Dennis Chavours
EGL 101-04
Elliott
30 July 2020
The bright lights, elite colleges, music, entertainment, fun, this is America, right? Depending on who you ask, each guest in America can experience those three things very differently. SelectUSA, a think tank specializing in economic development has recorded American Media and Entertainment industry as being the largest in the world. Recording $717 Billion in sales, representing one-third of the global media and entertainment industry (SelectUSA, 2018). Yet, are international students shown the creative process of how this happened. Are they exposed to the diversity America can provide? With plenty of acts in the Springfield art scene, we would have no trouble finding acts to show these International students. Thus we can reasonably assume: LLCC should fund a program to show international students local African-American inspired music.
Collective Color
The bright lights, elite colleges, music, entertainment, fun, this is America, right? Depending on who you ask, each guest in America can experience those three things very differently. SelectUSA, a think tank specializing in economic development has recorded American Media and Entertainment industry as being the largest in the world. Recording $717 Billion in sales, representing one-third of the global media and entertainment industry (SelectUSA, 2018). Yet, are international students shown the creative process of how this happened. Are they exposed to the diversity America can provide? With plenty of acts in the Springfield art scene, we would have no trouble finding acts to show these International students. Thus we can reasonably assume: LLCC should fund a program to show international students local African-American inspired music.
The first thing point here is discussed is also the first thing noticed by the LLCC college curriculum. At LLCC students and foreign students are required to take 2 semesters of English. Why is this the case? Looking at the course description of EGL 101--the first semester of required English-- we find the following, “Course topics include methods of invention, development, and organization; the elements of style.” What is clear is the part describing, ‘elements of style’ (EGL 101, 2018). If we were to see a presentation of local hip-hop performance, would the viewer see, ‘elements of style’? I think we can all agree.
The proposed program will also help communities of color who are disproportionately affected by income inequality (Horowitz, 2020). African-Americans and communities of color are overwhelmingly represented in music cultivation and especially rap music (Lawson, 2020). Thus, we can consider investing in the music community as investing in communities of color.
Diving further into the ethnic makeup of music I personally observe that my peers and fellow researchers automatically assume that the racial makeup consists of communities of color and as such, there has yet to be a quantitative study on the topic. To remedy this, I have examined the most popular genre in America, rap (USA Today, 2020). Of the 77 rap hits of the 2010s, only 5 of them were attributed to Euro-American rappers (Billboard List). What's more interesting is that one of those hit songs was attributed to the rapper a native Korean, Psy with the smash hit "Gangnam Style". Registering a number one hit worldwide.
Relaying to the previous point of the rap artist Psy, born in South Korea in the Gangnam District of Seoul, South Korea. This brings me to my next point, International Students have an interest in African-American influenced music. The record, “Gangnam Style” a rap record, was on the Billboard top 100 list for 9 weeks (Billboard List). In recent memory the internationally famous ‘boyband’ BTS, were described as first being a hip-hop group (Vice, 2014). Also, claiming to be influenced by R&B and other African-American artists such as Beyonce and Rihana (Vice, 2014). Thus, we can see that International Students will have an interest as the successful artists in their home country are inspired by such African-American culture and artists.
The most important value offering the club can provide is a sense of belonging. According to one, Indiana University Bloomington study, “international students who are active in student organizations, International students had an overall lower sense of belonging than domestic students, and involvement in campus clubs and organizations positively impacted the sense of belonging for all students” (Indiana UIB, 2016). Thus, we know factually that International Students in clubs report higher levels of belonging. Of the students interviewed most of them were from Asian countries. Touching back to the point of how influential Asian artists are inspired by African-American influenced art, wouldn’t it make sense for the International alum to be exposed to music they have a familiarity with and possibly a bond to? I think the answer is a defiant yes, thus the club showing international students African-American art should be made.
The best part of this club and or program is that Lincoln Land has already started initiatives similar to the one proposed in this essay. This example is in the form of the WEI or the Workforce Equity Initiative. This program started with a 1 million dollar grant to help low-income students with career training to get them into the job force in less than a year (Workforce Equity, 2020). This program is also geared to help African-Americans specifically. To quote directly, “We have a goal of 75% of participants coming from the African-American community.” Thus, we as LLCC students and staff already have a program geared to help African-Americans. The proposed program of showing international students African-American art and performances is just another form of investment that we at Lincoln Land have already done.
Critiques of the club would mention that rap and rap music is degenerate and promotes illicit behavior. A 2006 study suggested young people who listened to rap were more likely to abuse alcohol and commit acts of violence (Library of Medicine, 2006). However, this study also mentions individuals who listen to techno and reggae show a positive link to alcohol abuse and violence. So, this shows that indecent music in general can lead to violence or lawlessness. This is the reason why performances related to the proposed club should be proctored by LLCC officials. This proctoring comes in the form of no relation to the glorifying intoxicants, references to violence, or mentioning profane lyrics or subjects.
Those opposed to hip-hop culture often point to the supposed discrimination in the hip-hop industry. This discrimination comes in the form of industry insiders actively questioning the talent of White rappers. In an interview with the Harvard Political Review, chart-topping artist, Lil Dicky attributed some truth to the claim that it is actually easier for white rappers to find success in the industry. In an article by Harvard Politics, the author comes to the conclusion that rap is structured as a meritocracy. Stated colloquially, “If you can spit, you can spit.” Meaning, a college degree is not a prerequisite to having #1 billboard hit, only talent and creative potential are (Harvard Politics, 2015). Thus, individuals with credentials are not given priority in the rap industry. So the critical point that hip-hop has discriminatory practices is invalid, thus International Students will not worry about racist treatment.
Critiques very often cite the fact that very few rappers experience professional success. The popular music streaming platform Soundcloud has over 135 million songs in it’s paid catalog (The Verge, 2019). However, only 100,000 individuals pay to use the service. One can only assume that funds are sparsely distributed amongst the artists using the streaming platform (The Verge, 2019). However, I believe that fiscally viewing the situation in an isolated situation does not quantify the value of rap as it should. Meaning, there are other ways money can be made from the art of hip-hop or R&B. At the time of this publication, the live-action musical ‘Hamilton’ has boosted the streaming service Disney Plus’s downloads by 74% (Variety, 2020). Viewing the trailers, or a description of the live-action film we find hip hop and R&B plays a focal role in the story and film.
On a personal note, I don’t know where I would be if hip-hop didn’t play such a large part in my life. We as a society are just now starting to catch on to the benefits of the art form. That’s truly what it is an art form. Some people use the written artform to write of anti-semitism while some write of peace and reconciliation. The artforms originally influenced and created by African-Americans are available to all and as it is provided to other groups we should be a part of this sharing. Art and music is a form of communication and we should reward those who create these things we enjoy. We all can agree that communities of color are involved in the arts so why don’t we pay them what they deserve? Thus, LLCC should fund a program to show international students local African-American inspired music.
References
“Media and Entertainment Spotlight.” Edited by Select USA, Media & Entertainment Spotlight | SelectUSA.gov, 2018, www.selectusa.gov/media-entertainment-industry-united-states.
Greg, Susan, et al. “The Impact of Student Organizations on Sense of Belonging for International Students.” Education Indiana Edu, 2016, spa.education.indiana.edu/journal/editions/2016/1%20Impact%20of%20Student%20Organizations.pdf.
“Explore LLCC.” Edited by LLCC Officials, Lincoln Land Community College - Lincoln Land Community College, 2018, llcc.smartcatalogiq.com/2018-2019/Catalog/Courses/EGL-English/100/EGL-101.
Ryan, Patrick. “Rap Overtakes Rock as the Most Popular Genre among Music Fans. Here's Why.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 4 Jan. 2018, www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2018/01/03/rap-overtakes-rock-most-popular-genre-among-music-fans-heres-why/990873001/.
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Staff, LLCC. “Explore LLCC.” Lincoln Land Community College, 2020, www.llcc.edu/public-relations-marketing/news-events/llcc-establishes-open-door-workforce-equity-initiative-with-1-million-grant/.
Spangler, Todd. “'Hamilton' Drives Up Disney Plus App Downloads 74% Over the Weekend in the U.S.” Variety, Variety, 6 July 2020, variety.com/2020/digital/news/hamilton-disney-plus-premiere-app-downloads-72-percent-1234698795/.
Deahl, Dani. “Over 200 Million Tracks Have Been Uploaded to SoundCloud.” The Verge, The Verge, 13 Feb. 2019, www.theverge.com/2019/2/13/18223596/soundcloud-tracks-uploaded-200-million.
Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Ruth Igielnik, and Rakesh Kochhar. “Trends in U.S. Income and Wealth Inequality.” Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project, 27 May 2020, www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/.
Mendez, Blanca. What Will Korea's Hottest New Rap Group Learn About Hip-Hop from Coolio on Their Trip to America?, 2014, www.vice.com/en_us/article/rbq3m6/bts-american-hustle-life-coolio-k-pop-hip-hop-school.
ED;, Chen MJ;Miller BA;Grube JW;Waiters. “Music, Substance Use, and Aggression.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2006, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16608146/.
Hahn, Jonah. “The Politics of Race in Rap.” Harvard Political Review, 5 Nov. 2015, harvardpolitics.com/books-arts/politics-race-rap/.
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