John M Westover
History 379
"Musics" Affects On Young Americans Consumerism
Over
the years I have noticed a growing trend toward how hip hop and the way it has
affected the spending habits of young Americans. People like Lil Wayne, Drake,
and Two Chains project their image utilizing materialistic lyrics. Naturally
this want or materialistic mind set rubs off on the droves of young Americans
that buy their albums, t-shirts, and concert tickets. Allen Kanner, PhD states "that marketers
manipulate that attraction, encouraging teens to use materialistic values to
define who they are and aren't. In doing that, marketers distort the organic
process of developing an identity by hooking self-value to brands." [1]
So now
we live in a society that has become obsessed with brand names and fashions and
it does not matter if you are a good or bad person; if you have money it you
can say anything and still have droves of fans. Lil Wayne has proven this time
and again off his album Tha Carter III the song Playin' With Fire he states "When
you're great, it's not murder, it's assassinate / So assassinate me, bitch /Cause
I'm doing the same shit Martin Luther King did."[2] This Statement is
clearly moronic and delusional but since he is famous his wealth continues to
grow because as young Americans we have been sold on the idea that having lots
of money means you get a free pass on being intelligent . I cannot tell you how
many times I have heard people at work, people in class, and people in public
using lyrics that revolve around absurdly expensive possessions like Maybach
(400,000 dollar car), Louis Vuitton (2,095 dollar purse). More and more
Americans are having these absurdly expensive things shoved in our face and
there is no reason for any normal person to want to spend that kind of money on
mundane items like clothes, cars, bags, etc. In conclusion, while the moral fabric
of our society quickly deteriorates more and more young Americans who are desperately
trying to fit in with the hip hop scene or look "cool" feel the need
to spend money that they do not have on things that "Rappers" make
them think they need. It is teaching our youth that there is one answer to all
the questions and problems in life, money.
[1] http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/driving.aspx, Allen Kanner, PhD; American Pyscological Association, Driving teen egos--and buying--through 'branding',A glut of marketing messages encourages teens to tie brand choices to their personal identity. June 2004, Vol 35, No. 6
[2] LiL Wayne, Tha Carter III, Universal Media
While I completely agree with you about young Americans covering with themselves with certain brands to give off an image of self-worth, I also believe that this trend of extravagance portrayed in rap songs from Lil Wayne and even T.I. who sung “You can have Whatever You like” is not new and that this idea of consumerism being revolved around the most expense items has been going on for centuries. Just looking at the Blaszczky reading, Victorian America we see this exact same trend of abundance of goods and certain specialty goods, like those from European Markets, being used by social classes, especially the middle classes as a means to not only flaunt their wealth but to also to project an image that they are “Keeping up with the Joneses” parse or the rich of that time period. I think that the young youth’s of America in High Schools and on College Campuses across the nation are doing the same thing. They are wearing certain brands as a means to portray their identity and therefore what social class they want to belong to in society. While I agree that this idea of having more money and more possessions to prove self-worth is absurd, I also think it is a trend that is not going away. It has survived this long and as long as retailers and manufacturers pair themselves in conjunction with celebrities and public figures to promote and sell their products, I see this trend not only expanding but getting worse as more celebrities seem these days to have their own brands or be paid to be walking billboards for companies as a means of social advertising.
ReplyDelete-Michelle Tobeson
I agree with Michelle in the sense that more and more celebrities are attempting to corner the consumption market. Celebrities are creating more and more products with their names on them that seem more and more ridiculous. For example, P. Diddy has his own brand of vodka, Ciroc. Working in the liquor store from time to time, I notice that a lot of people purchase this product specifically because a celebrity endorses it. Often times we purchase products for this reason. Playing baseball, I bought certain cleats because Ken Griffey Jr. has his logo on these cleats. They may have not been the best cleats, but people scooped them up because of the name attached to the product.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all three of you in a sense. They are similar and the concept has been around throughout history, but I feel that it is much more serious and wide spread today than it was in the past. Think of all the media outlets that are around today that weren't back then. We are constantly bombarded with this consumeristic lifestyle not only by what these rappers say in their music, but also how you see them on the internet, magazines and television. In the Victorian times you didn't as much as you do today. I feel that all of us have fallen victim to the name on the tag or of the brand in our lives. Personally I would only wear Nike because my favorite athletes wore Nike and they had the best athletes in their commercials. I don't have to buy a ticket and go to a game or concert to see what my favorite artist or athlete is wearing, just by typing in their name I can find thousands of images.
ReplyDeleteAgreements all around! In my opinion, the music people listen to help sway their consumer decisions. For example, people are stereotyped by the type of music they listen to and tend to fall into that stereotype (either consciously or subconsciously) over time. Once an individual has fallen into that stereotype they then tend to begin to emulate the artist/artists they listen to. Like John said, rappers answer for everything is money, and high cost material objects. The desires of someone who listens solely to Bob Marley and reggae music may not answer every one of life's problems with money; instead they might answer them with meditation or marijuana use? Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Todd on the idea that people consume items that are often associated with and promoted by their favorite celebrities. There exists a notion that products become more desirable and functional when they are endorsed by someone who possesses fame and fortune. In terms of music affecting consumers, many of the people who listen to the artists that were mentioned in this post are in a younger age group and are those more impressionable at times. I agree with Taylor's point that the notion of attaining material possessions is not a new concept whatsoever, musical artists are simply continuing promoting this consumer ideology.
ReplyDelete