Rick Ross “The Boss” is a huge fan of making these types of purchases and then integrating them into his rap lyrics and videos and for this quality, I elected to use a music video of his.  For those who do not know, Rick Ross has a trademark piece of jewelry that is a replica of his face. In addition, they even have a copy of his original pendant available for the public to purchase at reasonable price, which makes him a true boss in his fans eyes.  The creation of this single pendant cost him well over a hundred thousand dollars.  This desire for excess is blatantly promoted in Rick Ross’ music video MMG Untouchables which was released in February of this year.  The video is straight forward in its attempt to show its viewers the attributes of Rick Ross’s lifestyle.  In the video, Rick is standing  beside a pearly white Mercedes in a large brown fur coat with shades and multiple chains on, while constantly blowing smoke from something implied as illegal.  The video may have been low budget, but the props were coincidentally not.  Although, Ross does not refer to buying clothes, he does consider the other areas of consumerism within hip-hop.  For example, “I’m buying real estate, and I’m buildin’ my plans, can’t name a realer place, goin’ gram for gram”, and “just bought another car, had to drop that top, for 200 dollars, she’ll suck that cock” (Ross).  Rick Ross sticks to his same theme and boasts about buying cars and homes but it doesn’t end there.  Bragging about having more than one lawyer, he raps, “Just beat another charge, made 'em drop that case, my lawyers goin’ hard, a nigga versus the state” (Ross).  This lack of respect for finances and laws is viewed by multiple audiences and mimicked in a similar way, due to the fact that Rick Ross projects himself and proclaims to be wealthy and happy as a result.  These explicit examples have no positive affect on society under any circumstances.  

     According to the comments by viewers of this video, they all seem to agree that Rick Ross and the entire MMG record label is taking over the rap and hip-hop game as of the past year.  Contributors of this recent success are Wale Folarin and Meek Mill.  Arguably, Meek Mill is the hottest rapper in the game as of 2012 and has released a song on his latest mixtape called "Audemar".  Coincidentally, Meek Mill names this song after the recent hype of the Audemars Piguet, which is a more than expensive watch that rappers cannot resist.

Audemars Piguet: The Royal Oak

Most scholars would agree that consumerism in general is the desire to purchase goods and services in abundance or when it becomes a problem, such as a shopping addiction.  In terms of hip-hop and rap, consumerism is the purchasing of the most valuable homes, jewelry, cars, and apparel, just to have it. To add, another source from the East Bay Express suggests that hip-hop has become so involved with consumerism because every rapper and hip-hop artist’s goal is to obtain “baller status”, which apparently means to own a Rolex or a Maybach.  Some scholars might argue that it has just evolved this way in accordance to the commercial preferences, this being what the audience prefers or likes.  The confusing thing about obtaining this “baller status” is that there is no limit, finish line, or group of people to determine that they have accomplished this mission. 

Discussion Post

When considering consumerism, a question to investigate would be in what ways has hip-hop been influenced by consumerism?  Plus, another issue to consider is the upbringing or reasons behind artist’s desires for more and more.

Rap Artist: J-Cole (Def Jam)

            There are in fact those artists that often rap and explain their previous lifestyles, the times before they received a record deal or even before they were noticed for their rhyming skills.  In other words, the lyrics and videos are sometimes produced to relate to the lower or middle class youth that grew up in similar places or scenarios.  Examples of this would be the hood, projects, or just a broken or poverty stricken home.  These artists are significant and different because of the viral idea of other rappers only uplifting sex, drugs, luxurious lifestyles and how they, in an unorthodox way, successfully produced music about the struggles of their lives.   Examples of these artists are J-Cole, Slaughterhouse, The Game, 50 Cent, and Wale. With this being said, the lavish lifestyles are not all they rap about, but these artists have produced specific songs pertaining to this issue.  The most popular artists known for this feature is J-Cole and his love for his hometown Fayetteville, North Carolina.  Cole unleashes a multitude of his personal struggles in his song “The Autograph”.  Near the end of the song he raps:  “We all tryna get a dollar boy, no shit, You know I feel ya pain, thats why I slang this hope shit, And give you lines that you rewind and think oh shit, These rappers talk a lot of money, cars and hoes shit, I give you that and a whole lot more shit, Than got richer and still rapping like I'm poor shit, You niggas think you know shit, nigga you don't know shit” (J-Cole).  In these lyrics, J-Cole is relating to his listeners that prefer to hear both kinds of rap music, which he does proficiently track after track.  This proves that not all rappers are striving for the gold and the riches for personal uplifting, but for other people and other reasons not concerning themselves.  The other side of consumerism deserves to be considered or illuminated at some point in time.

Rap Artist: Wale Folarin (MMG)

Furthermore, a great collaboration of a hip-hop song that contains this rag to riches theme is by The Game featuring 50 Cent “Hate it or Love It”.  The lyrics of this song state “hate it or love it, the underdogs on top” and “I wanted to live good, so shit ima’ sell dope for a four finger ring or one of them gold ropes”.  MMG’s recent cosign Wale released a song in his mixtape, Eleven One Eleven, called “No days off”.  In the song he writes “I used to sleep hungry in a bed next to roaches, now I wake up, play a beat and burn a couple roaches”.  Hearing this, a person can understand the actions and even the lyrics of these artists’ music.  These lyrics provide the proof needed as to why these artists flaunt their clothes, cars, and jewelry due to their past endeavors. 

To add, a person would have to consider the question of how long a rapper’s limelight and lavish lifestyle will last if they live by the consumerism code.  For example, the legendary Tupac Shakir had revenue problems of his own.  It is said that the only way he was released from jail during his final sentence was by the CEO of Death Row Records paying his bail for him.  At the beginning of the song "Tupac Back" by Rick Ross, there is an excerpt where Tupac speaks of his troubles saying, “America eats its babies, no matter what y’all think of me, y’all can’t just turn me off like that.”  Truthfully, I am willing to bet that Tupac made this statement during his time in jail or during the process of his many legal fees.   “The song Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems by Notorious B.I.G. has always held a special place in my heart and on my iPod, mostly because I find humor in such a terrible song proclaiming such raw truth. The hit is elementary, but speaks volumes to the human condition. With great wealth comes great responsibility, and with this responsibility comes a greater materialistic temptation. The rapper is right: The more money we come across, the more problems we see. This is precisely why lottery winners and celebrities have gone bankrupt within a few years (MC Hammer, anyone?)” (Amyx 1)  This piece of information proves vividly that Biggie’s theory of “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” is true and has played a part in the life of a successful artist.  The point of this text is for readers to realize that hip-hop artists face the same problems as middle and low class citizens and even handle money the incorrect way sometimes.    

Alternative/Suggestion Post

     Consumerism is a broad problem among today’s society, but the topic of consumerism within hip-hop is a straightforward problem that has a limited amount of origins and also a limited amount of solutions.  This viral problem is comparable to global warming because they both do not pose any positive affect to the world and not to mention the various possible solutions are slow processes and contain features that consist of changing the way of society or habits of mankind.  For example, solutions to global warming would have to cut back on the use of traditional automobiles, and solutions to consumerism within hip-hop are for artists to stray away from past mindsets and lyrical tendencies.  In order to change the perspective of society concerning consumerism, artists will have to become educated about the effects of certain lyrics and the things they broadcast in their videos.  In other words, the hype of buying expensive clothes, cars, homes, and jewelry will have to die down and another positive trend will have to be created, such as being successful in the correct ways or finding a positive niche in life.  In addition, corporations or record labels should be encouraged to realize the affect consumerism has and limit the amount of revenue artist receive, which would allow them to obtain residuals from their annual tours and promo club visits. 

     Furthermore, Lupe Fiasco is an outlier type artist that successfully approaches topics that the majority of hip-hop artist would not consider.  It is a known fact that Lupe and his lyrics do not comply with the hype that other hip-hop artists present and he is often overlooked for taking this anti-consumerist role among artists.  He is also not afraid to give his perspective of other touchy subjects such as politics, international relations, and other situations such as war.  In Lupe’s song, Words I Never Said, he unleashes an onslaught of lyrics opposing crises occurring in America.  The message conveyed in this song is that politics are crooked and bias, but the main factor to obtain is that politics are consumerist based or consumerist fueled.  Without money, politicians have no power.    

     In the video, a young girl in a white dress appears to be captured for being open to the public about her perspectives and forced in a chair in a room with her hands and legs bound.  The young girl is then made to watch a video on a large screen of the atrocities of consumerism, drug use, and violence (Fiasco).  All of the characters in the video have an apparatus covering their mouth except Lupe and the girl that was indicted.  The song and video encourages listeners to speak out against the hype of drug use, violence, and consumerism (Fiasco).  In the end, this video's moral is to inform its viewers not to become tangled within the hype of the consumerism, the hype being the things projected in lyrics and videos of today's hip-hop culture. 

Reflection Post

            This Composition II class has been a pleasure to take part in and I honestly feel that I have passed, not with flying colors or anything, but completed the course successfully.  There have been many concepts and topics discussed during some in-class workshops and homework assignments that I can say I have prevailed in comprehending and some I can say I did not.  Examples of some ways Professor Carey taught us consisted of: all of the handouts from the ways with words series, the cypher discussions, and even the blackboard assignments.  These assignments contained some reading which I also used to integrate successfully in my unit assignments.  My completed portfolio contains valid work to pass this course.  For example, I completed all of my assignments on time and with little errors as possible, with the exception that a few distinct parts were rushed, such as the end of my Annotated Bibliography.  My most recent assignment, the unit 2 research paper, was completed and turned in and then revised and turned in for a second grade which was passing.  Plus, I portrayed sufficient class participation when discussions were made.  The instruction I received from Dr. Carey was easy to take in or comprehend because she used the correct terminology to relate to our class, being a class consisting of mostly freshmen and sophomores.  The books assigned for this class, such as “Academic Research and Writing” and “The Hip Hop Reader”, were also instructive while conducting papers and assignments in Composition II.  The process for writing my research paper was a long a time consuming process, and I admit that my grade for this course was in jeopardy after the first turn in.  Being stressed is an understatement when it comes to what I went through while grinding this research paper out.  Being a college athlete and living at home, it seems there are massive amounts of distractions that affect the promptness and clarity of my work.  In the end, I may have passed this class by the skin of my teeth, but I do in fact feel that this class has benefited me for the better.

Works Cited

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Arnold, Eric K. "Is Hip-Hop Too Materialistic? Music Oakland, Berkeley & the Bay Area." Oakland, Berkeley & East Bay Events, Restaurants, Music, Arts & News. East Bay Express, 04 June 2008. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/is-hip-hop-too-materialistic/Content?oid=1090155>.

Bark, Ed. "Americans as Addicts of Consumerism." 12 Apr. 2008. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Bozman, Reagan. "The Death of Bling: Hip Hop and the Recession Harvard College Economics Review." Harvard Computer Society People. Technology. Awesome. Harvard College Economics Review, 03 Mar. 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2012. <http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hceronline/?q=node/45>.

"Consumerism Quotes, Greed Sayings." The Quote Garden. Terri Guillements, 18 Mar. 1998. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://quotegarden.com/consumerism.html>.

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Fiasco, Lupe. "Lupe Fiasco - Words I Never Said Ft. Skylar Grey [Music Video]." YouTube. YouTube, 29 Apr. 2011. Web. 29 Apr. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22l1sf5JZD0>.

 J-Cole. ""The Autograph" Lyrics." J. COLE LYRICS. AZLyrics.Com, 12 Nov. 2010. Web. 04                   

            Apr. 2012. <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jcole/theautograph.html>.

Pinckney, Charles Ph.D. "The Influence of Hip-hop Culture on the Perceptions, Attitudes, Values, and Lifestyles of African-American College Students." Google Books. ProQuest Information and Learning Company, 2008. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. http://books.google.com/books?id=QOzGNrhIWjwC.

Ross, Rick. ""MMG Untouchable" Lyrics." RICK ROSS LYRICS. AZLyrics.Com, 6 Jan. 2012. Web. 09 Apr. 2012. <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rickross/mmguntouchable.html>.

"Tyga Arrested In Las Vegas HotNewHipHop." HotNewHipHop. TMZ, 10 Jan. 2012. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. <http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/tyga-arrested-in-las-vegas-news.1230.html>.

White, Everic. "On Hip-Hop & Consumerism." TheFreshXpress — The PULSE of Young Black America. Thefreshxpress.com, 07 June 2011. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. <http://thefreshxpress.com/2011/06/on-hip-hop-consumerism/>.