\n\t\t\t\tABSTRACT\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tHip-hop is more than just music, it is a form of popular culture and expression. While rap serves as an expression within hip hop, this article focuses on hip-hop culture as a whole, and the relationship between hip-hop and public relations. The theoretical framework for this literature is rooted in Culture and Public Relations. These theories will be used to measure the influence of public relations in the hip-hop industry. Hip-hop music came from other forms of music, to help visualize oppression from living in the ghetto. Hip-hop has stemmed from many genres, disco, jazz and blues. The development of hip-hop culture, and how public relations fits into that culture will be explored. This paper will also look at how museums are important venues that help to showcase this culture.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tThis paper also serves as a starting point for future research in this field of public relations. There hasn\u2019t been much literature on how hip-hop and public relations intersect, and this paper will hopefully close that gap. With new technologies and social media platforms, hip-hop has now been introduced to the world of public relations and marketing, and public relations will now have to adapt to the hip-hop industry.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tLiterature Review<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tHip-Hop <\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t <\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tIn order to understand hip hop\u2019s inheritance or background one must understand hip hop culture within the context of African American history and culture (Rabaka, 2013). This research will cover the background of hip-hop culture, and how it relates to public relations, and also how hip-hop and African-American culture is preserved through museums.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tThere are four original elements of hip-hop, each of which have helped cultivate hip-hop into what it is today. DJs would be the ones to play the music, and \u201cget the party started.\u201d Break dancers would dance to to the music played by djs. Graffiti artists would \u201cmark\u201d their territory around their communities by spray-painting their names or murals in different areas. Emcees (Rappers) used microphones to talk to the audience, or used their voices as an instrument to rhyme about the things that were happening in their communities; whether it be drugs, gang violence or money.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tHip-hop has expanded far beyond its originating four elements; this evolution is described by Kitwana (2005) who argues that the culture also includes, “hip-hop specific language, body language, fashion, style,sensibility, and worldview\u201d (p. xii). According to Stoute and Rivas (2011), \u201chip-hop culture confronted the failures of religion, education, government and parenting, the aspirational content of rap music and it\u2019s from nothing to something stories allowed the culture to become a commodity by linking it to major brands.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tA common mistake that is made about hip-hop is that hip-hop and rap can be used interchangeably, which isn\u2019t necessarily the truth. By definition, rap is \u201ca rhythmic monologue with a musical backing.\u201d It was once said by KRS One, a famous rapper, \u201cthat rap is something you do, while hip-hop is you live.\u201d (Cite KRS One)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t As previously mentioned, hip-hop culture contains four elements: DJing, MCing, graffiti art and breakdancing. DJing and MCing showcase the actual musical part, breakdancing stands for the dance component of hip-hop, and graffiti represents a visual art component of the hip-hop culture. These four elements did not all come about at the same time, but the combination of all four assisted hip hop to come into existence. Below, you will find the descriptions of each of the four different aspects of hip-hop below.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t DJing<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tDJing deals with the actual production of music. The DJ is the abbreviation for \u2018disc jockey\u2019 \u2013 a person, who plays recorded music or sound for an audience. The very first disc jockeys were radio DJs, who played the music to radio listeners and eventually, this practice evolved to DJs performing \u201clive\u201d at parties. Some of the most well known and popular DJ\u2019s came out of Houston, Texas, including DJ Screw.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t MC\u2019ing<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tMCing is can be synonymous for rapping, but it is just one aspect of what MC\u2019s actually do. The MC is the acronym of the phrase \u2018master of ceremonies\u2019 and over time, the title MC began to evolve. The initial role of the MC was to assist the DJ in keeping the audience entertained. MC\u2019s had the opportunity to express themselves about how they felt about their current situations in their communities, as well as other cultural and societal problems. There are some Houston MC\u2019s who are notorious for storytelling, such as Willie D, who was excellent in telling stories and painting vivid pictures of his reality.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t B-Boying\/Breakdancing<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tB-boying is often referred to as \u2018breakdancing\u2019. Break dancing is essentially a combination of other dance styles that existed previously, but the dancers would adapt old moves and also invent new ones.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Graffitti<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tNelson George in Hip Hop America wrote that \u201cgraffiti has been around since man encountered his first stone wall.\u201d Graffiti has been around long before hip-hop came along, but the graffitti still has a significant link to hip-hop.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tThe city of Houston contains each of these aforementioned elements is different forms, and while we pay homage to originators and creators of hip-hop, the South has a different version of how it originated, and that story should be showcased and celebrated. In Houston, everyone is always curious about one of Houston\u2019s many wonders, the \u201cBe Someone\u201d located above I-45.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tCulture<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t <\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tAfrican American music has influenced diverse cultures since the late 1800\u2019s. Music was an outlet that generations utilized to release their pain. Most of the early music genres were created by African Americans, so these genres were easy for African Americans to identify and relate to during hard times.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tHip-Hop music extends further than just the United States these days. Hip-hop can be found all over the world today. One reason that contributes to this is the freeing artistic nature hip-hop music has on its cultural members. Hip-hop has been a way for not just African-Americans, but other minorities to express their oppression as well. Hip-hop has become a way for people to speak up on the setbacks they face in their everyday lives. Though there are physical borders that separate people who belong to hip-hop culture, the concept of hip-hop crosses socioeconomic and demographic lines.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tAccording to McLeod (1999), \u201cthe nature of hip-hop allows its cultural members to actively engage in social action concerning their community and society as a whole. One prominent sentiment amongst hip-hop cultural members is that without hip-hop many minorities may feel less inclined to confront the societal constraints they experience in everyday life, where one is judged based on their race, gender, or other reasons associated with living in society, without the association of hip-hop culture in their lives.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Hip-hop has always been an expressive tool for African-Americans and other cultures. The culture of music from African-Americans spread throughout the world, and it still remains one of the genres that can cross cultural boundaries.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tIt has been stated by many other public relations researchers that culture hasn\u2019t been widely studied, and for those who have researched culture and public relations, much of it has been done on surface level. According to Sriramesh (2007), \u201cUnfortunately though, culture has yet to be integrated into the public relations body of knowledge. Culture hasn\u2019t been widely studied in the public relations field. Much of the literature and scholarship in our area continues to be ethnocentric with a predominantly American.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tWhen speaking in terms of culture and publics, even though we may all be American, we all have different traditions and things that make us different. The next section will go into detail about how organizations serve as cultures as well, and hip-hop is a culture in itself.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t <\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tHip-Hop Culture & Public Relations<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tThe linkage between culture and public relations is logical. \u201cCulture affects communication, and is affected by it. Because public relations is fundamentally a communication activity, it is logical to conclude that culture affects public relations as well. Therefore there is the need to link culture with public relations. In order to do so effectively, we believed it was important to distinguish between societal culture (Sriramesh and White, 1992<\/a>) and corporate culture (Sriramesh, J.Grunig, Buffington, 1992<\/a>).\u201d Hip-hop in this case, would be considered a societal culture.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tSriramesh (2007), The Relationship Between Culture and Public Relations, goes into great detail about how organizations are cultures themselves. In this case, the hip-hop industry can be viewed as a culture. Public relations plays a role in the hip-hop industry through communication messages. The interesting thing about hip-hop as culture, is that hip-hop culture is very expressive; it\u2019s not meant to be accepted by all publics, and even publics within the hip-hop community don\u2019t always like the messages expressed by artists.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tMerelman defined cultural projection <\/em>as \u201cthe conscious or unconscious effort by a social group and its allies to place new images of itself before other social groups, and before the general public\u201d (1995, p. 3). He said that \u201cmarginalized groups convey positive images to earn power or respect from dominant societal groups.\u201d In regards to cultural projection, hip-hop is often left out of the conversation because of the media perceptions of hip-hop. Hip-hop in the media is portrayed as violent, materialistic and misogynistic.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t \u201c<\/strong>Analyses have enumerated how portrayals of Blacks in African American media differ from the more negative ones in general market media and how topics of interest to African Americans such as religion or community news are reported more frequently in Black newspapers\u201d (e.g., Wang & Armstrong, 2012). \u201cIn fact, a study of an African diaspora newspaper in Britain also found more attention to culture and religion (Ogunyemi, 2007), suggesting that these characteristics of Black media extend beyond U.S. borders.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t This leads me to believe that hip-hop is portrayed poorly in the media due to stereotypes. Stereotypes have been defined as long-lasting \u201covergeneralized or oversimplified mental abstractions of social groups\u201d (Dalisay & Tan, 2009). People who portray hip-hop negatively often only view hip-hop on the surface level.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tHip hop is one of the most popular music genres today, especially after the evolution of hip-hop from its early beginning to what it is now. \u201cNaysayers will describe it as explicit, glorifying depictions of violence and misogyny- a general indicator of the deterioration of modern society.\u201d (Citation) Those who subscribe to this narrative fall prey to the negative stereotypes commonly associated with hip-hop and the culture that comes with it. By subscribing to this narrative, people instantly miss out on the culturally significant experience hip-hop has to offer to society.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tHip-hop is an art form, that consists of multiple aspects that deserve to be explored and shared with the public. Houston, specifically, has a rich history in Southern hip-hop, and it has never been out on display for the public to see. Culturally the way we typically display rich history and culture is through museums.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tMuseum\u2019s and Preserving Hip-Hop Culture<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\u201cThe museum idea and the practice of collecting and preserving valued objects are generally considered distinctly western cultural inventions and preoccupations\u201d (Ames 1992, Cannon-Brookes 1984, Clifford 1988, Pearce 1992). Most cultures will keep objects or structures that hold significant value to them.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\u201cAnother window to African American representations and Black culture is African American museums in the United States. These institutions were founded to educate Americans and other visitors about Black history, art, and culture.\u201d (Johnson, M. A., & Pettiway, K. M. (2017)). In order to preserve hip-hop\u2019s culture and to promote its progress and evolution, hip-hop communities should establish museum\u2019s to preserve it\u2019s history. Museums are known for preserving historical and cultural artifacts, and having one in the Houston area would be beneficial to the culture. My research question is:\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tHouston, Texas is home to a rich history and culture of music that is rarely recognized in mainstream media. Since Houston has been put on the map as a music powerhouse, it\u2019s time that this talent is recognized in the form of a museum. Recognizing talent that has gone unnoticed, and also artists that have passed away, and deserve acknowledgement for their talents, and hard work to put Houston on the map. I would like to initiate a campaign to build a museum, devoted to documenting and displaying the history of the hip-hop industry through the lens of Houston, Texas and surrounding areas.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t Hip-hop must be recognized as a musical form and not just a culture that is trendy. Because hip-hop has so many facets, there is a need to shed light on them and educate the public on its historical importance to the city of Houston. This paper is the beginning to bridging that gap.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\u201cMuseums achieve organizational objectives by relying on their websites to communicate with potential customers, members, beneficiaries of their services, volunteers, donors, activists, media, and other stakeholders\u201d (e.g., Ingenhoff & Koelling, 2009; Kent, Taylor, & White, 2003; Reber & Kim, 2006). \u201cIn addition to using websites to help reach functional goals such as garnering donations or increasing media coverage<\/a> of the organizations\u2019 events, ethnic museums\u2019 websites also play a broader societal role in highlighting social identity for the group\u2019s own members and projecting the culture of the ethnic or racial group to non-members.\u201d (A. Johnson, M., & Sink, W. (2015)).\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\u201cTypically, the stated goal is to project African American culture, with missions ranging from maintaining positive relations in the local community, to attracting regional or U.S.-wide tourists, to serving the Black global diaspora.\u201d (Johnson, M. A., & Pettiway, K. M. (2017)).\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tThis information is pertinent because in order for a museum to function properly, communication not only has to reach its members, but it also has to be inclusive of its non-members as well. The messages have to be able to reach a wider audience. In this specific case, communication messages for a potential hip-hop museum in the Houston area would have to be geared towards the entire Greater Houston community, even though in terms of hip-hop, it\u2019s origins are mostly African-American.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLimitations<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tThis study, was quite interesting because it consisted mostly of me referencing articles on culture in public relations, and integrating that into the hip-hop industry. The hip-hop industry hasn\u2019t been studied extensively in regards to public relations, so this literature review was a lot of cross-referencing from articles that I\u2019ve read, with information and prior knowledge of hip-hop. This literature would hopefully serve as one of the first articles looking at the hip-hop industry and public relations.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tGoing into future research, this paper should provide a starting point and a framework for other articles related to public relations and hip-hop culture. The body of work needs to be advanced further, because there is very little studied on hip-hop culture.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tCitations<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tABSTRACT<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tHip-hop is more than just music, it is a form of popular culture and expression. While rap serves as an expression within hip hop, this article focuses on hip-hop culture as a w<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essayscommunications"],"yoast_head":"\n\n