This research studied three women who have performed in hip hop music videos. Previous literature concerning these women, including memoirs, men’s magazine interviews, and Black feminist scholarship, has situated them as video vixens, terminology that all three participants disputed applied to them. The research was completed in two parts—a face-to-face phenomenological interview and a semi-structured telephone interview. In the phenomenological interview, the initial question—what are your experiences as a woman who dances/models in music videos?—was posed. The answers ranged from musings about professionalism and the lack thereof in the industry to the politics of skin color and nationality. The semi-structured interview allowed the participants to clarify or expound on experiences they discussed during the first interview.

In recent years, film, art, new media, and music video works created by black makers have demonstrated an increasingly “post-black” impulse. The term “post-black” was originally coined in response to innovative practices and works created by a generation of black artists who were shaped by hip-hop culture and Afro-modernist thinking. I use the term as a theoretical tool to discuss what lies beyond the racial character of a work, image, or body. Using a post-black theoretical methodology I examine a range of works by black filmmakers Kathleen Collins Prettyman and Lee Daniels, visual artists Wangechi Mutu and Jean-Michel Basquiat, new media artist Nettrice Gaskins, and music video works of hip-hop artists and performer Erykah Badu. I discuss how black artists and filmmakers have moved through Darby English’s notion of “black representational space” as a sphere where bodies and works are beholden to specific historical and aesthetic expectations and limitations. I posit that black representational space has been challenged by what I describe as “metaphysical space” where bodies produce a new set of possibilities as procreative, fluid, liberated, and otherworldly forces. These bodies are neither positive nor negative; instead they occupy the in-between spaces between life and death, time and space, digital and analog, interiority and exteriority, vulnerability and empowerment. Post-black visual culture displays the capacities of black bodies as creative forces that shape how we see and experience visual culture. My methodology employs textual analysis of visual objects that articulate a post-black impulse, paying close attention to how these works compel viewers to see other dimensions of experience. In three chapters I draw from theoretical work in race and visuality, affect theory, phenomenology, and interiority from the likes of Charles Johnson, Frantz Fanon, Elena del Río, Sara Ahmed, Saidiya Hartman, and Elizabeth Alexander. This study aims to create an interdisciplinary analysis that charts new directions for exploring and re-imaging black bodies as subjects and objects of endless knowledge and creative potential.

Th. doct.--Éthnol.--Paris--Éc. hautes études sci. sociales, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 235-241.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 452 p. : col. ill. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation contributes to the body of literature on consumer behavior and marketing communication by exploring how brand mentions in music influence memory, attitudes, and purchase intentions. Even though the definitions of product placement have expanded to include a variety of media, there is no scholarly literature that explores this phenomena. More importantly, there are conceptual differences between product placement and brand mentions that differentiate this form of promotion. Thus, two studies were conducted to test the influence of brand mentions on hip-hop consumers ages 18-36. Study One (n=204) used a hip-hop song created specifically for this research with four brands in the lyrics with varying degrees of prominence in the song and congruence with hip-hop culture. Three fictitious press releases were also used to manipulate perceived initiator. A 3x2x2x2 repeated measures with between subjects design was employed to analyze the effects of the executional factors (prominence and congruence), perceived initiator and primary beneficiary, along with involvement on the dependent variables. In Study Two, 30 in-depth interviews were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomena in Study One. The overall findings suggests that brand mentions may be an effective tool to increase brand awareness. In Study One, highly prominent, incongruent brands were remembered more in comparison to high prominent congruent brands, but this effect was reversed in the low prominent conditions. In addition, 87% of the subjects were able to recall at least one brand mentioned in the song. Highly involved participants had more favorable attitudes towards the brands than low involved participants. However, the difference was most evident in the rating of congruent brands. The hypothesized interaction between perceived initiator and involvement was not supported. Additionally, the findings did not support the predicted effects of perceived primary beneficiary. However, findings in Study Two reveal possible explanations. Study Two also revealed four emergent themes that influence the effectiveness of brand mentions in hip-hop music: third person effect, authenticity, consumer skepticism, and ethics. The current research is the first attempt to tackle this phenomena empirically. Thus, there were some limitations as well as many future research directions. / text

In my thesis, I explored the work of the artist Kanye West as a rejected voice of Generation Y. Why was he rejected? Could he, in fact, be the voice? By examining readings of several of his songs and music videos over the span of his career as well as his public interactions, I attempt to properly place West in American culture. As a result of my research, I found West to be an extremely influential artist and an intriguing representation of the 2000s.

With origins in the South Bronx area of New York in the early 1970s, hip-hop culture is now produced and consumed globally. While hip-hop activities can be varied, hip-hop is generally considered to have four forms or “elements”: DJing, MCing, b-boying/b-girling, and graffiti. Although all four elements of hip-hop have become a part of many youth work initiatives across the globe, public debate and controversy continue to surround hip-hop activities. Very little research and literature has explored the complexities involved in the assembling of hip-hop activities in youth work sites of practice using these hip-hop elements. This study attends to the gap in hip-hop and human service literature by tracing how hip-hop activities were assembled in several sites of youth work activity in Christchurch, New Zealand. Actor-network theory (ANT) is the methodological framework used to map the assemblage of hip-hop-youth work activities in this study. ANT follows how action is distributed across both human and non-human actors. By recognising the potential agency of “things”, this research traces the roles played by human actors, such as young people and youth workers, together with those of non-human actors such as funding documents, social media, clothing, and youth venue equipment. This ethnographic study provides rich descriptions or “snapshots” of some of the key socio-material practices that shaped the enactment of hip-hop-youth work activities. These are derived from fieldwork undertaken between October 2009 and December 2011, where participant observation took place across a range of sites of hip-hop-youth work activity. In addition to this fieldwork, formal interviews were undertaken with 22 participants, the majority being youth workers, young people, and youth trust administrators. The ANT framework reveals the complexity of the task of assembling hip-hop in youth work worlds. The thesis traces the work undertaken by both human and non-human actors in generating youth engagement in hip-hop-youth work activities. Young people’s hip-hop interests are shown to be varied, multiple, and continually evolving. It is also shown how generating youth interest in hip-hop-youth work activities involved overcoming young people’s indifference or lack of awareness of the hip-hop resources a youth trust had on offer. Furthermore, the study highlights where hip-hop activities were edited or “tinkered” with to avoid hip-hop “bads”. The thesis also unpacks how needed resources were enlisted, and how funders’ interests were translated into supporting hip-hop groups and activities. By tracing the range of actors mobilised to enact hip-hop-youth work activities, this research reveals how some youth trusts could avoid having to rely on obtaining government funds for their hip-hop activities. The thesis also includes an examination of one youth trust’s efforts to reconfigure its hip-hop activities after the earthquakes that struck Christchurch city in 2010 and 2011. Working both in and on the world, the text that is this thesis is also understood as an intervention. This study constitutes a deliberate attempt to strengthen understandings of hip-hop as a complex, multiple, and fluid entity. It therefore challenges traditional media and literature representations that simplify and thus either stigmatise or celebrate hip-hop. As such, this study opens up possibilities to consider the opportunities, as well as the complexities of assembling hip-hop in youth work sites of practice.

There are potentially negative health impacts of women's internalization of representations of women of color in mainstream on body esteem and weight. This study explores the relationships between mainstream hip hop, body satisfaction and body mass index (BMI) in Mexican descent college-age women. The study predicts that women who regularly listen to mainstream hip hop will be more likely to internalize the images of women. Internalization will predict body satisfaction and body satisfaction will predict BMI. Sixty-five participants completed a self-report survey with these measures. Regularly listening to mainstream hip hop was associated with higher hip hop internalization. Higher internalization was associated with less body satisfaction which, in turn, was associated with a higher BMI. Thus, women who regularly listen to mainstream hip hop and who internalize the images of women seem more critical of their body, which negatively affects their weight.

Bakgrund: I dagens samhälle har varumärken kommit att spela en allt större roll för såväl konsumenter som företag. Varumärken fungerar som en ledsagare i individers sökande efter identitet och samtidigt som en gemensam nämnare eller tillhörighetsfaktor inom olika subkulturer. Företag kan med hjälp av symboliska värden sända ut signaler som stämmer överens med olika individers värderingar och på så sätt attrahera konsumenter och samtidigt ringa in en önskad målgrupp. Dock kan även det motsatta inträffa, det vill säga en annan grupp än den tänkta målgruppen kan komma att adoptera ett företags varumärke och göra detta till en del av gruppens image. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att identifiera och åskådliggöra hur en subkultur kan påverka det symboliska värdet av ett varumärke. Genomförande: För att uppnå syftet har det verkliga fenomenet hip-hopkulturens adoption av varumärket Adidas valts att empiriskt undersökas. Detta utifrån kvalitativa intervjuer gjorda med respondenter från hip-hopkulturen så som bland andra gruppen Latin Kings och Infinite Mass, tillsammans med personer från företaget Adidas, samt analyschefen på MTV Nordic Networks och radioproducenten Stefan Wermelin. Resultat: Denna undersökning visar bland annat på att en subkultur kan påverka det symboliska värdet på ett varumärke genom att inte enbart ta till sig de symboliska karaktärer varumärket står för, utan även överföra subkulturens värderingar på varumärkets image. Emellanåt så inträffar företeelsen att teori och verklighet inte talar samma språk, vilket vidare visas i denna uppsats. Hip-hopkulturens konsumtion av Adidas tjänstgör här som ett konkret exempel på en rådande anomali som bryter det traditionella marknadsföringsparadigmet.

Temos aktualumas: Įvertinus statistinius duomenis apie Lietuvos paauglių padėtį kriminologiniu aspektu (2007 metais nuteisti 1189 nepilnamečiai, 3413 nepilnamečiai buvo įtariami padarę nusikaltimą, www.nplc.lt ) ir žinant hiphopo subkultūros išskirtinį vaidmenį šiuolaikinių paauglių gyvenime, šios subkultūros edukacinių ypatumų nagrinėjimo ir pritaikomumo neformalaus ugdymo kontekste svarba yra beveik neabejotina. Tačiau literatūroje nėra pakankamai informacijos apie tai, kaip galima būtų integruoti hiphopo subkultūrą į neformalaus ugdymo kontekstą. Darbo tikslas: Atskleisti hiphopo subkultūros edukacinius ypatumus jaunimo neformalaus ugdymo kontekste. Tyrimo problema: Neformalus jaunimo ugdymas ir hiphopo subkultūra yra gana nauji reiškiniai Lietuvoje. Hiphopo subkultūros kaip vienos iš paauglius dominančių neformalus švietimo formų ir kaip vienos iš galimų efektyvių priemonių jaunimo neformaliam ugdymui plėtra Lietuvoje galėtų atverti naujas perspektyvas jaunimo neformalaus ugdymo srityje. Todėl ir kyla probleminis klausimas, ar nebūt�� išmintinga neformalų ugdymą plėtoti pasitelkiant hiphopo subkultūrą? Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Atskleisti neformalaus ugdymo esmę, tikslus, privalumus ir trūkumus bei perspektyvas. 2. Apibūdinti hiphopo subkultūros privalumus, trūkumus ir perspektyvas. 3. Ištirti hiphopo subkultūros kaip neformalaus ugdymo priemonės ypatumus. 4. Nestruktūrizuoto interviu būdu ištirti ir įvertinti hiphopo subkultūros edukacinę reikšmę. Tyrimo metodai: naudotas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Relevance. Having evaluated the statistic facts of the situation of Lithuanian juveniles as far as criminological aspect is concerned in 2007 - 1189 juveniles were sentenced, 3413 juveniles were suspect (www.nplc.lt ) Understanding that hip hop subculture plays an exceptional role in youth life nowadays, we have no doubt that it is important to reveal the educational peculiarity of hip hopo subculture and adaptability in nonformal education. (Despite that) In Lithuania there are not much information and no researches are made about possibilities how to integrate hip hop subculture in nonformal educational context. The aim of the survey – to reveal the educational peculiarity of hip hop subculture in the context of nonformal youth education. The problem of the survey. Non formal youth education and hip hop subculture are new phenomenon in Lithuania. The development of hip hop subculture (as an intresting form for youth of nonformal education) could open new prospects in non formal education range. So we ask a problematical question – wouldn‘t it be wise to develop nonformal education to invoke hip hop subculture? Tasks: 1. To reveal the essence, purpose, advantages, disadvantages and prospects of nonformal education. 2. To describe advantages and disadvantages and prospects of hip hop subculture. 3. To explore hip hop subculture the peculiarities of nonformal education. 4. To explore and evaluate the educational importance of hip hop subculture using non structural... [to full text]