Hip-Hop and Masculinity: What is masculinity in the 21st Century?

Client/Project CREATIVE SEMIOTICS LTD.
HIP-HOP AND MASCULINITY
What is masculinity today in the 21st Century?
Wednesday 26th September 2018

Client/Project CREATIVE SEMIOTICS LTD.Cultural Insight Forum - Masculinity CREATIVE SEMIOTICS LTD.
Kids in the Bronx, 1973 - BBC, 40th Anniversary of Hip-Hop
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130809-the-party-where-hip-hop-was-born

What is Hip-Hop?
Hip-hop is a rich and vibrant culture mostly from
African-Americans from the streets, born in New
York in 1973. Unifying gangs involved in turf
war.
Hip-hop has 5 elements of DJ-ing or Turntablism,
rapping, breaking, writing (street art and graffiti)
and the forgotten 5th element of knowledge.
It has since given its name to a coded cultural
form associated with beat heavy music
accompanied by rapping coming with set of
lifestyle, semantic, language, gestural codes etc
CREATIVE SEMIOTICS LTD.Cultural Insight Forum - Masculinity

With KRS-ONE after the “Hip-Hop on Trial” Intelligence Square debate,
Barbican, London, June, 2012 – see him humour my W. London gang signs

Hip-Hop in my life
I was born the month after hip-hop was born – in
September 1973 – and I came to it relatively late
– Beastie Boys and Run DMC were my first
albums.
Hip-hop raised me. As a mixed race kid I always
found it difficult to belong. Hip-hop was the glue
that educated me about race, identity and racism,
gave me confidence, shared interests and made
me proud and ultimately helped me to be myself.
I have grown up with it and it has been a mostly
positive and galvanising force in my life –
spiritual resource – I see its flaws too but it isCREATIVE SEMIOTICS LTD.Cultural Insight Forum - Masculinity

Three of the best books written on hip music & culture, Black Noise by Tricia
Rose,Can’t Stop Won’t Stop by Jeff Chang Hip-Hop America by Nelson George

My Qualifications
Made a film and documentary for an ESOMAR
paper in 2013 entitled Hip-Hop Sub-Culture or
Super Brand – disentangling its brand values.
Produced hip-hop Stag Tracks where I learned
about the links between hip-hop and masculinity.
Performer of slam poetry and hip-hop at open
mics since 2009 – hip-hop rhythm is intoxicating
Member of #HipHopEd an organization dedicated
to deploying hip-hop knowledge in UKUS schools.

ADBUSTERS TRUMP
PICTURE…
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua – two different version of British masculinity

What is masculinity?
Semiotics argues that we make sense of our world
through binary oppositions which are culturally
constructed – MASCULINE-FEMININE
included:
“Identities, masculinities are invented categories
…identities are necessary fictions…systems of
representation, then, are not a reflection of a pre-
given masculinity fixed outside outside of
representation . Rather, they actively construct
the cultural meanings we give to masculinities.”
(301)
Stuart Hall Representation: Cultural Practices (Sage: 2001)

Toxic masculinity has become a big issue – Martina Olbertova, a Semiofest
colleague said: “in order to emancipate women, we need to liberate men...”

Masculinity in Crisis
Masculinity and ‘masculinities’ are in flux across
the world – toxic masculinity and lost
masculinity.
“We are living at an important and fruitful
moment now, for it is clear to men that the
images of adult manhood given by the popular
cultural are worn out; a man can no
longer depend on them. By the time a man is
thirty five he knows that the images of the right
man, the tough man, the true man which he
received in high school do not work in life…”
Robert Bly Iron John: A Book About Men (Element: 1990)CREATIVE SEMIOTICS LTD.Cultural Insight Forum - Masculinity

Channel 5’s Gangland Turf War drew criticism for its rather decontextualized
depiction of gang life and voyeuristic, focus on danger, violence, machismo

Hyper-Masculinity
Demonisation of black youth as underclass
Ascribing of impulisivity, primitivism, savagery
Fetishization of black cool, swagger sexuality
Moral panics around mugging, knife crime
Foregroundig of gangsterism and thuggery

This classic, and controversial Pirelli image draws for its visual power from
narratives about black masculinity – fetishizing its virility and sexuality, but in
seeking to superficially subvert them it only results in perpetuating them.

Media Stereotyping
Worth remembering that portrayal of hip-hop
that is a predominantly black artform comes
within the context of a history of stereotyping of
black tropes
“Stereotyping deploys a strategy of ‘splitting’. It divides the normal
and acceptable from the abnormal and the unacceptable. It then
excludes or expels everything which does not fit, which is different.
Stereotyping is part of the maintenance of social and symbolic
order…between the ‘normal’ and the ‘deviant’, the ‘normal’ and the
‘pathological’. And it tends to occur most where there are gross
inequalities of power…”
“Use of black people in particular in advertising often reduces their
humanity – and stereotyping of black men (swagger, hyper
masculine), Asian Men (orthodox, timid), black women, (sassy, hyper-
sexualised), and Asian Women (oppressed and exotic) is surprisingly
enough still rather present within our media and consumerist

Many true to hip-hop culture are aware of the distinction between hip-hop
culture and the industry that tends to emphasize the more salacious aspects in
order to merchandise artists and records. Hip-hop is often portrayed much of the
time as a pathogenic societal meme or as a sport of hyper-masculinity.

HH Culture vs Industry
Discourses of mainstream hip-hop closely aligned
with rampant capitalism of a Social Darwinist
bent – one-up-manship, self-aggrandisement and
a capital accumulation ‘by any means necessary’
Get Rich or Die Tryin’ – Trap Music - zero sum
game – succeeding through dominating others
Militarism, violence, gun play and misogeny are
endemic in (films, porn) popular culture
Media focus on negatives, this is not always
racism sometimes just lazy journalism,
unconscious bias, basic ignorance, or lack of
countervailing notions. CREATIVE SEMIOTICS LTD.Cultural Insight Forum - Masculinity

ADBUSTERS TRUMP
PICTURE…
Jay-Z and Nas are two prominent artists who have taken different trajectories
and tend to cultivate different personas in their lyrics – Jay-Z the hustler CEO
entrepreneur (cleaves to the Ruler), vs Nas the prophet-messiah (the Hero).

Male Archetypes in HH
Hip-hop probably runs the gamut of archetypes:s
important to recognise where some of this comes from. For me it;s not a EXPLORE
SAGE – Lupe Fiasco – offering cult knowledge
RULER – Jay-Z – tales from the top table
JESTER – Eminem – sending up US pop culture
CAREGIVER – J Cole – heartfelt pleas, tributes
OUTLAW – Tupac Shakur, thug life, maverick
LOVER – Drake – sensitive and tender lyrics
CREATOR – Kanye West – inventive artistry
REGULAR GUY – The Streets - every day stories

From my personal experience I can attest to the therapeutic qualities of hip-hop
as anger management and trauma dispersal. As reported by #HipHopEd
At New Visions Charter High School in the Bronx, it is being used for therapy.
http://hiphoped.com/hip-hop-used-in-therapy/.

Hip-Hop as Resource: Self-
Reflexivity
“Modernity confronts the individual with a
complex diversity of choices, and… at the same
time offers little help as to which options should
be selected, in the context of a post traditional
order, the self becomes a self-reflexive project.”
Anthony Giddens, Modernity and Self Identity (Polity Press,1991)
(Pol
Confessional format – writing lyrics in particular
is a place to reflect on one’s actions…writing
about one’s environment is a process of auto-
communication in which individual is changed.

Das Racist, a hip-hop group taking an ironic stance to hip-hop and lk sdlk alksnd
asnd lans dna sld;n alsdn lasn dlakns dlkans dkna lsdkn alskn nlkl

Hip-Hop as Resource: Identity
Formation
Learning how to belong – working out identity
via the imagine community of hip-hop and
creativity.
Giving a voice to often inter-sectional voices of all
types, in terms of race, ethnicity, gender,
e.g. South Asians in US many of whom adopt a
hip-hop mentality as a political stance. “It is in
reaction to racism and their parents that hip hop
desis attempt to create ‘alternative desiness’ and
blackness through hip hop.” Nitisha Sharma

Donald Glover (*Childish Gambino)’s video This is America caused a storm and
was a provocative vision of America and racial violence and with the creatively
disruptive aesthetic and critical stance that hip-hop is known for.

Hip-Hop as Resource: Critical
Stance
Hip-hop knowledge is questioning, curious and
innately questioning of authorities. It gives every
marginal person a voice and spits truth to power.
Disenfranchisement is the centripetal force of
hip-hop culture. This is why although it comes
from Black culture it has been claimed by the
world.
Hip-hop is a folk wisdom and alternative critical
theory parallel with feminism, Marxism etc etc.
As PE’s Chuck D said: ‘mental, self-defensive
fitness’. CREATIVE SEMIOTICS LTD.Cultural Insight Forum - Masculinity

Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company - Akala is a prime example of the confluence of
hip-hop and creative intelligence. His 1Xtra Fire in the Booth freestyle is a good
place to start:
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/the-hip-hop-shakespeare-company-shall-i-
compare-thee-to-jay-z/e

Hip-Hop as Resource: Eloquent
Intelligence
Hip-hop is a lyrically rich form which allows self
expression and promotes and values eloquence.
Many who might feel excluded from more elitist
educational contexts and alienated find a home in
hip-hop music and culture. It is an acceptable
way to show wit, eloquence and intelligence
amongst sub–cultures which often denigrate
learning for learning’s sake. This helps develop
critical faculty and advocacy as well as
imaginative cast of mind.

The Breakin Convention at Sadler’s Wells, organized by Jonzi D is a great
expression of the honing of hip-hop skills ethos. There are now plans to found
and build a Hip-Hop Dance and Theatre company to be launched in 2022.
https://www.jazzrefreshed.com/event/breakin-convention-x-jazz-refreshed2018/

Hip-Hop as Resource: Confident
Cultivation
Confidence comes through improving skills:
A passion for self-development, constant struggle,
always striving, overcoming adversity is part of
hip-hop’s modus operandi, so the hustle is not
just commercial but internal - a jihad to overcome
one’s inner demons and inertia. Hip-hop is a part
artform, part culture, part sport and part
business.

Male mental health has become a hot topic of late. CALM, the Campaign Against
Living Miserably is a charity founded to raise awareness of and reduce the
stigma around male suicide. Research has shown self-censorship of suicidal
thoughts under worry about not being seen to be manly is a killer.

Mental Health: Omerta of
Silence
“Depression is a silent epidemic in men – (they) hide their
condition from family, friends, and themselves to avoid
the stigma of depression’s ‘unmanliness’.
Problems we think of as typically male – difficulty with
intimacy, workaholism, alcoholism, abusive behaviour,
and rage – are really attempts to escape depression.”
Terrence Real, I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy
of Male Depression (Scribner, 1997)
Post-Slave Trauma –passed down in African - American
males - black people are disproportionately affected by
mental health issues – poetry and art are an outlet and
form of therapy – Steven Pressfield – “art and addiction
different ways of coping with the pain of being human”.

Stormzy opened up about his battles with mental health – but also called out
NME ‘s insensitivity for publicizing his struggle without proper consultation.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/stormzy-vs-nme

New Paradigms: Brave
Vulnerability
Recently a few prominent hip-hop artists broke a
taboo so as to share about a mental health issue.
Royce Da 5-9 – ADDICTION
Kanye West - BI–POLAR
Stormy – DEPRESSION
Scorzayzee – SCHIZOPHRENIA
Young people are easily influenced; so this helps
to shift social norms to eventually destigmatise it.

This is Yasiin Bey, the hip-hop artist formerly known as Mos Def undergoing
force feeding (standard procedure) for Guantanamo inmates. He’s protesting to
raise awareness of the extrajudicial incarceration of terrorist suspects.
https://thedisorderofthings.com/2013/07/30/bodies-in-pain-yasiin-bey-and-the-force-feeding-of-hunger-strikers-at-
guantanamo-bay/

New Paradigms: Conscious
Activism
There are prominent hip-hop artists who use
their voice to support a progressive close to their
heart.
LUDACRIS - NON–VIOLENCE
AKALA – VEGANISM
YASIIN BEY – HUMAN RIGHTS
PROFESSOR GREEN – SUICIDE
Is this a recalibration of the old tired, toxic Alpha
male – into something more Gamma or Omega..?

CHRIS ARNING
Mobile: 07951 160 921
Skype: chrisarning
E-Mail: chris@creativesemiotics.co.uk
Website: www.creativesemiotics.co.uk

Hip-Hop and Masculinity: What is masculinity in the 21st Century?

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