Commentary: Vectors of capitalism and the commodification of the people’s voice

As the struggle for national liberation continues, we experience attacks and opposition from various angles in our society. The state weaponizes law enforcement and the justice system in order to threaten, subdue and eradicate those in our movements. The mainstream media sits at the opposite arm of this imperial body, disseminating propaganda to dull and warp the minds of millions through half-truths and obfuscation. To effect the reinforcing chauvinist fervor and trust in the system of capitalistic exploitation, we are constantly bombarded with stories and roundtable discussions syndicated by media conglomerates. These figures are financially incentivized to keep the masses from adopting any semblance of class consciousness.

Perhaps one of the more observable forms of this process is the constant stream of lies and false narratives reported around the Palestinian genocide by politicians and political pundits.

However, I’ve observed a less obvious form of media programming that has been significantly more effective in its goals of reproducing individualistic ideals and enforcing systems of oppression that collectively harm our communities. I’m talking about rap music. More specifically, I’m speaking about the productions by artists financed by industrial powerhouses to create vapid and heavily corporatized messaging.

Media that contains materialistic glamorization provides one side of the myth of Black capitalism to a catchy 808. A genre that at one point featured a plethora of young Black artists creating art that called upon criticisms of the various mechanisms of this society built on white hegemony, has largely been replaced them by those who will, at best, make shallow references to Black radical political ideas while eschewing any calls for changing our society to better meet our material conditions.

A Brand Nubian or Public Enemy of the early 90s, two groups who followed the Black radical tradition of utilizing media to raise political consciousness, simply could not and do not exist with any mainstream presence in the present day. That isn’t to say that these artists no longer exist, but they are not at the forefront of the media circuit. This has not stopped the rap industry from becoming a global enterprise, with artists selling out millions in stadium venues across the world and headlining major sports events to crowds that would otherwise have disapproved of their preponderance. Rap is bigger than it’s ever been in the history of the genre, and along with it the media programming is at an all-time high.

As a person who has been a fan of the genre for over two decades, I’ve watched an industry become more and more co-opted into vectors of mass compliance for capitalist exploitation – from brand deals and corporate sponsorships to globalization through every major social media platform on the internet. Rap is everywhere, and as much love I have for the genre it is primarily not positioned for the betterment of our communities.

Concretely, what we have today is an ever expanding list of artists who serve the interests of those who most profit off the U.S. propaganda machine. Take Kendrick Lamar, who is widely regarded in both numerical and cultural values (ticket sales, music awards and pop cultural relevance) as one of the most highly successful rap artists of the last few decades. His discography includes a mix of upbeat and party music to more introspective and culturally relatable works exploring themes of financial exploitation and interpersonal relationship struggles (To Pimp a Butterfly, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers). What his artistry lacks, however, is any attempt at providing a sober analysis of the systems that churn profit off of our oppression and raise the question of the legitimacy of capitalism.

When he says, “But remember, you ain’t pass economics in school. And everything you buy, taxes will deny. I’ll Wesley Snipe your ass before thirty-five,” he speaks to one of the ways that the tax system works in tandem with scholastic institutions to produce talented Black artists ignorant of financial exploitation. At the same time, there is no call to divorce young Black artists from engaging in this industry in the first place. An exploitative practice in the system is pointed out, but the legitimacy of the system and those benefiting from it remain relatively untouched. In fact, in this same song he features media mogul and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment Dr. Dre, who not only mentored Kendrick in his rise to success but is directly responsible for signing him onto the record label which produced most of his albums.

Aftermath Entertainment is but one of many subsidiaries of the media powerhouse Universal Music Group, which has managed the albums of some of the most commercially successful pop artists of the last few decades, from Justin Beiber to Taylor Swift. It’s also worth noting that the CEO of this company, Lucian Grainge, is a staunch Zionist who has maintained an imperialist stance on the genocide of Palestinians for years. Music produced under such a global conglomerate simply cannot be allowed to question monopoly capitalism in any substantive form, and yet it is this music that is widely distributed through all manner of media outlets. Clearly it represents no threat to any wing of the establishment, and the artists who are absorbed into the system are used to expand the profits of the CEOs and their constituents through brand endorsements and commercial advertising.

Seeing an artist heralded by the masses appear in a TV commercial for a multinational financial corporation like American Express, which Kendrick did alongside Shaq in 2016, only one year after To Pimp a Butterfly, sends a dangerous message to those communities – a message exacerbated by the fact that Kendrick was put on tour by that same financial corporation in the same year. And, to bring it to recent events, was the featured artist for one of the most televised sporting events in the world. This message is antithetical to the movement we are trying to build, and one that we cannot allow to foster amongst the people unabated.

Growing up in the Black Belt South, I’ve experienced the effects that rap and hip-hop cultures largely have had on myself and my peers. There was a time when I would have championed a Kendrick Lamar Superbowl show, without considering the implications of showcasing dozens of corporations before, during and after the performance. The same performance had one of the backup dancers, Zul-Qarnain Nantambu, arrested for independently showing international solidarity for those suffering imperial-backed genocide in Palestine. But I wasn’t a communist who believed in the science of Marxism-Leninism then, and now that I am I see another great need in our working class struggles against the state.

As we move forward in our struggles of liberation against the forces committed to our repression, we simply cannot understate the significance of mass media and the celebrity class in manufacturing consent for this system of greed and exploitation. When Malcolm X said, “The media is the most powerful entity on earth.” he was speaking to the power of the media to fool the working-class into believing in false narratives and to keep from correctly identifying and mobilizing against those in power.

In all our organizing grounds, we seek to correct these ideas through political education of the people. However, we need to go a step further and cultivate a culture of media analysis that identifies the vectors of these pacifying ideas and address their sources of influence. When internationally recognized artists such as Meg the Stallion and Will.i.am are brought onto Kamala Harris’ campaign trail, we must be able to recognize the role they are playing in the imperial core and treat them as such. It’s the same position that Malcolm X correctly identified in 1963, and that role has only intensified in the digital age.

Furthermore, our struggle against this arm of monopoly capitalism must be waged within and amongst ourselves. Our media consumption and engagement should be filtered through a materialist analysis of the artists and the messaging they are distributing amongst the masses. That means being expressly critical of the music and supporting industries we engage in, even more so given where we situate ourselves in these national liberation struggles. This is not a call to destroy your copy of Late Registration because of Kanye West’ most recent trend towards nazi apologia and his professed allegiance to the most reactionary elements of the U.S. political landscape. Rather, it is a reminder of the many forces we are up against as we continue to advance the struggle towards collective liberation from imperialism. We wish to transform society into one that is free from class exploitation, and we must be ready and willing to engage in that struggle in every aspect it manifests in. Even if that manifestation is set to a dope bass line.

#Culture #Opinion #Commentary #AfricanAmerican #Rap

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/commentary-vectors-of-capitalism-and-the-commodification-of-the-peoples-voice?pk_campaign=rss-feed