cultural frame – in the 1990s, Australians had to think about what it means for the sound of the didjeridu to circulate as a symbol of Australian culture – does it signify indigenous sovereignty? Is it merely a tool of crass cultural tourism? Do white Australians have the right to identify with indigenous culture?
The questions are just as tricky when we think about hip hop appropriating the musics of “other” minorities. For a start, hip hop music and culture have themselves been widely appropriated by “others” to an extent that I think even rock and roll never quite managed, precisely because of its “minority” status.
[note: I’ve inserted my comments from fishfry’s post here because they help clear my position up – apologies to the anti-editing police]
Another thing you might consider is how hip hop culture has become globalised – or “glocalised” as we cultural studies people like to say, meaning that it has been taken up by “minorities” and locally specific music makers all over the world. I don’t just mean they copy US rappers, I mean that their own vernacular styles are incorporated to create a new hybrid genre. In Australia, indigenous, lebanese, and white youth each have their own styles of hip hop, and it gets even more interesting in indonesia or iceland. So it might not be such a straightforward issue of ‘appropriation’
So there is a flow of cultural influences between US hip hop and its “others” that can’t be simply written off as one-way appropriation.
At the same time, this is only possible because US hip hop has long ceased to be a marginal music culture – while it is still understood as a “black music”, and therefore a minority music in terms of US culture, in the eyes of the rest of the world US culture is of course not divided in quite the same way. For us, hip hop signifies the global dominance of “Americanness” just as much as Britney Spears, Coca Cola or McDonalds do. Take a look at the Australian music charts if you need any further proof of hip hop’s dominance (and compare with “progressive” youth radio station Triple JJJ’s station promo line from the early 1990s, which proudly proclaimed that they didn’t play any “rap crap”).
Besides, the lyrics of Indian Flute present their own problems that are, boringly, equally to do with the relationship between gender, sexuality, and the exotic.
If you’re interested in the “glocalisation” thesis in regard to hip hop, take a look at Tony Mitchell’s work on the subject, available from the Youth – Sound – Space website, which is an excellent resource for research on music cultures, by the way.
And speaking of appropriation, what could be a more gorgeous example than this: Ergo Phizmiz and his orchestra plays Aphex Twin! (via no sense of place).
7 responses to “Hip Hop and the Appropriation of the “Other””
Hi Jean! Interesting post. I’m not sure if I agree, though. Finding, appropriating and mixing ecclectic sounds together to make it into something new and original is exactly what hip-hop and all other DJ-cultures are about, that’s what differs them from instrument-based music. Besides, american hip-hop may dominate the charts but the movement itself is quite international and is practiced just as much in France, Sweden, Senegal, Japan or Columbia, to name just a few. And they all gladly sample african, chinese or arabic sounds, as well as movie dialogues, tv-serie themes, and so on. I have a hard time seeing hip-hop as purely afro-american music: even in the US, many other minorities have contributed to making US hip-hop what it is today, and in France f.ex. french hip-hop is considered to be french music, not an american import.
Lalya,
Thanks for your comments. I think we are basically in agreement actually – but perhaps I haven’t made my position clear enough. Like you, I disagree with the assumption that sampling non-American music means “appropriating” it – that implies that all the cultural authority lies on one side of the equation (the American side). Whereas in reality, as you point out, hip hop was based on sampling from the get-go, and it can carry quite nationalistic meanings in other contexts – “ocker” hip hop here in Australia is a perfect example – the battles over “yank” versus australian accents rage on. Even so, to those less familiar with it, hip hop equals 50 cent or Eminem, and is a key signifier of contemporary Americanness.
Ah, I see where I’ve been unclear. In the paragraph where I’m talking about hip hop as a dominant genre, I haven’t separated top 40 US artists and their commercial dominance from the music and culture of hip hop more generally, which of course is widespread but is not monopolised by the US.
ok, then : ) thanks for the clarifications!
totally interesting to hear an interational perspective on it. i agree that the “finding” of sounds is integral to hip hop and electronic music. indeed, finding and borrowing is part of the flux of music overall. in terms of indian sounds and vocals, the thing is that they are so widely used, not isolated incidents. also the lyrics sung by Shwari are incredibly benign, almost fawning, and yet the hip hop lyrics include “beating up your womb.” so there’s much more interaction i think than in a typical “finding.” there’s also the whole conflict in american culture (and i’m not sure if it’s just me that thinks this) with respect to minorities being racist toward other minorities considering the various histories of struggle that are now taught in our curriculums. i’m finding it all terribly complex, these interactions within specifically american culture. because while hip hop may have become international and there is a different range of permissions, americans (in our standard egocentrism) tend to see it as a very american music form. maybe in the way that baseball is american. and it’s black in the way that “white men can’t jump”
(ok–this is totally inspiring me to write in a more detailed fashion on the matter! yikes!)
For example, normally, rap music and such black music as reggae has been in good relationships. I think it doesn’t mean that rap musicians has “stolen” from music of other minorities.
Great post Jean, its not every day you stumble upon a cultural studies perspective, let alone in a discursive domain such as this forum provides. Thanks muchly for the link to Youth Sound Space.
Peace out