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ONE PLANET 11J } \ |1 J jJMi V H ji | h i p h o p ' AND CONTEMPORARY J o u r n a l o f C o n t e m p o r a r y A f r i c a n A r t N i k k i S . L e e , T h e H i p H o p P r o j e c t , f u j i f l e x p r i n t s , 2 8 . 2 5 x 2 1 . 2 5 , 2 0 0 1 N i k k i S . L e e , T h e H i p H o p P r o j e c t (1), 2 0 0 1 m . * - a S u s a n S m i t h - P i n e l o , C a k e , ( v i d e o still), 2 0 0 0 Derek Murray Even those who hold that Art is representative of time and place and people cannot help admitting that the more imitative an art is, the less it represents to us the spirit of its age1 - Oscar Wilde H ip-hop music has left an indelible mark on my life. From my first exposure to the music in the 70s, to my rapinspired , thugged-out teen years in the 80s, to the sweaty basement house parties o f my college years, hip-hop has been the soundtrack o f my life. Public Enemy's Fight the Power gave me black consciousness, NWA (Niggas With Attitude) provided me an outlet for my rage and M.C. Hammer made me wanna dance. The cultural resistance within hip-hop refused the "we shall overcome" civil rights mentality o f my parents' generation. Hip-hop made me feel good about being black (at least most o f the time). It made me proud. It was "my" music. Now in my mid-thirties, hip-hop continues to be a thought provoking, challenging and inspirational force in my life (if not sometimes a thorn in my side). Fall/Winter 2002 N k a - 6 1 C h r i s O f i l i , A f r o d i z z i a , a c r y l i c , o i l , r e s i n , p a p e r c o l l a g e , g l i t t e r a n d e l e p h a n t d u n g o n c a n v a s , 1 9 9 6 What the music has become, no one could have anticipated. Its legitimacy is one o f optimism as well as a symbol o f its potential demise. Like no other industry, black ownership and entrepreneurship have been achieved on a massive scale. Rap artists have begun to branch out into other areas o f the culture industry and have become global household names. Unlike the Jazz and Motow n eras, hip-hop tends to avoid many o f the pitfalls o f exotic cars and copious amounts o f platinum, diamond-encrusted jew elry), have become the aesthetic o f choice. Rap videos, with their million dollar budgets, have degenerated into nothing more than excessive "ghetto" mini-melodramas that in many respects over-shadow and control the success o f the music. Hype Williams, the quintessential hip-ho p auteur, has amassed significant wealth as a manufacturer o f black visual culture . Initially planning to be a visual artist, Williams (who claimed to be inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat) found his artistic voice as a budding filmmaker. His skill as an auteur is unprecedented and his impact on music video production has transformed the medium indelibly. Williams is one o f the originators o f the "Bo o ty Videos" that revel in nefarious displays o f gyrating female flesh. These videos have become gratuitous and exploitative, literally depicting w omen as mere "bo dies" just tits and ass with no emotion or interiority. They serve as mindless accessories to be doused with expensive bottles o f...

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