Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This paper explores how many Hip Hop artists have intentionally and strategically invoked sustainability principles of people, planet, and profits as a means to create community, compensate for and cope with structural inequalities in society. Specifically with respect to people and culture, Hip Hop artists frequently recycle comic book superhero techniques by creating alter egos (or stage names), by constantly painting themselves in positive angles (like a comic book cover), or by talking about their “triumphs” or “escapes” from difficult life situations (i.e., defeating nemesis) to inspire their audiences to regard them with value, when previously they may have had none. With respect to society and the planet, Hip Hop artists often purposely infuse samples from older songs to not only foster a historical contextualization for exploration of particular genres, artists, styles, sounds, images, rhetorical techniques, and verbiage from prior musical eras, but also to create new sustainable connections within the emergent world of Hip Hop (e.g., the recent hit “Old Town Road”). Lastly, with respect to economy and profits, many practitioners have leveraged Hip Hop not only as a means to cope with daunting challenges they face in life, but their successful song hits create private economies of exchange relatively free from mainstream corporate forces. Hip Hop therefore can be an ingenious tool to create self-worth, recycle positive imagery, and serve as a defense mechanism from institutional and structural forces that conspire to make an upward economic and social trajectory difficult, if not impossible for many people of color.