A PhD Thesis to the Anthropology Department,
Faculty of Humanities: University of the
Witwatersrand. / This study will argue that; (i) that the evolution of hip-hop arises out of the
need by young people to give expression and meaning to their day-to-day
socio-political and economic struggles and the harsh realities of urban life,
and (ii) that hip-hop has become the audible and dominant voice of reason
and a platform that allows youth to address their plight, as active citizens, and
(iii) that, as a music expression, the hip-hop narrative can be used as an
unsolicited yet resourceful civic perception survey to gauge the temperature
and the mood of society at a point in time.
My research question is premised on the argument that the youth looks at
society and their immediate surroundings through the lens of rap music and
the hip-hop culture. It presupposes that it is this hip-hop lens that has become
the projector through which the youth views and analyses society and then
invites the world to peep through, to confirm and be witnesses to what they
see.
It is not the purpose of this research to argue how much influence hip-hop has
on young people, but instead to look at how youth is using hip-hop to express
their discontent and what the various sites are where their relentless desire for
a better life is being crafted and articulated. In my investigation, I have argued
that it is at these social sites that open or discreet creative expressions are
produced/created by the hip-hop generation as the subordinate group and
directed to those perceived to be the gatekeepers to their aspirations and their
rites of passage. In my investigation I have explored how, out of indignation
and desire, the hip-hop generation has employed creative ways to highlight
and vent their frustration at a system that seems to derail their aspirations.
This is the story of hip-hop where Watkins (2005) argues that the youth have
crafted "a vision of their world that is insightful, optimistic and tenaciously
critical of the institutions and circumstances that restrict their ability to impact
on the world around them" (p. 81)
With regard to hip-hop in South Africa critical questions and a central thesis to
this paper begin to emerge as to whether hip-hop, as an artistic expression
and a seemingly dominant youth culture, has found long-hidden voices
through which young people now engage with this art form to address and
reflect on their socio-economic and political conditions as active citizens in
search of a meaningful social contract.
By investigating the triangular relationship between commerce, politics and
hip-hop, this study looks at how creative, adaptive people with unrealised
potential, who find themselves trapped by illusion and exploitation (realistic or
perceived), always try to find a meaning to make sense of their worlds. / AC2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/24636 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Sithole, Sipho |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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