Baudrillard on what is real: "an escalation of the true or lived experience." It's all about selling your stories isn't it? The reader talks about Clapton gaining the grammy because he sung about his son that died in a freak accident. Especially in the world of hip hop, it is so important to sell your stories. This is why it is actually quite a good career move to get involved in a shooting at a night club like sean combs did, and didn't 50 cent get shot like 7 times? It's a pluss if the event is covered by the media to make it seem more real, but even if it isn't, as long as you sell it like it is and make it believable for your listeners then it has authentic value.
The Pussycat Dolls sell themselves as a rather slutty, post feminist girl band, but for all we know they might bake cookies and watch Martha Stuart. Because it is believable, it has authentic value - it's not about keepin' it real, it's about selling it real.
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Interesting point, especially your sign off line. Oh, and about 50 Cent, I think it was 9 times...but the figure rises all the time. This comment could already be out of date...
Thanks for bringing up this point because it is kind of what I would like to write my research paper on. I agree that in popular music (especially hip-hop) it's not about what's real, but about the image being portrayed and how "real" it seems. Rapper Ja Rule has caught a lot of flak from gangsta rappers like 50 Cent for claiming to be part of street violence as a kid, when in fact, he was not. I also think it's interesting how the idea of "realness" has evolved as the overall sound of popoular hip-hop has changed (some would say for the worst). It's not at all uncommon now for a hip-hop artist to make the whole soundtrack for a film, star in it, make heaps of money and still be considered a true "gangsta." And yes, I'm talking about movies like Get Rich or Die Tryin'.
For my paper I'd somehow like to make the comparison that this image of black males as gangster, whatever that may mean, is a new form of minstrelsy. Obviously, the circumstances are different, but I think the stereotyping is still there. Anyway, thanks again for the comment. It gave me a decent starting point.
Thats a cool topic. i can see how the steoro-type does act as a conventional image of blackdom. I would be interested to see how you are going to relate it to the fact that minstrels were white people pretending to be black people. Nabeel mentioned eminem as a minstrel figure. Unless you argue that 50cent is kind of a puppet to whitedom i dont really see how he is a minstrel and not just a stereotype but that would be to take rap out of black hands.
Making cheddar, benjamins, or dollar dollar dolaar bills yo is a central part of the gangsta ethos so there is really no contradiction in being gangsta and rich. I dont think you can be Ghetto and rich. Ghetto is more like a vege garden in a stolen shopping cart or a prom dress made from a basketball singlet.
soooooo: you can be ghetto and gangsta, gangsta and rich but not ghetto and rich
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