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VIRTUAL SPACE .

Hip Hop Videos and Black Identity in Virtual Space

Joel Rubin

In this paper, I present an understanding of music videos as useful representations of the dynamism of

blackness an d black identity and in fact indicative of a post- region al turn in Hip Hop. In ord er to

illustrate, I first examine how blackness is expressed in physical space with the advent of New York

FLP\·V NORŃN SMUPLHV MQG POH %M\ $UHM·V ´hyphyµ movement. I then situate the importance of the music

video in a contemp orary un derstanding o f visualized culture in virtual space. Applyin g this understanding to the performance and perception of blackness, I use the example of Canadian Hip Hop

MUPLVP GUM NH·V ÓRXU QH\ RI VHOI-representation and identifica tion, follo wing the trajectory of his career

through music video creation. In doing so, I argue that technological innovation serves as the moment

and the means to visualise evolving identity as is articulated by Hip Hop and the music video. Blackness as an identity has never been fixed to plac e but rather find s its elf articulated through space and, more importantly, time. Movement has defined black identity and ser ved as an origin in and of its elf. S imultaneous ly, technolo gy has provided Hip Hop and the blac k co mmunit y with the necessary vehicle to communicate the fluidity of Amer ican blackness. In thi s paper , I argue that technological innovation serves as the moment and the means to visualise evolving

identity as is articulated by Hip Hop and the music video. PUile plen Wy UaV been w riWWen on WUe poliWicalH economicH Voc ial anT Vexual

naWure of Hip Hop anT iWV conWribuWion Wo unTerVcoring WUe black experience in NorWU AmericaH ofWen WUe narraWive iV Vimply eVVenWialiVeT inWo monoliWUic blackneVV wiWU a fixiWy rooWeT in WimeH aV if Wo preVenW an iTenWiWy WUaW iV VWaWic anT uncUanging. I argue WUaW furWUer exploraWion of WUe muVic viTeo aV a Wool will aiT in WUe efforW Wo problemaWiYe a monoliWUic black American narraWive WUaW UaV been fixeT in Wime. I will firVW explore

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emergence directly as a consequence of enslavement and forced migration out of West Africa.1 I will WUen briefly explore Wwo caVe VWuTieVH wUicU relaWe a VpaWial unTerVWanTing of conWemporary Hip Hop movemenWV anT reViVWance in American ciWieV. I will WUen purVue a criWical analyViV of WUe muVic viTeo aV a Wool anT emerging arW formH wUicU iV uVeful in repreVenWing WUe black experience in virWual Vpace. LaVWlyH an analyViV of one MUPLVP·V ÓRXU QH\ RI VHOI-representation and identif ication thro ugh music video production will chal lenge the t emporal fixity o f this experience, one that is often

PLVŃRQŃHLYHG MV ´GRJJHGO\ PRQRŃX OPXUMO QMPLRQMO MQG HP OQRŃHQPULѵ2 and pr ovide

insight into an understanding of blackness that defies Hip Hop regionalism and archaic

geographic binaries. TUe ubiquiWy of WUe Vcreen iV unTeniable. ReVWing in our pockeWVH on our TeVkVH

anT nex W Wo u V wUen w e Vleep; Vcr eenV Uave b ecome WUe fi rVW WUing we Vee in W Ue morning anT WUe laVW WUing we cUeck aW nigUW. TUuV VpaWiallyH WUe Vcreen UaV become

1 Paul Gilroy, The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard

UP, 1993) 2 IbiT.H 80.

1

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JOURNAL OF HIP HOP STUDIES .

PRUH SHUYMVLYH MQG POH YLVXMO PRUH SRRHUIXOB GRUHHQ 0MVVH\ RULPHV POMP ´$V M UHVXOP of the fact that it is conceptualized as created out of social relations, space is by its very nature full of power and symbolism, a complex web of relations of domination and subordination, of solidarity and co-RSHUMPLRQBµ3

It is precisely this concept of space that

I will apply to the scope of this paper. In doing so, I hope to address the following questions: Where is black identity contested? How is black identity asserted? What role do music videos have in representing black identity?

The Music Video

TUe mu Vic viTeo UaV been overl ookeT aV Vim ply a by-proTucW of an ove rly commercialiVeT muVic inTuVWry. RelegaWing iW Wo WUe VWaWuV of commercial raWUer WUan arWH UoweverH TeWracWV from meaning anTH conVequenWlyH aV Miane RailWon anT Paul PaWVon conWenT in WUeir work on WUe muVic viTeo anT WUe poliWicV oI UHSUHVHQPMPLRQ ´MŃMGHPLŃ

RRUN RQ PXVLŃ YLGHR LV QRP ŃRPPRQBµ4

I argue that the music video is important as a

site of technological advancement as well as an articulation of spatial presence. Through an exploration of these elements, the usefulness of the music video as an instrument to

articulate identity will become evident. No longer confineT Wo cable WeleviVion programming anT ÓTV-curaWeT playliVWV

WUaW Tomin aWeT WUe We leviVion V creenV of WUe 1980V anT 1990VH WUe aTvenW of mobi le WecUnology UaV creaW eT a venu e wUereby arWiVW V can proTuc e muVic viTeoV WUaW neceVVarily cUallenge previouVly enfor ceT reVWricWionV anT cenVorVUip ru leV. ATTiWionallyH viTeoV can cUallenge WUe WaVWeV of image proTucerV wUo previouVly UelT WUe reignV in viTeo proTucWion anT TiVWribuWion. ConVumerV are noW forceT Wo aTUere Wo WUe olT Wop-Town VyVWem of meTia TiVWribuWion anTH aV WecUnology TemocraWiVeV WUe

proceVV of SURGXŃPLRQ MQG ŃRQVX PSPLRQ ´P OH VMPH PHŃOQRORJLŃMO LQIUMVPUXŃ PXUH POMP

allows record companies to promote their products more widely [enables] consumers to circumvent these off icial channels of broadcast and , instead, redist ribut e the music videos which POH\ GHHP VLJQLILŃMQPBµ5

Railton and Watson contend that this process

allows music videos to experience a much longer shelf life and to find reintroduction into pop culture more readily due to their immediate availability on websites that host content and make it availab le, lar gely, for free such as Youtube and Vimeo.6 Óore imporWanWlyH conWemporary viTeo proTucWion iV able Wo eaV ily bypaVV corporaWe WaVWe making anT proTuce more culWurally ValienW work. TUiV proceVV of TemocraWiVaWion UaV proviTeT black arWiVWV WUe abiliWy Wo Uire black proTucWion companieV Wo beWWer arWiculaWe POHLU R RQ LGHQPLP\ B %MOGRLQ RULPHV ´G XH PR YLGH R PUMLQLQJ POHVH SRVLPLRQV OMYH

3Doreen Massey, "Politics and Space/Time," Place and the Politics of Identity, ed. Michael Keith and

Steve Pile, (London: Routledge, 1993), 156. 4 Miane RailWon anT Paul PaWVonH Music Video and the Politics of Representation, (Edinburgh:

Edinburgh UP, 2011), 2. 5 IbiT.H 6.

6 IbiT.

2Journal of Hip Hop Studies, Vol. 3 [2016], Iss. 1, Art. 9

VIRTUAL SPACE .

bypassed the white male unions that control apprenticeship systems and employment

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TUe p rominence of WUe mu Vic v iTeo alVo reVWV in iWV acceVVib iliWy. PUen WUe TeVkWop compuWer became mobile in WUe firVW TecaTe of WUe WwenWy-firVW cenWuryH meTia acUieveT emancipaWion from WUe living room anT VcreenV began Wo occupy public Vpace. RailWon anT PaPVRQ PMNH POLV HYHQ IXUPOHU ´HQGHHG LQ POH SOMQQLQJ MQG RUJMQLVMPLRQ RI the social environment the design and management of screen light is often seen to be HYHU\ NLP MV YLPMO MV POH GHVLJQ MQG PMQMJHPHQP RI QMPXUMO OLJOPBµ8

Thus the video is no

longer consumed as a secondary product but rather as primary content. Additionally, the impact of an increasingly visualised culture requires that we examine the visual with a more nuanced approach. Visual culture theorist Nicholas Mirzoeff contends that, ´7OLV JO obalisation of the visual, taken c ollectively, deman ds new means of

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impact of t he musi c video and necessitates a st ronger focus on visual content production. If we aUH PR ŃRPSUHOHQG POH PXVLŃ YLGHR·V SRRHU MV M PRRO RH PXVP ILUVP explore the role of music in black movement.

Black Movement, Music, and (Post) Regionality

Hip Hop UaV UaT a conViTerable amounW of influence in WUe communicaWion of black iTenWiWy in NorWU America. To beWWer unTerVWanT WUiV pUenomenonH aWWenWion muVW be paiT Wo WUe migraWory naWure of black muVicH wUicU UaV alwayV been cUaracWeriVeT by movemenW. ArWiVW ORS-2QH UMSV RQ POH PUMŃN ´+LS +RS ILYHVµ ´+LS MQG +RS LV PRUH than music / Hip is the knowledge, hop is the movement / Hip and Hop is intelligent

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%XP POH PRYHPHQP RH·UH GLVŃXVVLQJ OHUH LV QRP UHVPULŃPHG PR GMQŃH UMPOHU it is related to the manner in which Hip Hop emerged as a result of black migration across the Atlantic and the resulting flows of music and style from Africa to North America and from North America back to Europe and beyond.11 *LOUR\·V MUJXPHQP LQ OLV ŃOMSPHU ´-HRHOV %URXJOP IURP %RQGMJHµ MVVHUPV POMP music and musical style were the only forms of language that were transportable for HQVOMYHG $IULŃ MQV ŃRPLQJ PR POH QHR RRU OGB HQ ROMP OH U HIHUV P R MV POH ´7RSRV RI

8QVM\MNLOLP\µ *LOUR\ Ń RQPHQGV POMP LQMŃŃ HVVLNLOLP\ PR PUMGLPLR QMO RHVPHU Q IRUPV RI

literacy gave black music disproportional importance as it replaced written and spoken language.12 TUe mobiliWy of muVic anT iWV abiliWy Wo WreVpaVV Vocial anT linguiVWic lineV lenW Hip Hop iWV neceVVary rooWeTneVV in inWerWexWualiWy. SWuarW Hall remarkV WUaW WUiV

7 Davarian Baldwin, "Black Empires, White Desires: The Spatial Politics of Identity in the Age of

Hip Hop," Black Renaissance 2.2 (1999), 156. 8 Miane RailWon anT Paul PaWVonH Music Video and the Politics of Representation, (Edinburgh:

Edinburgh UP, 2011), 7. 9 NicUolaV ÓirYoeffH An Introduction to Visual Culture, (London: Routledge, 1999), 4. 10 ORS-OneH Hip Hop Lives, Koch Records, 2007, MP3. 11 Paul GilroyH The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard

UP, 1993) 12 IbiT.H 74.

3

JOURNAL OF HIP HOP STUDIES .

PHQGHQŃ\ LV SMUP MQG SMUŃHO RI ´POH NOMŃN H[SHULHQŃH MV M Giaspora experience, ...the consequences which thi s carries for t he process o f unsettling, r ecombination,

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The reduction of black identity to one idea is impossible. Gilroy remarks

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such an identity could exist only detracts from the complexities of black identity. He IXUPOHU H[SOMLQV POMP ´ROMP LV PRUH VLJQLILŃ MQP IRr pr esent purpos es is that in the Africentric discour se on which both sides o f opinion draw, the idea of a diaspora composed of communities that are both similar and GLIIHUHQP PHQGV PR GLVMSSHMU B B Bµ14

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UHJLRQMO +LS +RSµ JHRJUMSO\B )RU *LOUR\ MQG +MOO POHUH LV M PHQVLRQ LQ POH LPSOLŃLP desire to articulate blackness while simultaneously allowing for an evolving experience

upon which the black diaspora is rooted. PUile r egion-Vpecific Hip Hop gaineT viVibili Wy W Uro ugU muVic viTeo

proliferaWion anT aV conVumpWion of muVic UaV VUifWeT from purely aural Wo a mixWure of aural anT viVualH I argue WUaW Hip Hop UaV enWereT a poVW-regional pUaVe wUerein WUe virWual Vpace of WUe inWerneW anT mobile meTia Uave alloweT arWiVWV Wo TiVVolve regional borTerV anT foVWer more fluiT iTenWiWieV. TUe populariWy of a Vong iV now meaVureT in viewV on YouWube raWUer WUan playV on WUe raTio. Hip Hop regionaliVmH in a VenVeH UaV become obVoleWe aV OenTULŃN IMPMU IURP IRV $QJHOHV ŃMQ LQVLVP POMP ´I'm Makaveli's offspring / I'm the King of New York / King of the Coast, one hand, I juggle them

NRPOµ15

ROLOH GUMNH IURP 7RURQPR NRMVPV POMP ´$OO P\ H[HV OLYH LQ 7H[MV OLNH H P George Strait / Or they go to Georgia State where, tuition is handled / By some random QLJJM POMP OLYH LQ $POMQPMBµ16 Music videos, now a product of mobile media, directly reflect the fluidity of Hip Hop and black identity. Digital media provides Hip Hop the opportunity to defy archaic binaries and regionalism, and instead foments unity around a post-regional blackness that opposes white supremacy, police violence and deeply rooted racial inequality. With the focus of anxiety no longer directed towards other black comm unities, rappers like K endrick Lamar reinvi gorate claims to unified

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$GGLPLRQMOO\ IMPMU·V O\ULŃV PLUURU POH MQ[LHP\ MQG POH IHMU RI LPSXUH MUP ŃRPPRGLILŃMPLRQ MQG GLOXPLRQ ROLOH HVPMNOLVOLQJ POH GHVLUH IRU ´UHMOµ blackness. Earl Sweatshirt explains LQ POH VRQJ ´FOXPµ POMP OH·V ´7RR NOMŃN IRU POH white kids, and too white for the blacks / From honor roll to cracking locks off them

13 Stuart Hall, Stuart Hall: Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies, (London: Routledge 1996), 447. 14 Paul GilroyH The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard

VIRTUAL SPACE .

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With anxiety surrounding difference and definition, the assertion and preservation of blackness are at t he heart of post- regional black ident ity for mation. The struggl e becomes that of maintaining authenticity and is best exemplified in spatial resistance. In other words, since relevance is no longer directly tied to origin, importance rests in developing authenticity by other means. In this instance it can be derived and asserted through physical resistance in space (be it physical or virtual).

Space and Authenticity

Ńor Hip Hop arWiVWVH rooWing muVic in place waV a meanV of aVVerWing auWUenWiciWy. .QRRLQJ GHIHQGLQJ MQG UHSUHVHQPLQJ RQH·V RULJLQ OMV SHUVLVPHG MV M NH\ PHQHP RI +LS +RS PXVLŃ SURGXŃPLRQ MQG RLPO POH PXVLŃ·V NHJLQQLQJV URRPHG LQ POH 6RXPO %URQ[ POH focus on Hip Hop r elied on the New York Hip Hop scene. This r eliance, or ´RYHUHPSOMVLVµ MV FMVSMU 0HOYLOOH MQG GMYLG +HVPRQGOMOJO ŃRQPHQG ´ŃMQ OHMG PR difficulties in accounting for other variants of Hip Hop culture, not only on the U.S. West Coast, but in Houston, in Jamaica, LQ %ULPMLQ MQG HOVHROHUHBµ19

In response, the

contemporary American Hip Hop s cene has made a point to generate regionall y specific Hip Hop sounds and styles. From Southern to Midwestern, Los Angeles to the Bay Area, success in the music industry was tied to regional representation in order to challenge the perceived homogeneity of black music and identity in America. Michael Keith and Steve Pile, introducing their collection of works on place and the politics of

identity, echo this point: NarraWiveV of iTenWiWy formaWion in mainVWream Vocial Vcience Uave frequenWly

Vpoken Wo an inWerplay of commonaliWy anT Tifference WUaW eraVeV VpaWialiWy WUrougU a UomogeniYaWion of WUe V pecific ² not a p ro cess of misrepresentation through over- generalization but instead a naturalization of particular experiences within a frequently implicit spatial frame of reference.20 AV WUe lineV anT TiviVionV WUaW forgeT early Hip Hop rivalrieV Uave TiminiVUeT in poVW-regional Hip Hop culWureH auWUenWiciWy UaV remaineT a neceVVary componenW of

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authenticity is best articulated in these instances through the stance that the artistic SURGXŃPLRQ LV SXUH MQG XQPRXŃOHG N\ MQ\ PHMQV RI GLOXPLRQBµ21 With the following two Hop in WUe UniWeT OingTomH" Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop outside the USA, (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan

Hip HopH" Black Renaissance 2.2 (1999): 141. 5

JOURNAL OF HIP HOP STUDIES .

examples, I will illustrate the connection between purity, resistance and space in Hip Hop and the manner in which they inform authenticity.

The Block Party and the Sideshow

In 2005, Amer ican comedian Dave Chappelle, wit h French di rector Mic hel Gondry, ventured to organize (and document) a c oncert in the hear t of one of %URRNO\Q·V ROGHVP NOMŃN ŃRPPX QLPLHV %HGIRUG 6PX\YHVMQPB 7OH JRMO FOMSS HOOH articulates in the documentary, was to bring together some of the most influential black Hip Hop artists and to stage a free performance in the centre of the historically black community. The documentar y and the performances are rife wit h symb ols and

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commodification of black music in mainstream markets and he necessarily situates the concert in a poorer community in order to emphasise his classist critique of the music LQGXVPU\B GMYMULMQ %MOGRLQ LQ OLV MUPLŃOH ´%OMŃN (PSLUHV JOLPH GHVLUHVµ H[SOMLQV POMP much of black authenticity has r ested in a rejection of middle c lass c onsum ptive over public displays of the black good life society, exemplified in the emergence of a

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Notably, this is exemplified in the emergence of gangsta rap

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Locating

the performance within a historically black community, Chappelle attempts to preserve the pu rity of the mus ic, unb urdened by commercialism and distortio n. Hi p Hop GUXPPHU 4XHVPORYH H[SOMLQV LQ MQ MVLGH RLPO FOMSSHOOH ´$OO RI XV OMYHBBBROMP RH OMYH LQ ŃRPPRQ LV POMP RXU MXGLHQŃH GRHVQ·P ORRN OLNH XVB $QG LP·V POH VMPH IRU LGMYH

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In other words, American black artists are faced with the predicament whereby the material they produce and intend for black audiences is being shared and consumed, largely, by white middle clas s communit ies, who are less equipped to receive or interpret the art in the manner in which the artist intended. Thus the art might not resonate with some audiences as effectively as it will with others. It is worth QRPLQJ POMP POH QMPH RI POH GRŃXPHQPMU\ MQG POH SHUIRUPMQŃH RMV VLPSO\ ´%ORŃN 3MUP\Bµ The block party in New York has always held a very special social, political and spatial significance for poorer diaspora communities. It has served as a space for gathering,

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22 Davarian Baldwin, "Black Empires, White Desires: The Spatial Politics of Identity in the Age of

Hip Hop," Black Renaissance 2.2 (1999), 151. 23 IbiT.

24 GMYH FOMSSHOOH·V %ORŃN 3MUP\, DVD, Dir. Michel Gondry (2005; Prod. Bob Yari Productions; Distr.

Rogue Pictures) Film. 6Journal of Hip Hop Studies, Vol. 3 [2016], Iss. 1, Art. 9

VIRTUAL SPACE .

ŃXOPXUMO VSMŃHVµ POMP RHUH ŃUHMPHG LQ POH 8QLPHG .LQJGRP ROLŃO OHG PR VRXQG system culture.25

90V aV a Vocial movemenW arWiculaWing American blackneVV in WUe miTVW of Teep Vocial

MQG UMŃLMO LQHTXMOLP\ RQ POH $PHULŃMQ RHVP ŃRMVPB G- 9OMG·V GRŃXPHQPMU\ Ghostride the Whip, explores the beginnings of hyphy music in the Bay Area, as well as the advent of the Sideshow, a term for the public displays of reckless driving, as well as music and dance specific to the Bay Area Hip Hop style. Mac Dre, the godfather of the hyphy

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Like the block parties of New York and the sound systems of London, the sideshows of the Bay Area provide the community with a space to explore cultural

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white power structure. HypUyH wUicU eVVenWially TrawV iWV meaning from a manipulaWion of WUe worT UyperH connoWeV an enWire VpiriW aV well aV a genre of muVic anT a VWyle of Tance. HypUy performance iV a rejecWion of WUe mainVWream anT an inWenWional TeviaWion from wUaW iV Vocially accepWable. TUuV WUe Tance moveV are Veemingly arrUyWUmic anT WUe parlance ofWen uninWelligible. HypUy VerveV aV a TirecW reVponVe Wo unTer-repreVenWaWion WUrougU VubverVion. Muring a sideshow, the driv er spins his car around in circ les, produc ing smoke in a show of prowess and sy mbolically asserting control over the street and public space in general. Another style of hyphy driving is called ghostriding whereby a driver will exit the car while it is in motion and walk alongside it for several blocks. Using the car as an instrument and the street as a canvas, the youth challenge authority and establish an identity against the perceived order. Thus hyphy is not simply a style of music or a type of dance. It is not reducible to one particular idea. Rather, it is part of the story of Hip Hop, which, as +HVPRQGOMOJO MQG 0HOYLOOH ŃRQŃOXGH ´LŃMQ NH VHHQ@ MV one of a number of elements that can be recombined to make important statements

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Cultural theorists place a great deal of emphasis on the idea of recombination as a means of reimaging and representing identity.28 Pe Uave Veen

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Hip Hop videos as a tool, we can explore identity formation in virtual space as well. SiWuaWing Veveral viTeoV in a poVW-regional conWexW will noW only proviTe a viVual

aiT buW will alVo VupporW WUe claim WUaW Wime anT Vpace are inexWricably WieT Wo iTenWiWy

25David Hesmondhalgh and Caspar Melville, "Urban Breakbeat Culture - Repercussions of Hip

Hop in the United Kingdom," Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop outside the USA (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan Hop in WUe UniWeT OingTomH" Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop Outside the USA, (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan

UP, 2001), 97. 28 See Paul GilroyH The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, (Cambridge, MA:

Harvard UP, 1993); Stuart Hall, "New Ethnicities," Stuart Hall: Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies,

(London: Routledge, 1996). 7

JOURNAL OF HIP HOP STUDIES .

formation as I have introduced above. With this in mind, I turn now to four music videos, which, I assert, represeQP NRPO POH IOXLGLP\ RI NOMŃN LGHQPLP\ MV RHOO MV POH YLGHR·V capacity to represent and communicate mobility.

Drake and the Post-Regional Rap Game

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influential Hip Hop artist to date. AXNUH\ ´GUMNHµ *UMOMP VPMUPHG OLV ŃMUHHU LQ VORR business as a child actor on the hit Canadian teen drama, Degrassi. He began producing rap albums in 2007 and, with a white mother, a black father, and roots in a prominent Jewish neighbourhood in Toronto, GrMOMP·V LGHQPLP\ OMV NHHQ SURNOHPMPLŃ MQG MV M result, endured scrutin y and contestation. Following t he traj ectory of his career, a n H[SORUMPLRQ RI GUMNH·V PXVLŃ YLGHRV RLOO UHYHMO ORR OLV LGHQPLP\ OMV HYROYHG MORQJVLGH the establishment of his authenticity. I argue that, in order to be taken seriously as a Hip Hop artist, Drake had to first r oot his identity in obscurity and with respect t o his SUHGHŃHVVRUV NHIRUH OH ŃRXOG SUHVHQP OLPVHOI MV M ´PL[HG-UMŃHµ -HRLVO UMSSHU IURP

Canada. For this paper I will lRRN MP IRXU YLGHRV LQ SMUPLŃXOMU ´6XŃŃHVVIXOµ ´7OH 0RPPRµ

´+K)5µ MQG ´6PMU PHG IURP POH %RPPRPµ SURGX ŃHG LQ 200E 2011 2012 MQG 2013 respectively.

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