Hip Hop Culture and Ethnic Relations
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now it is widespread. Movies such as Boyz N the Hood, New Jack City, Jason s
Lyric, Juice, and Menace 11 Society are rugged movies that depict the reality of the
urban streets while movies such as Friday, Booty Call, Fve Got the Hook Up and
Wit are comedies that have depicted the humor that is still strangely ever present in
on the treacherous urban streets. All of these movies have been highly successful
in cutting across ethnic boundaries (Fernando, 1994, xviii).
Magazines such as Vibe, Blaze, The Source, Rap Pages and Stress were
created to appeal to the growing hip hop culture. Because of its multiethnic
popularity, Vibe magazine’s circulation has risen to 606,237, a 17.1% increase
from 1997 to 1998. Advertisements that appear in these magazines run the gamut
from small unknown companies to powerful companies that are household names
(Alexander, 1998, p.2B).
Vibe's editor-in-chief, Danyel Smith states, ‘‘Although Vibe may seem
like a black magazine, its perspective and appeal are much broader than its covers
would indicate. Vibe is a multicultural music magazine based in the African
American culture and sensibility” (Moore, 1998, p.El). Magazines such as Vibe,
along with the aforementioned sit corns and movies, have done a remarkable job
of “keeping it real”, speaking - in its own language — the imagination of this
culture (Alexander, 1998, p.2B).
One of the many positive consequences of the hip hop culture is that it
encourages corporations to recruit a diverse cadre of employees. Hence, recruiting
minorities who understand and represent the pulse of this culture becomes an
imperative. The African American market alone has $325 billion in buying power
(Levine, 1997, p. 144). A myriad of organizations that appeal to the hip hop culture
have diversified for competitive advantage. It makes good business sense. For
example, half of Universal Music Group’s employees are members of minority
groups. This organization is number one in the market share in the U.S., Europe,
Latin American and Australia. The record label’s overall market share is 23 percent
globally and 25 percent in the U.S. (P hilips, 1997, p .D l:2 ;
www.Liniversalstudios.com/music/).
92.3 The Beat is the most popular radio station in Los Angeles. It appeals
to a broad, multi-ethnic hip hop population in the greater Los Angeles area. The
station has taken advantaged of its appeal by launching initiatives to bridge ethnic
cleavages by hosting several community panel discussions on issues such as Asianbashing, hate crimes, and African American and Asian relations. In the Fall of
1997, this radio station sponsored a “No Color Lines” essay contest for Los Angeles
high school students. The participants were asked to write, in 92 words or less,
what the words “no color lines” meant to them. I was asked to judge this contest.
The following are two student responses.