TY - JOUR
T1 - Marketing MCs
T2 - South Asian American rappers negotiate image, audience, artistic control, and capital
AU - Sharma, Nitasha Tamar
N1 - Funding Information:
I wish to thank the artists for taking part in this project and for granting me the permission to use their words and lyrics to advance our understanding of their experiences and perspectives. I continue to learn from their wisdom and art. Funding for this project was provided by the Northwestern University Faculty Research Grant; African American Studies and Asian American Studies at Northwestern University; the Social Science Research Council; University of California, Berkeley’s Institute for the Study of Social Change; University of California, Santa Barbara; and Amherst College.
PY - 2013/12/1
Y1 - 2013/12/1
N2 - This article analyzes how political rappers negotiate the limitations and possibilities of capitalism and commodification through an analysis of their marketing strategies. I examine the obstacles shared by four South Asian American rappers (their image as non-blacks, ideal audiences and audience expectations, artistic control, and procuring the capital to produce music) and assess the limitations and opportunities of their diverging marketing strategies. Some artists developed a corporate infrastructure to pursue an ethnic marketing approach while others remained independent and targeted an underground audience. These MCs' engagements with capitalism reflect their social identities, approach to hip hop, and politics.
AB - This article analyzes how political rappers negotiate the limitations and possibilities of capitalism and commodification through an analysis of their marketing strategies. I examine the obstacles shared by four South Asian American rappers (their image as non-blacks, ideal audiences and audience expectations, artistic control, and procuring the capital to produce music) and assess the limitations and opportunities of their diverging marketing strategies. Some artists developed a corporate infrastructure to pursue an ethnic marketing approach while others remained independent and targeted an underground audience. These MCs' engagements with capitalism reflect their social identities, approach to hip hop, and politics.
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U2 - 10.1080/03007766.2012.718507
DO - 10.1080/03007766.2012.718507
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84887841559
SN - 0300-7766
VL - 36
SP - 637
EP - 658
JO - Popular Music and Society
JF - Popular Music and Society
IS - 5
ER -