Hip-Hop: Mainstream Mainstay

Even though many may not like to admit it, the contributions
of hip-hop to wider society are vast and varied.

There are those who for some reason still think that "that hippity-hop noise" is just an annoying appendage and public disturbance to civilized society. However, after last night I am convinced that they are the ones who have their heads in the sand; ignoring (or possibly even denying) the contributions that hip-hop have made to wider popular american culture.

I was enjoying the laziness afforded by a day filled with your typical Christmas-day festivities. I'm not sure what I was watching. Might have been Lebron and the Heat beating up on the Kevin Durant and the Thunder or it might have been Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark. Either way, the TV was watching me closer than I was watching it (if you know what I mean).

I was half asleep, but I perked right up and smiled a "there it goes again" type smile when I saw some random movie trailer for some random movie that couldn't have been any farther from hip-hop or black urban culture, but the background music to the trailer was (if I remember correctly) Rick Ross' "Everyday I'm Hustlin." I wish I had been recording it, or at least that I could remember what the movie was. But it was just so funny to me because the movie and the song didn't match at all. Then, the very next commercial was almost the same thing. It was for some random product that was in no-way related to hip-hop fully fitted with a rap beat. Wow!

I would assume that every true hip-hopper has had that experience before. You just smile and think to yourself, "Yeah, we outchea." The fact is hip-hop has had a long and fruitful relationship with numerous corporations and media outlets for marketing and advertising purposes. From Dolce & Gabanna to Doublemint gum, Nike to Nikon, Hennessey to Hewlett-Packard, there seems to be no limit to reach that hip-hop has in mainstream american culture. Here's a few of the all-time favorites.

Here's an article that recounts 50 of the most memorable commercials featuring rap music and rap artists.

On another occasion I'll try to delve deeper into the intersection of hip-hop and capitalism, but that's another venture. Here's the point behind this post. Rap music and hip-hop in general is as american as baseball and apple pie. Get used to it. Listen to it, and try to hear the voice of the streets.