Cash Rules Everything around Me: Appropriation, Commodification, and the Politics of Contemporary Protest Music and Hip Hop

  • Diarra Osei Robertson
Chapter
Part of the Contemporary Black History book series (CBH)

Abstract

In 2006 Nas released an album entitled Hip Hop Is Dead, sparking widespread debate among music enthusiasts and scholars about the current state of hip hop. Nas, in subsequent interviews, indicated that the title was not to be viewed literally and it was chosen to provoke debate among listeners. The current state of hip hop is one that critics both inside and outside the academy have debated over the past fifteen years. Some observers lament the hypercommericialization of the music in the mainstream, with a consistent focus on negative and stereotypical imagery, while others point to the global appropriation of the genre and a fear that the African American urban roots of the music will be lost. These concerns are a result of a complex mix of factors, including industry factors, appropriation, and moderate political context that have significantly transformed the genre over the past twenty years.

Keywords

Cultural Production Popular Music Music Industry Record Company Black Panther Party 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Notes

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Copyright information

© Tamara Lizette Brown and Baruti N. Kopano 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Diarra Osei Robertson

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