Image is nothing?

  Illustration by JENNY YURSHANSKY/Daily Bruin

By Matt Goulding
Daily Bruin Contributor

Some listen to it, others live it, and many want you to believe
that you can drink it.

Whatever your take on hip-hop is, it is impossible to deny its
metamorphosis from a misunderstood musical genre into an
influential staple in modern pop culture.

“It’s a mind state and it’s a culture,”
said third-year English student Geoff Nashimoto. “It could be
on MTV or public access. It doesn’t matter, it’s still
hip-hop.”

Nashimoto said he has been a hip-hop fan since 1993 and has
become an active participant since he took up DJing two years
ago.

He said hip-hop cannot be confined to one definition or avenue,
but rather, it has become an omnipresent element in today’s
society.

“Hip-hop is everything,” Nashimoto said. “It
can be a lifestyle or a hobby. You can let it be anything you want
it to be.”

The marketing departments of many of America’s largest
corporations have done just that. Companies like McDonald’s,
the Gap and, perhaps most prolifically, Sprite, a part of the
Coca-Cola Company, have all recently banked on the popularity of
hip-hop by incorporating major elements of the art form in their
commercial campaigns.

“Hip-hop is an art form based on self-expression, on
honesty, on being true to yourself,” said Kristen Witt, a
spokeswoman for the Coca-Cola Company. “We find that these
themes are right in line with Sprite’s brand
personality.”

Witt said Sprite’s newest campaign, which features
aspiring MCs freestyling on the streets, is part of the
company’s 15-year relationship with hip-hop.

“It’s helped us remain authentic. We weren’t
just following a trend,” she said. “According to teens,
we are part of the hip-hop culture. As hip-hop grows, so will
Sprite.”

But some students, like second-year business-economics student
Dana Shayegan, don’t see the connection between products like
Sprite and the hip-hop culture.

“I think they’re just trying to justify their
exploitation of hip-hop,” Shayegan said. “I don’t
see how Sprite is representative of hip-hop ideals. Most MCs I see
drink water.”

Shayegan said companies are simply using hip-hop to sell
products and that most neglect important elements of the culture,
like B-boying (also known as break dancing), DJing and
graffiti.

Regardless of corporate legitimacy, hip-hop’s newfound
marketing power marks another dimension in it’s relatively
short history. Musicology Professor Robert Walser, who teaches the
History of Rock and Roll class, outlined the origins of
hip-hop.

Beginning in the Bronx in the late ’70s and early
’80s with groups like Sugar Hill Gang and Grand Master Flash,
hip-hop appealed to listeners and to artists as simple
entertainment, but soon evolved into an effective means of
expression.

“It starts out as a party music,” Walser said.
“Then you have people recognizing this medium can be used to
say very serious things about social and political
situations.”

Influential groups like Run DMC, Public Enemy and N.W.A began
using their music to create a voice against poverty, oppression and
police brutality.

Female rappers like MC Lyte and Queen Latifah provided a strong
voice for women’s concerns, while Kid Frost became an
important Latino figure in the early hip-hop days, Walser said.

According to Walser, the current rise of hip-hop in mainstream
and commercial America would not have been accepted in the
past.

“It would have been too edgy in the ’80s. It would
have alienated a lot of people,” he said. “Its role now
means that the moment has come when that sound has become
attractive enough to appeal to the masses.”

Although the general acceptance of hip-hop by Americans
continues to grow, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Marselle
Washington said his attempts to bring elements of hip-hop to this
campus have been stifled by authorities.

“The administration’s attitude toward hip-hop is
terrible,” Washington said. “We have campus events
meetings and they have specifically said that they don’t want
to draw that element to this campus. It’s a total
misunderstanding.”

This misunderstanding, he said, has resulted in setbacks like
abnormally high demands for security and the banning of hip-hop
from the Kerckhoff Grand Salon after a window frame was bent during
an event.

Berky Nelson, director of the Center for Student Programming,
said the issue isn’t the music, but rather, the sheer number
of people trying to attend an event.

“Certain activities take place, and if there’s more
people that want to get in than there’s room for, then you
have a security issue,” he said. “That’s not
hip-hop, that’s any event.”

Despite the tension created by administrative measures,
Washington has managed to put on UCLA’s annual Hip-Hop
Xplosion as well as several noontime performances.

Through his efforts, students have been able to enjoy the likes
of Outkast, the Roots and KRS-One illuminating stages around
campus.

Washington said hip-hop’s prevalent role in the media can
help educate the masses about the ideals of the art form.

“I think overall, it’s a very positive thing,”
he said. “It’s getting the culture out
there.”

While Shayegan said he recognizes the potential for
hip-hop’s growth through commercialism, he remains cautious
about corporate motives.

“It moves away from the love of the culture and more
toward making money,” he said. “If people are going to
embrace the industry’s use of hip-hop, they can’t lose
sight for what caused them to love it in the first place.
It’s about self-expression ““ not being
popular.”