Project Summary

  • Project Summary:I will investigate the influence of neoliberalism in hip-hop music making. Commodification complicates the production of art. People can make art for the sake of making how they feel tangible. People are drawn to other’s art and the emotions that it evokes. Naturally, there is a demand for art; people want to have access to expression to relate to. Thus, the art industries exist—art industries are a direct result of a demand for art. And demand is nothing more than the potential for profit. Art is then subject to commodification—people begin to produce art not to feel or express or share but to profit. Neoliberalism changes the reasons for which art is produced and therefore neoliberalism changes the art.

    This idea—that commodification changes art—is a theme in a lot of hip-hop music. Artist often explain that record companies (and other sources of funding) often manipulate the content that they put forward. Profitable ideas are privileged in the hip-hop music industry over artistic expressions. In other words, the art /music that is supported by record companies is more cliché than artistic. Considering that hip-hop is a Black art form, there are strong racial implications as well.