So exactly who is pimping whom?

Is hip hop pimping Corporate America, or is Corporate America pimping hip hop?  It's quickly becoming the hip hop version of the chicken or the egg.

Today at SOHH Atlanta, Ludicris was used as an example of how hip hop celebrities are using their status and pop recognition to score endorsement deals with otherwise mainstream products.  In the spot (which I admit to not having seen yet), Ludacris pushes Pontiac automobiles using his single Two Miles an Hour. 

There are several ways to look at this, and they all have their valid points.  The cynics, backpackers, and haters in general would scream "sellout" or something along the lines of "I can't believe Ludacris who is already a millionaire and goes platinum every year has to do a commercial to make even more money while degrading hip hop as a culture by perpetuating the superficial and materialistic values that are associated with today's music and portrayed by BET as normal but are only truly held and experienced by a small minority  who have access to capital and reside on the upper income brackets where minorities are virtually non-existant."  Or something like that.

Fans, entrepreneurs, and those who believe in the virtues of capitalism would applaud Ludacris for taking yet another step towards becoming a bonafide ubiquitous presence in mainstream media, a position that very few people of color (no, I don't think The Rock counts) can claim.  It's a step in the right direction, since Luda is a legitimate, established hip hop artist with an opportunity to explore business opportunities that can leverage his reputation and talent.  Luda and artists like him are damn near exploiting these corporations, who are desperate- or in Pontiac's case, extremely desperate- to associate their brands with something hip and cool.  It is payback for the decades that these companies have been ripping off and appropriating urban culture without due recognition and compensation.  He's paving the way for future artists and lifting the image of the community as a whole by being visible on a national forum, and for that he's a true role model, regardless of his lyrical content. 

Ludacris is being pimped by Pontiac.  He's doing harm to his own image by associating himself with a such a weak brand, and the money that he makes from the commercial will, in the long run, be lost in reduced album sales from disenchanted fans.  Music, entertainment, and business is a hustle, and Luda is getting played.

Ludacris is pimping Pontiac. He knows full well that the brand is destined for failure in the urban demographic (Scion it ain't), and he's glad to take their money.  It's just another rung on the ladder towards Oprah status.  Music, entertainment, and business is a hustle, and Luda is earning his.

It's easy to claim either side, because popular culture and hip hop (as if the two are different, right?) is arguably at the point where it can't predict how rapper turned celebrities like Luda and his contemporaries like Fiddy will fare in retrospect 10 years from now.  Will people like them be seen as trailblazers?  Or as examples of everything that was wrong with this, the bling/post-bling/grillz era?  It will be interesting, and we're all along for the ride. 

Comments

[savvy]

both sides are valid. and in all honesty its seems like both are at work. so i guess one can summarize that both parties are being pimped and are pimping stimultaneously.

[I BEAT]

This is cleary an age old pratice of capitalism where the ultimate goal is to make money and its variations.

Luda is a metaphor for a desirable "object" or an icon, or better yet, an IDOL. He is looked up to and emulated by many, some will say primarilarly by the youth culture. Simply put, his shit sells.

Pontaic is looking to break into Luda's market, his fan base. Why? Well it is a business and adheres to its requirements. Does Pontaic need to respect and honor the Hip-Hop Culture? Only if it is a requirement to make money.

Where do I stand? I'll do anything as long as I'm content, having fun, and it doesn't compromise my integrity. This is my personal opinion.

I-BEAT
"purevolume.com/enemiesofthestate"
WE MAKE FINALLY MUSIC

[Emerge]

It doesn't really involve selling out, in my opinion, unless the artist is endorsing something he doesn't believe in. If he made a commercial supporting George Bush, then he would be selling out.

www.hiphopscenes.com

[StussyD]

like I Beat was saying, its capitalism, so both Luda and Pontiac are pimping eachother, and don't really care. They both make their money and go home happy.

[wannabeblack]

"It doesn't really involve selling out, in my opinion, unless the artist is endorsing something he doesn't believe in. If he made a commercial supporting George Bush, then he would be selling out."

but does he drive a pontiac?

[MC Lutefisk]

Haha wannabe--I like that, good point.

But yo, everybody who supports this kinda shit, man, I just can't understand it. I mean, call me a backpacker or whatever, but the fact is, capitalism is what was responsible for slavery. Capitalism is responsible for poverty. Capitalism is responsible for most of the problems that face most of the people in the United States--especially minorites. Allowing hip-hop, which originated as an underground movement that allowed the oppressed to express themselves, their lives, and their plight. Yo I'm not saying that all hip-hop has to be the music of the Revolution--I'm just saying that it has to stop being the music of the oppressor.

[MC Lutefisk]

haha what I meant to say there was "Allowing hip-hop...to become commercialized to this degree is a disgrace."

[Mic Sean]

In any other community no thought would even be given to whether Luda was "selling out". But the fact of the matter is, this isn't any other community. Historically, increased involvement in our various music cultures by corporate entities and other outside forces have brought horrible results.

For a second, we should look at the overall effect of commercialization of black music in general. Often we talk in present terms with no vision of the future through the scope of what has happened in the past.

I do believe in capitalism, and one man's pursuit of all he can legally attain. But where should the line be drawn? As I said, this is not any other community. Black culture, music and otherwise has always been under assault and ultimately exploited.

Whether one is pimping the other isn't the question. The question is, are rappers today being responsible and preserving their life line, which is Hip-Hop. Yeah he may make a couple hundred thousand off of an ad, but the further we disseminate our culture irresponsibly (the greater the supply),the less money it will earn it's purveyors in the future (the lesser the demand).

This is aint about pimping...this is about economics.

- Mic Sean of (Soul Rebel)

WWW.SOULREBELMEDIA.COM