Bling Bling?
written by 4bars
written by 4bars
"About seven years ago, University of Chicago economists Kerwin Kofi Charles and Erik Hurst were researching the “wealth gap” between black and white Americans when they noticed something striking. African Americans not only had less wealth than whites with similar incomes, they also had significantly more of their assets tied up in cars. The statistic fit a stereotype reinforced by countless bling-filled hip-hop videos: that African Americans spend a lot on cars, clothes, and jewelry—highly visible goods that tell the world the owner has money."
Continue reading article - Inconspicuous Consumption
Take a few minutes to read the above article. "Stop, think about it..." My constant questions about "why are rappers/our generation so consumed with buying 'things'?" have finally been answered, scientifically! This socioeconomically accurate article really does shed a lot of light on the fact that its not just hip hop that makes people spend ridiculous amounts of money on trivial things (cars, clothes, jewelry, "guns and butta baby...") it's actually socially ingrained in us. While I'm not letting hip hop off the hook that easy because the imagery certainly perpetuates the problem (a la "dope boy rap") I think it's noteworthy that once again, hip hop is actually just a symptom of a larger problem and not the problem itself. Personally, I gave up impressing these niggas/hoes long ago, but I still get that itch to stunt, apparently I’m genetically/socially predisposed. Bars
4 comments:
This is soooooo accurate. In college I noticed was that the students who wore sneakers who were stapled together and held together by hope and a prayer had millionaire parents. Some students taped their flip flops together, and then jumped in a BMW to drive to class. I've noticed that people who try too hard are sometimes not the wealthiest. Of course this wasn't the case all the time, but more so than not.
Hip/hop isn't to blame for this, however maybe we can also argue that the artists who brag about being rich attract a certain audience thus benefit from the interest in their craft, resulting in endorsements which help them become successful. There are soooo many angles to this, we need more than one post to discuss.
A great way to prove your wealth is by throwing away money. Like lighting a cigarette with a hundred dollar bill. Because if you can do that, you must be paid. The culture is more advanced than that though, so instead it's the flashy things like cars, clothes, and jewelry. All of these things immediately decrease in value after they are purchased. (Maybe gold and diamonds don't but who ever heard of someone buying an old chain to make a new one?) In trying to flash your wealth, you're actually having your money work against you. The music isn't the cause, its a manifestation of the culture.
As far as being genetically disposed, that's a whole other issue. Can you have it in your genetics to be predisposed to something that doesn't occur naturally? Or is it some anomoly in our species that allowed us to survive and establishes who we are that has caused us to make the world into what it is today? I don't know. But I do believe it possible to be culturally conditioned to something like this. We just need to be careful. The last time mainstream became too wealth obsessed was the yuppies in the 80's and look how that ended up--recession.
Excellent find, 4 Bars. Lots of truth to this.
D.
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