authenticity and consumption in the australian hip hop culture

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Page 1: Authenticity and consumption in the Australian Hip Hop culture

Authenticity and consumption inthe Australian Hip Hop culture

Damien ArthurThe School of Commerce, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects that local interpretation and theglocalisation of the Australian Hip Hop culture have on the consumption practices of members,exploring the reasons for such effects, and drawing marketing implications.

Design/methodology/approach – Three principal methods of ethnographic research were used:participant observation, informal conversations, and semi-structured in-depth interviews.

Findings – The findings suggest that symbolic representation within the Australian Hip Hop culturetakes the form of consumption of brands congruent with the values of authenticity and self-expressionat the core of the Australian Hip Hop culture. Many mass-produced Hip Hop brands originating in theUSA were not perceived as authentic as their meanings were associated with commercialisation andartificiality by cultural members. Furthermore, members of the Australian Hip Hop culture appear toexpress authenticity by being true to themselves, refusing to imitate African-American Hip Hop styleand rejecting what they perceived as “black” Hip Hop brands. Finally, members of the Australian HipHop culture also represented their geographical place via consumption, and used symbolicconsumption as a form of subcultural capital.

Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in the literature by providing a detailed analysis on theeffects of interpretation and the glocalisation of the Australian Hip Hop culture on consumption.

Keywords Consumption, Culture, Australia

Paper type Research paper

The scene takes place in Adelaide, Australia, at the welcoming of an internationalconference for studies in popular music. An aboriginal dance group has just concludeda routine acknowledging the original owners and custodians of the land – the Kaurnapeople. One of the dancers, KT, steps forward to the microphone and addresses theaudience. During his speech he grabs his oversize FUBU jersey, thrusts it forward withhis fist and states:

You might see me in my FUBU top. It doesn’t stand for FUBU. It stands for Full Blood.

As he leaves the stage, I sneak out the back and catch him with the rest of the dancegroup preparing to leave.

DA: Excuse me KT. My name’s Damien and I am a PhD student investigating symbolicconsumption. I just wanted to ask you a few things about what you said up there, aboutFUBU standing for Full Blood. Is that widely known in the aboriginal community?

KT: No. That’s what it means to me.

DA: Oh, Ok. Why’s that?

KT: Well the red you see, that’s symbolic of the blood. And the black, that’s my colour.But amongst the aboriginal community it stands for “For Us, By Us”.

DA: So that’s the case even though the “Us” originally referred to African-Americans?

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1352-2752.htm

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Qualitative Market Research: AnInternational JournalVol. 9 No. 2, 2006pp. 140-156q Emerald Group Publishing Limited1352-2752DOI 10.1108/13522750610658784

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KT: Well yeah, I mean there aren’t any Aboriginal brands and until we develop a brand of ourown, then yeah, I guess we align ourselves with the African-American community.

IntroductionAs the prologue indicates, much of the utility of consumption is its symbolic value(Belk, 1988). For KT, the brand FUBU symbolises his unmixed aboriginal ancestry.However, this is an internalised representation, one that the wider population or eventhe rest of the aboriginal community are unlikely to interpret. This is what FUBUmeans to KT, and he is proud to tell us of his interpretation. KT is also aware thatamongst the aboriginal community FUBU stands for “For Us, By Us”. Thisinterpretation is a shared meaning understood not only by the aboriginal community,but also by the Hip Hop community, and by some members of the general population.Interestingly, the Hip Hop interpretation of “Us” in FUBU refers to theAfrican-American community. Upon its arrival in Australia the shared meaning ofFUBU has grown to incorporate the Aboriginal community. Upon further questioning,KT revealed he is aware of the original interpretation, but justifies his appropriation ofthe meaning of the brand through an alignment with the African-Americancommunity, based on a shared blackness, and the absence of any Aboriginal brands.

The above example illustrates the transformation of the meaning of Hip Hop brandsas they cross the Pacific and arrive in Australia. In an increasingly inter-connectedworld, brands are crossing borders at a faster rate than ever before (Solomon, 2003). Asa result, the meaning of brands is increasingly interpreted outside of their culture oforigin (Howes, 1996)[1]. As the FUBU example illustrates, when a brand is consumedoutside of the culture of origin, its meaning is often altered, and adapted by the hostculture. In an effort to develop a greater understanding of this process, this paperexamines the symbolic meaning assigned to Hip Hop brands by members of theAustralian Hip Hop culture.

The Hip Hop culture revolves around four key activities: rapping, graffiti art,breakdancing and DJing. It originated in the South Bronx area of New York Cityduring the early 1970s, and articulated the values and attitudes of the urban inner-cityyouth (Rose, 1994). During the 1980s, hip hop became more than just a culture, but alsoa profitable commodity, with Hip Hop music, fashion, and entertainment consumedacross the world. Hip Hop initially arrived in Australia through the mass media as anAmerican cultural export. Symbolic representation of Hip Hop authenticity wasusually denoted by the imitation of American Hip Hop style and the consumption ofAmerican Hip Hop brands. As global Hip Hop values mixed with the local conditions,Australian Hip Hop differentiated itself from its US roots to create its own uniqueidentity. This fusion, combined with the consumption of brands outside of the cultureof origin, has created a shared understanding of the symbolic meanings of Hip Hopbrands by members of the Australian Hip Hop culture, which has serious implicationsfor marketers. The next section undertakes a selective review of the literatureregarding the role the local interpretations of foreign brands and the glocalisation ofmass cultures play in determining consumption is undertaken. The paper thenpresents the research objective, method and the qualitative findings, before drawingsome recommendations for marketers.

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Review of the literatureSubcultures of consumptionIn 1995, Schouten and McAlexander introduced the “subculture of consumption” as acollective of individuals who identify with certain products, brands or consumptionactivities and, through these products, brands or activities, identify with other people.Like other communities, a unique ethos or set of common values, rituals and traditions,unique jargon and an identifiable set of social relationships among members governsubcultures of consumption. Furthermore, subcultures of consumption have often beenobserved to transcend national and cultural boundaries, and ethnic, age, and classdifferences (Schouten and McAlexander, 1995; Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001; Schau andMuniz, 2002). Past research on subcultures of consumption have investigated bothbrand focused communities, such as Harley Davidson (Schouten and McAlexander,1995) and Apple (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001), and non-brand focused communities, suchas gay consumers (Kates, 2002) and the rave scene (Thornton, 1995).

The Hip Hop culture can be considered a non-brand focused subculture ofconsumption in that it is a collective of individuals who identify with similarconsumption activities in regards to music, fashion, and entertainment. As it is anon-brand focused subculture of consumption, brands that are perceived as authenticwill be rewarded through consumption choices (Kates, 2004). Hip Hop members useauthentic Hip Hop brands as symbolic cues to determine membership in much thesame way as the gay consumers in Kates’ (2004) study used their gaydar as a means ofscanning for signs of gayness. Furthermore, by manifesting an identity in materialgoods, the culture establishes a degree of security, a feeling that the culture is real andexists. This is important in that the Hip Hop culture in Australia is perhaps bestdescribed as neo-tribal: dispersed and loosely organised, and hence rarely, if ever,experienced in its totality (Maffesoli, 1996).

Local interpretations of foreign brandsGiven the accelerated pace and increased scope of world trade, branded goodsincreasingly cross borders (Solomon, 2003). In addition, advances intelecommunications and media technologies have allowed cultural industries tomore easily disseminate information to a growing proportion of the world population(Appadurai, 2001). When branded goods and popular culture move from their cultureof origin to host cultures, interpretations of the symbols tend to become “indigenised”.That is, the understanding of the symbolic meaning assigned to the brand in the hostculture may be entirely different to that interpreted in the culture of origin (Howes,1996). Given the role of the symbolic value of brands in explaining purchase choice(Sirgy, 1982; Solomon, 1983; Belk, 1988; McCracken, 1988a, b) this consideration mayexplain the failure of some brands in markets outside of their original culture.

As cultural signs, brands allow individuals to construct their own meanings aboutthe world and to communicate meaningfully to others (Douglas and Isherwood, 1979;McCracken, 1988a, b; Hall, 1997). Interpretation is an essential aspect of this process,and numerous studies have emphasised how the interpretation of products may bediffer between cultures (Miller, 1992; Gillespie, 1995; Howes, 1996; Miller, 1998;Jackson, 1999, 2004). These studies have acknowledged that even the most “global”brands, such as McDonald’s or Coca-Cola, have different cultural connotations andare consumed quite differently in different places. For example, in his study on

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consumption practices in Trinidad, Miller (1992) describes how the meanings assignedto television shows such as “Dallas” and the “Young and the Restless” varyconsiderably outside of their original culture. Hence, when goods are consumed in thecontext of different cultures, the interpretations of their meanings may differ.

The glocalisation of mass cultureOne often cited view of the consequence of the migration of goods throughout theworld and the diffusion of popular culture is that of global homogenisation (Strinati,1995; Howes, 1996). Miller (1994) suggests that although mass production andconsumption are commonly considered a homogenising influence that hinders culturaldiversity, the opposite might in fact be true due to the local interpretations by the hostculture. Miller argues that the consumption of mass produced goods in local culturescreates greater diversity and new cultures, because of the varying interpretationsassigned to the meaning of the goods. Such cultural change should not be regarded ascontinuity on prior cultural traditions, but as a new culture in its own right. Suchculture creation by the fusion of local and mass culture is what Robertson (1995)defines as “glocalisation”.

While the effects of glocalisation can be found across many cultural categories, forthe purpose of this paper we will restrict our analysis to the particular case of Hip Hop.Hip hop has grown over the past 30 years from an outlet for expression amongst NewYork City youth, into a US$10 billion a year industry (Watson, 2004) that is projectedthroughout the world via MTV and other global media outlets. So what happens to themeaning of Hip Hop and its signifying practices when global media outlets broadcastthe culture to those outside of the USA?[2] The meaning of Hip Hop and its signifyingpractices seldom remains the same because of the different cultural backgrounds of theconsumers and other environmental variables (i.e. a dispersed population, airplayrequirements, etc.). A growing body of work, which collectively examines the role ofHip Hop in a range of globally and culturally diverse settings, addresses this notion.These academics have researched Hip Hop in countries outside the USA such as theUK (Bennett, 1999; Hesmondhalgh and Melville, 2001; Swedenburg, 2001), Japan(Condry, 2001), the Netherlands (Wermuth, 2001), Germany (Pennay, 2001), Korea(Morelli, 2001) and New Zealand (Mitchell, 2001), and have found evidence of localinterpretations of Hip Hop symbols, of glocalisation of Hip Hop culture, and haveidentified local cultural members who interpret their participation in Hip Hop asauthentic.

Each of the cultures investigated have combined elements of US Hip Hop with theirlocal culture. For example, Japanese Hip Hop crews rap in Japanese and within theirlyrics there is no mention of guns, or misogyny, and very little violence (Condry, 2001),while Islamic Hip Hop crew Fun-Da-Mental rap lines from the Koran, such as “Al-lahuakbar” (God is greatest) (Swedenburg, 2001). Although different in many respects, eachculture investigated is similar in that they were all conceived through the diffusion ofUS Hip Hop via the media. Furthermore, in each case, imitation of US Hip Hoprepresentations portrayed in the media was initially undertaken and was followed by afusion of the local culture with US Hip Hop. Also, as a result of this glocalisation, eachculture has, in its own way, had to negotiate issues regarding imitation andauthenticity.

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AuthenticityAuthenticity is generally defined as the condition of being “genuine,” “trustworthy” or“real”. However, interpretations of authenticity may differ when products and brandsare consumed outside of the culture of origin. Kates (2004) discusses authenticity interms of cognitive and moral legitimacy, where moral legitimacy results fromconsumers actively assessing whether brands truly benefit the community in question,and cognitive legitimacy relates to axiomatic brand meanings. When examiningcognitive legitimacy Kates identified three frames that frequently enjoin brands andconsumers:

(1) insider interpretations;

(2) rewarding legitimate brands; and

(3) punishing illegitimate brands.

Insider interpretations refer to when informants attend to the double coding of brandsand their marketing communications by elaborating on their inclusive meanings thatacknowledge their community. Of particular interest to marketing practitioners is thatbrands that are perceived to acknowledge and support, the subculture are rewardedthrough the members’ consumption habits. Those brands that fail to acknowledge orworse still, exploit the subculture, are punished via consumption boycotts. Forexample, Heineken beer was boycotted by the Hip Hop culture after a recentcommercial aired which claimed a DJ invented the scratch at a party in 1982 when heaccidentally spilt his beer on the turntables. After the ad aired, many of Hip Hop’slegendary DJs expressed their outrage, and their opinions were quickly posted on HipHop web sites and forums around the world, including following quote from GrandWizard Theodore, who invented the scratch in 1975.

Grand Wizard Theodore: It’s a disgrace to the Hip Hop culture. Heineken doesn’t know theculture and they don’t contribute to it, then they have the audacity to give wrong informationabout how scratching started! They take from the culture and they don’t give back. Weshould boycott Heineken. Scratching started in 1982? I don’t think so.

Research objectiveOver the past two decades the Australian Hip Hop culture has been fighting a stigma,perpetuated by the media, that its members are imitating US culture. Only in the pastfour years has that stigma begun to dissipate, as the culture has glocalised. Previousresearch has found evidence of this glocalisation in Australian Hip Hop culture(Masters, 2001; Maxwell, 2003). For example, many Australian MC’s now rap inAustralian accents and about Australian issues. However, to date, no research hasinvestigated these effects of such glocalisation on the consumption practices of whatthe press describes as the fastest growing youth culture in the nation (Donovan, 2004).Furthermore, no research has investigated the role of authenticity on youth subculturesdespite its effect on increasing brand loyalty (Kates, 2004). In order to fill this gap, thisstudy examines the effect that the local interpretations of foreign brands and theglocalisation of the Australian Hip Hop culture have on the consumption practices ofmembers, explores the reasons for such effects with a particular focus on authenticself-expression and draws some marketing implications.

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MethodologyThis study of the consumption practices of the Hip Hop culture in Australia wasconducted using three principal methods of ethnographic research: participantobservation, informal conversations, and semi-structured in-depth interviews.Ethnography was chosen as this approach can yield better insights into the waypeople interact with brands than more modernist approaches (Goulding, 2003).

The participant observation and informal interviews took place between June 2002and October 2004. Extended presence and participation in the field allowed theresearcher to “learn the language” of those under investigation, and to experience lifeas one of the subjects (Elliot and Jankel-Elliot, 2003). An Adelaide Hip Hop DJ who wasan acquaintance of the researcher facilitated initial entry into the Hip Hop culture inAustralia and the researcher accompanied the gatekeeper and a number of his friendsto around a 100 Hip Hop nights held across Adelaide, and around Australia. Becominga member of a subculture generally means entering as an aspiring member andundergoing a process of socialisation whereby subcultural capital is obtained(Thornton, 1995). Hence, the nature of the ethnographic process was evolving, whichallowed the researcher to interact with different elements of the subculture and toexperience the signifying practices of Hip Hop consumption as an insider. Members ofthe culture interacting with the researcher were made aware of his researcher status,however, it was not possible, nor desirable, to inform all those members observed.During this period, the researcher kept field notes of his observations and informalconversations, which were then written up as soon as possible after the event.Furthermore, the researcher kept a personal diary of the process, which was a usefulrecord of his cognitive and emotional experience, and allowed him to conduct personalintrospection (Shankar, 2000; Elliot and Jankel-Elliot, 2003).

During the course of the study, which formed part of a larger research project on thesymbolic consumption of subcultures, 30 semi-structured in-depth interviews withboth soft-core and hard-core members of the Australian Hip Hop culture wereundertaken[3]. The researcher utilised guided introspection to obtain the necessarydata: as he had obtained membership status himself, a good rapport with theinterviewees was established, and hence the information was of quality (Shankar, 2000;Elliot and Jankel-Elliot, 2003). This technique was chosen as it has been found to beparticularly useful when cultural categories are under investigation (McCracken,1988a, b; Wells, 1993). Interview transcripts, along with field notes and the researcher’spersonal diary were imported into nudist for coding, which was conducted by theresearcher. The various sources of data were each assigned equal weight and initiallycoded in their entirety using open coding. Selective coding was then used to synthesiseand relate data to conceptual topics of interest, such as the members’ interpretations ofbrands, the glocalisation of the culture, and other major categories that emerged fromthe data interpretation and literature review. This process ensured that the resultinginterpretation reflected persistent themes, and enhanced the researcher’s familiaritywith the data, thus facilitating the derivation of meaning (Pettigrew, 2002).

Key findings and themesHip Hop in AustraliaHip Hop in Australia was constructed not through a direct interaction with US Hip Hopculture, but through an active social engagement with various forms of US media circa

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1983 (Maxwell, 2003). That is, knowledge about the culture and its defining ethos arosein Australia via music, music videos, albums, magazines, movies and books. Furtherevidence of the medias role in the arrival of Hip Hop culture in Australia emergedthroughout the ethnographic research. For example, during an interview with JimmyC., a veteran of the Australian Hip Hop culture, he revealed that:

Jimmy C: (Hip Hop) came here through the normal channels, you know? A few films like “BeatStreet”, and a couple of books on spray can arts, stuff like that.

That Jimmy C. considers the arrival of a culture in such a manner as “normal”demonstrates the seminal role of global media outlets in the diffusion of behaviour andthe absence of any “real” interaction with US Hip Hop culture in Australia. Withoutsuch interaction with the US Hip Hop community, it is impossible for Australians toclaim a shared understanding of the meanings attached to the cultural sounds andimages broadcast. Although limited interaction with the US Hip Hop community doesoccur today, interpretations of the representations of US Hip Hop by Australian HipHop members differs as their understanding of the meanings associated are providedby local circumstances. Furthermore, although the culture was initially imitated (andby some aspiring members still is), Australian Hip Hop culture has now fused localinfluences with the mass culture to create a glocal culture in its own right (Maxwell,2003). To borrow from the Hip Hop vernacular, it has differentiated itself from its USorigins with local “flavour”. For example, in relation to Hip Hop, American accents areabandoned for Australian accents, and talk of ghettos is replaced with talk of thesuburbs. Mick D, a member of the Oz Hip Hop internet forum, gives evidence of theseglocalising effects on both the content and accent of lyrics:

Mick D: The thing that makes Oz Hip Hop unique is the fact that locals can relate to both thesubject matter and the lingo, and to be honest, it’s refreshing.

Hip Hop’s valuesThe underlying values of the Australian Hip Hop culture revolve around the notions ofself-expression and authenticity. These beliefs are not mutually exclusive: whencultural members express themselves, they must do so in an authentic manner.Furthermore, it is important for members to express themselves in a manner that istrue, by being true to their own place. Whether that is a representation symbolic oftheir country, their city, or their ethnicity depends on whom the representation is madeto[4].

An example of these values in action was seen at the 2004 Australian RecordIndustry Awards. US Hip Hop outfit the Black Eye Peas were presenting the award forBest Urban release, and announced the winner Australian Hip Hop crew Koolism fortheir album Part III of Random Thoughts. Upon accepting the award from the BlackEyed Peas, Koolism’s acceptance speech went as follows:

MC Hau: . . . We’d like to accept this on behalf of the whole Australian Hip Hop community.We’re trying to build this foundation and . . .

DJ Danielsan: To Mnemonic Ascent and all the Australians that “keep it real” for want of abetter phrase. Be yourself. Enough of that American wannabe trash.

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At this point the audience booed to show contempt at what many in the industry musthave thought was an attack on the Black Eyed Peas, however, DJ Danielsan quicklyreiterated:

DJ Danielsan: Hey America Rules. These guys are all good (referring to the Black Eyed Peas).I’m talking about Australians who are wanting to be something that they’re not. That sucks,so thanks everybody, it’s a great honour, and we very much appreciate it. Peace.

In the first line of the speech we see evidence of a glocal culture as Hau accepts theaward on behalf of whole Australian Hip Hop community, and speaks of building itsfoundations. If the Australian Hip Hop community were not a new culture, but rather aculture imitating US Hip Hop, then there would be no reason to suggest that it wouldneed a foundation, as there would be nothing to support. In the second line of thespeech, Danielsan gives thanks to Koolism’s brother crew Mnemonic Ascent, and thenall Australians that “keep it real”. This is Dainelsen’s acknowledgement of allAustralian Hip Hop members who are authentic. How do these members becomeauthentic? By expressing themselves and not imitating US Hip Hop and trying to besomething they are not. Members of the Australian Hip Hop culture expressthemselves via their own practice (be it graffiti writer, MC, breaker dancer, or DJ), andalso by their actual and symbolic representations.

Many researchers have found that our identities are in part made up by ourconsumption of goods, and that their consumption and display aids ourself-expression. Much of this self-expression is for symbolic significance, indicatingour membership of a particular culture (Clarke et al., 1975; Mackay, 1997). For theAustralian Hip Hop culture, the consumption of certain products and brands forms aunity with the group’s values, which helps to define the culture’s public identity andconsolidates the glocal culture as distinct from US Hip Hop. The following sectionssystematically investigate the effects of Australian Hip Hop’s values on consumptionbeginning with the notion of authenticity, followed by self-expression.

AuthenticityIt is commonplace for Hip Hop scholars who conduct research outside of the USA tocite examples of outsiders to the culture pointing out that Hip Hop is an Americanculture and to partake in it as a non-American is merely imitation (Mitchell, 2001).Academics are not the only individuals to suggest this notion. Within Australia,throughout the 1990s, it was common to hear the mass media and the general publiclabelling Hip Hop enthusiasts as imitators of an American culture. However, theethnographic research undertaken for this study, and earlier findings by Maxwell(2003) revealed that being a member of the Australian Hip Hop culture does not entail aslavish devotion to the consumption of all things American. One way in whichmembers of a glocal culture can claim authenticity is through the notion that theirsymbolic consumption represents the values of the members, while the consumption ofmass-produced goods represents artificiality. That is, when addressing the issue ofauthenticity within Hip Hop, it is necessary to take into account that authenticity isinextricably bound up with the particular local circumstances in which Hip Hop isconsumed. For example, the brand Ecko, which is heavily associated with Hip Hop inthe USA, is considered inauthentic by hard-core Australian Hip Hop members as it isseen to represent everything that is “wrong” with the commercialisation of Hip Hop.

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Members of the Australian Hip Hop culture perceive it as a company that has not kepttrue to its roots, and has crossed over into the mainstream. This is probablyexacerbated by the fact that it is distributed in Australia by Globe International, anAustralian youth culture company also licensing other non-Hip Hop youth culturebrands, like Stussy, Mooks and Paul Frank.

Another reason for the rejection of some US Hip Hop brands by Australian Hip Hopmembers is to avoid sanctions from the wider Australian community. In much thesame way as those observed in Bennett’s (1999) ethnography of British Hip Hop culturewere subjected to shouts of “Wigger” when they dressed in typical African-AmericanHip Hop style clothes, Australian Hip Hop members are often labelled “Homeys”[5].Hence, as suggested by AM, editor of an Australian Hip Hop magazine, normativeinfluence may be an explanatory factor in the consumption of Hip Hop brands withinAustralia:

AM: . . . a lot of people who got into hip hop in Australia in the early days found themselvesridiculed by their peers and they were told you know “you’re trying to be black” or whateverand they were so afraid of that and so determined to prove that that wasn’t the case thatthey’ve gone in the other direction and they’ve tried to show “oh no Aussie hip hop is not likethat, we’re this” and they’ve toned all that down and they’ve eliminated that aspect . . .

As illustrated in the above quotation the notion of “blackness” and the idea that onlyAmericans can authentically experience Hip Hop is, for the predominantly “white”Australian Hip Hop culture, an issue that needs to be negotiated. The culture hasachieved this by deriving authenticity not from colour or nationality, but from a notionof truthfulness to one’s self and place. In the Australian Hip Hop scene there is not aproblem with being “white” and Australian as long as you do not misrepresent whoyou are, and simulate blackness, or where you are from and simulate Americanness. Inpretending to be an African-American, you are not being true to your self, or yourplace. Hence, Australian Hip Hop members would be regarded as fake if they were toconsume brands such as Fubu that are associated with the African-American Hip Hopculture, as they would be expressing something they are not. Take, for example, thefollowing extract from Shep, an Australian Hip Hop promoter, who was providingbreak-dancers for a television commercial:

Shep: . . . we were meant to provide performers and we get there on the day and they’re like“Oh you guys have to wear the clothing,” which is Fubu and all that sort of stuff, and I said tothem, I said, “Look my guys are here under the understanding that we’re here to do the tricks,you guys were meant to be providing models to wear the clothing.” Anyway, they ended upgetting my guys to wear the clothing so I said to them, “Look . . . this is how it’s going towork, they’ll wear the clothing, they’ll do the tricks for the camera to go on the commercial,but at the end of the commercial it has to say on the bottom of the screen that all performersare provided by DaPromoters that way that disassociates the performers from the clothing,because they don’t want to be associated with that.”

Shep is profoundly aware of the symbolic meaning attached to the brand Fubu, and “allthat sort of stuff” by the Australian Hip Hop culture. Hence, Shep tries to protect hisperformers and his business by disassociating them from such inauthenticrepresentation by demanding that the producers display a disclaimer at the end ofthe television commercial. This section has focused on authenticity and its effectson what one member in the Australian Hip Hop culture would not consume and why.

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In the following sections we investigate what constitutes genuine signifying practicesin the Australian Hip Hop culture.

Self-expressionAs previously noted, the consumption of goods is one way in which individualsexpress themselves and their cultures. Although members of the Australian Hip Hopculture frown upon the consumption of some US brands, this does not apply to all USbrands. Hence, it is acceptable to consume US Hip Hop brands within the AustralianHip Hop culture as long as the brand authentically represents who you are. Forexample, DJ Nixon would never consume brands that have meanings associated withAfrican-American Hip Hop such as Fubu, as he does not want to misrepresent himself.He does, however, consume other US brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren and Nautica.Although these brands have in the recent past began to coopt Hip Hop style, they havenot grown from Hip Hop culture. Rather, these brands are products of mainstreamfashion designers that were adopted and made popular by US Hip Hop culturethroughout the 1990s (Spiegler, 1996) in a manner that could be described as a form ofbricolage. Hence, just as the teddy boy’s theft and transformation of the Edwardianstyle in Hebdige’s (1979) study can be constructed as an act of bricolage, so to can HipHop’s adoption of high end fashion (e.g. Gucci, Versace, and Hilfiger). However, forNixon, the consumption of Ralph Lauren and Nautica also represents his “white”middle-upper class private school background better than the consumption of mostother brands. Hence, Nixon is also truthfully representing himself through hissymbolic consumption and his actions are therefore consistent with the values of hissubculture. The perceived authenticity of such consumption also highlights themulti-layered nature of one’s “entire” self-concept and suggests that one’s subcultural,national, ethnic, occupational, or family identity is often negotiated.

One afternoon during the ethnographic process the researcher was watching a DJdocumentary with Nixon when they saw an advertisement for the clothing brandMixwell. Using the laddering technique suggested by Wansink (2003) the researchersought an understanding of how Nixon made meaningful associations between thebrand and himself, as shown below:

DA: What’s Mixwell?

Nixon: It’s a brand. I’d love to get some of that.

DA: Why would you like to have that brand?

Nixon: Because the designs are dope?[6]

DA: Why do you like the designs?

Nixon: Because they’re dope, man.

DA: Yeah, but why do you think they are dope?

Nixon: Look man, I’ll tell you why I like them. I like them because they represent my cultureto everyone else. But not the entire culture, the specific part of the culture that I like, that I’m apart of.

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This exchange illustrates the linkages between the attributes that have meanings forNixon as a consumer. Nixon initially reveals that he would like to consume the Mixwellbrand because of their designs. He considers these designs as “dope” as they use iconicDJ symbols (turntables, mixers, needles, records, etc.). Upon further probing, he revealsthat the consumption of such iconic symbols would represent his culture to everyoneelse. But not Hip Hop culture in its entirety, but the specific part of it that he is part of –DJ culture. Hence, for Nixon, the consumption of the Mixwell brand would be anauthentic representation of who he is.

Self-expression within Hip Hop is tied very closely to the concept of locality and arepresentation of one’s geographical place (Decker, 1993). Within Australian Hip Hopwe see evidence of such representations in the names of crews and in the accents andlyrics of tracks. For example, the Hilltop Hoods originated from the Adelaide Hills, rapin Australian accents and incorporate Australian icons and Australian issues intotheir rhymes. The representation of one’s place via consumption is now seen in thepreference for Australian Hip Hop magazines over US Hip Hop magazines (i.e. theSource), and the increased popularity of Australian Hip Hop music, and Australian HipHop brands. The following episode, observed by the researcher, illustrates the point.At the launch of an Australian Hip Hop compilation album in Adelaide in 2003, MCReason was throwing out promotional product to the crowd. As he grabbed a Zoo Yorkvisor from the bag he asked the crowd:

Reason: Who wants a Zoo York visor?

At this point, the crowd screamed for the free merchandise, however, Reason added:

Reason: Wouldn’t you prefer something with Adelaide on it?

At which point the crowd let out a deafening roar. This anecdote illustrates the prideAustralian Hip Hop members have in their glocal culture. The Zoo York brand isgenerally liked by members of the Australian Hip Hop culture due to its associationwith the spiritual home and history of Hip Hop. Furthermore, it is not perceived as abrand that has “sold out”, like Ecko, or as a “black” brand, like FUBU. However, whenoffered a choice between a Zoo York visor, and a hypothetical product with the name ofthe host city written on it, the crowd preferred the hypothetical product. They do sobecause they would prefer to represent their own place, more than a foreign place,despite its Hip Hop associations. Furthermore, a pride in one’s own national identity iscommon amongst Australian youth, and substantial country of origin researchsuggests consumers prefer their own country’s products (Phau and Prendergast, 2000).However, the representation of place in the Australian Hip Hop culture is a far morecomplex phenomenon than a mere Australia versus US paradigm, as shown in theinterview extract.

MC Delta: Adelaide’s such a small place. I could never understand the difference betweenSouth and North. To me it was bullshit, but I was encouraged to represent the south, so I did.Always used to talk about the Southside in my rhymes.

Here we see not only evidence of a glocal representation, but tensions within the glocalculture and the competitive nature of Hip Hop. MC Delta was always encouraged topromote the Southside of Adelaide in his rhymes by his older brother and his brother’sfriends who were members of the Hip Hop culture. Because of their referent power,

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Delta followed their instructions, despite his personal beliefs, as it abided by theculture’s norms. This has serious implications for the consumption of Hip Hopmembers as we can see in the following extract by Lo Quay, the editor of anotherAustralian Hip Hop magazine:

Lo Quay: (The consumption of local Hip Hop brands is) a statement about, you know,representing local Hip Hop, and maybe Melbourne Hip Hop, depending on the shirt. Or to thepoint where sometimes, because there’s different local clothing companies in different cities,like Sydney’s got a couple, Melbourne’s got a couple, so you find the Sydney people normallylevitate towards the Sydney, Melbourne towards the Melbourne, and it’s kinda like a friendlyclothing rivalry I think as well.

As we see in this extract, authentic representations of one’s place are also often made ata more micro level, such that Australian Hip Hop members are more likely to consumebrands produced in their local cities. For the consumer, authentic representation andknowing what brands represent what cities is a form of what Thornton (1995) definesas subcultural capital. Obtaining subcultural capital is important for members of anysubculture as it aids their progression from an aspiring member through to soft-coremembership and ultimately, to hard-core membership status (Arthur, 2004).

Subcultural capital was also obtained by developing a thorough understanding ofthe glocal culture’s history. Hence, “old school” Hip Hop brands, immortalised in themovies that brought Hip Hop to Australia, such as “Beat Street” and “Wild Style”, or inthe music videos, such as “Run DMC”, also act as a form of subcultural capital. Hence,these brands, Nike, Adidas and Puma, have managed to escape the label ofinauthenticity, despite the size of their companies, their investment in non-Hip Hoprelated activities, and their lack of support for the Australian Hip Hop culture.

The hard-core members of any culture have acquired the greatest amount ofsubcultural capital, and hence, are respected by their peers. For these members, blatantsymbolic representation through consumption was no longer deemed necessary. Forexample, Vans wrote in established graffiti writer Jimmy C.’s 30th birthday card, thathe “can wear a cardigan and still command respect from the biggest writers.” However,an interview with Jimmy C. revealed that this had not always been the case: before hisskills were so well respected, he too used to represent himself symbolically throughconsumption.

Managerial implicationsThe Australian Hip Hop culture has developed its own set of shared meanings andinterpretations for Hip Hop brands, with significant implications for marketers. Thisstudy revealed that symbolic representation within the Australian Hip Hop culturetakes the form of consumption of brands congruent with the values of authenticity andself-expression at the core of the Australian Hip Hop culture.

Many mass-produced Hip Hop brands that originated from the US were notperceived as authentic as cultural members interpreted their meanings as associatedwith commercialisation and artificiality. Hence, the meanings attached to those brandsin their culture of origin may be interpreted differently amongst glocal culturalmembers and even perceived as inauthentic. To be perceived as authentic by themembers of the glocal culture, brands must remain “true to the culture’s roots” andmarketers should aid the glocal culture’s growth by supporting local events, artists,

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magazines and radio shows. As suggested by Kates (2004), authentic brands arerewarded through consumption habits.

Furthermore, members of the Australian Hip Hop culture appear to expressauthenticity by being true to themselves and refusing to imitate African-American HipHop style, or consuming what they perceive as “black” Hip Hop brands. This hasserious implications for marketers of these brands in Australia. The most obvioussolution would be to attempt to change the meaning associated with those brands inthe minds of the Australian Hip Hop members. However, this is very difficult as theirbrands are signified and perceived via global media. Hence, when an African-Americanrap star is shown on MTV wearing those brands, the meaning attached to the brands isreinforced. As the media acts as a bridge for cultural representations, Australia is notisolated from such representations and companies can seldom alter the meaningsassociated with their brands. Alternatively, companies who wish to invest in theAustralian Hip Hop culture should create a local brand that acknowledges andsupports the local community in the form of marketing communication that are true tothe values of the subculture or acquire one that already exists. As suggested by Muniz(2001), subcultural members feel a sense of ownership amongst brands thatacknowledge and support their community and hence reward the brand’s legitimacythrough brand loyalty.

In trying to represent themselves authentically, members of the Australian Hip Hopculture were also found to consume “white” mainstream US brands. Consumption ofthese brands was seen as a more authentic form of self-expression than theconsumption of brands perceived as “black”. Furthermore, some members expressedthemselves through the consumption of brands that represented their particular rolewithin the Hip Hop culture (be it MC, DJ, breakdancer, or graffiti writer). Hence, it isimportant for marketers to realise that membership of the Australian Hip Hop culturedoes not require the wholesale adoption or rejection of all US brands; rather it requiresmembers to express themselves truthfully via consumption. Therefore, a thoroughunderstanding of the meanings of brands as perceived by Australian Hip Hopmembers is crucial for marketers seeking to implement a successful campaign, withinthat subculture.

The research also found that the values of the Australian Hip Hop culture alsorequired members to represent their place. Hence, in general, members preferredAustralian Hip Hop brands to US ones, supporting previous culture of originresearch (Phau and Prendergast, 2000). This result has serious implications formarketers of US Hip Hop brands. As the Australian Hip Hop culture continues togrow, a cultural industry is developing around it. Within this industry, the brandsproduced locally are representing the members’ place much more truthfully thanUS ones.

Finally, the competitive nature of Hip Hop, and the desire to represent one’s place,has created a situation where members try to represent their place over otherAustralian places, by consuming brands with meanings associated with their homecity. This also constitutes a form of subcultural capital, ascribing higher membershipstatus on those “in the know”. Marketers should be aware of such motivation andprovide an opportunity for those who wish to represent localities, and for those whocan inscribe subcultural capital via the perceived meanings of their brands.

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Limitations and future directionsThe ethnographic process undertaken allowed the researcher to gain a deepunderstanding of Australian Hip Hop culture and its values. Nevertheless, culture itselfis a notoriously difficult construct to define and stating the values of a culture is anextremely arduous task. Meticulously stating the values of the Australian Hip Hopculture, outlining each and every exception to the rule, would not prevent othermembers of the culture from perceiving it differently, as the doctrine would be basedon individual and personal experiences within the culture and individual and personalinterpretations of the interview data. Furthermore, the difficulty of the task may nowbe exacerbated by the researcher’s own membership in the culture. Nevertheless, thevalues observed by the researcher and experienced throughout the research, areconsistent with previous studies of Hip Hop culture, and more specifically Hip Hopculture in Australia (Maxwell, 2003).

The current study provides us with a solid understanding of the influencing effectsvarious interpretations of authenticity have on the consumption habits of members ofthe Australian Hip Hop culture. However, Hip Hop and authenticity have always had astrong relationship, as evidenced by the overstated “keep it real” mantra. Hence, futurestudies should examine the role of authenticity in other youth subcultures whereauthenticity is not prevalent in the underlying ethos. Furthermore, future researchshould consider the role authenticity will play on the consumption habits ofsubcultural members in the future as neo-tribal formations are likely to be fluid,non-geographic, and internet-based. In addition, future research should alsoinvestigate how authenticity is negotiated considering the conflicting roles manypeople play in their daily lives (e.g. businesswoman, graduate student, Trance DJ).Finally, it is proposed that the interpretive work conducted by Kates (2004) and othersis strengthened by quantitative research supporting the notion that brands that areperceived as authentic are rewarded with brand loyalty.

Notes

1. Throughout this paper, the term “culture of origin” refers to the home of the brand, which forFUBU would be the USA, as opposed to the “culture of production”, which refers to wherethe product is manufactured.

2. Another question of equal worth but not examined in the current paper involves theinterpretation of the meaning of Hip Hop amongst non-African-Americans within the USA.This question seems especially important considering that “white” consumers make up 80per cent of Hip Hop music purchases within the USA.

3. Soft-core relates to those cultural members who are on the outside periphery, while hard-coremembers are those with the most subcultural capital.

4. It could also be argued that these are the underlying values of Hip Hop in the US andthroughout the world, however, as the majority of research was undertaken in Australia, thecultural values cannot be generalised.

5. Wigger is offensive slang, short for “white nigger”. It is used to label a white person wantingto be an African-American. Homeys is a Hip Hop term used to describe a friend from one’sown neighbourhood. When used in the context above, it is a label given to imitators of USHip Hop culture.

6. Dope is Hip Hop slang for excellent.

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About the authorDamien Arthur is an Associate Lecturer and PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide underthe supervision of Professor Pascale Quester. As a University of Adelaide scholarship holder, hewas awarded the 2003 ANZMAC Monash Doctorial Colloquium Prize for the best PhD proposalfor his work, The Symbolic Consumption of Subcultures. He has published in the internationaljournals Psychology & Marketing and Australasian Marketing Journal. Damien Arthur can becontacted at: [email protected]

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