Links to capitalism---consumption of rap is dictated by the purchasing power of the white majority, resulting in commercialization and maximization of production around consumer preference
Hobgood 23 [Amari T. Hobgood has a MA degree in sociology from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, 2023, “From the Studio Booth to the Defendant’s Table: The Costly Aftermath of the Commodified Gangsta’”, Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and approved by committee chair Dr. Cindy Brooks Dollar, accessed 7/20/24]staghi
This consumption of rap music as an apolitical or non-racial platform allows for the purchasing power of the White majority to dictate what is or is not popular within the genre. As hip-hop transitioned throughout the 2000s and 2010s, rap’s biggest financial backers, outside of 9 Black people, were White consumers (Montford, 2014). Other scholarly work showed how Gangsta rap music changed after reaching the mainstream audiences and became influenced by the purchasing power of the White manufactures. Bakari Kitwana (1995; 2005) explores the question of how White ownership and investment into rap music overall has changed the cultural product throughout time. As time progressed, marketers and investors in the genre decided to figure out what particular components of the music was most enjoyed and maximized production around what audiences liked the most (Kitwana, 1995). It was determined that songs that were dedicated to drug usage, fantastically violent misadventures, surreal ‘hood life and the promises of potential unchecked riches - were what the audiences craved the most when enjoying Gangsta’ rap, especially when combined with a seductive beat (Kitwana, 1995). Some of the historical origins of Gangsta rap as a platform for underrepresented poor Black life and urban living were washed out for a more hyper-violent depiction of this reality that borders on glamorizing gangrelated violence and the anti-social tendencies central to gangsterism (Kitwana, 1995). This commercialization of Gangsta’ rap transformed as a playground for Whites to participate in an “exotic” and potentially romanticized environment from the safety of their suburban homes. As a result of this commercialization and influence of the production of Gangsta’ rap, rappers themselves began to see the genre as a lucrative avenue to project themselves into as a potential way out of the permanent “underclass” and into a life of financial stability.