FINAL EXAM PART 1 – ESSAY
The question will be to compare two Hip Hop subcultures,
In a minimum of 270 words, describe the differences between the Old School Hip Hop subculture and the West Coast Gangsta Rap subculture.
Include commentary on the similarities and differences of each subculture in each of the six categories normally covered in our Subculture Breakdowns, but do not post any breakdowns in your response. Instead, comment on each category in sentence format for your answer.
THIS IS THE SIX CATEGORIES WITH EXAMPLES
Name: This is what the people of the subculture call themselves, not a name from outside the group
Location:This is where the subculture members meet or hang out together. The more specific the location the better. Sometimes it can be one venue or shop, sometimes it can only be rounded down to a city, state or country. With some virtual communities, this is a website or app.
Style: Defined as, a distinctive manner, expression, or custom of behavior. Style is a combination of many aspects of subculture life. It can include fashion, clothing and makeup — but it is also much more than that. Style is also things like the type of music they listen to, the types of cars the like to drive, even the way someone walks may be part of their style. For example, the Surf subculture of the 60’s are known for growing out their hair long, drag cars, smoking marijuana, wearing shell necklaces and board shorts, and of course… surfing!
Lingo: Defined as, the vocabulary or jargon of a particular subject or group of people. If we were studying broader cultures, you would see different cultures speaking different languages from one another. When studying subcultures, their language also varies, but it is often smaller differences, so we use the work “lingo” to describe them. This includes slang words that group uses that you do not find in mainstream culture, or even repurposing of words from mainstream culture to mean something new or different. For example, the subculture of surfer’s in the 60’s started using the word “tubular” to describe something that was good or desired because tubular waves were the best waves to surf! Before that time, mainstream culture used the word “tubular” to describe something that was shaped like a tube, but 60’s surf culture changed the meaning of that word to mean “good” or “something desired”. They could say, “That burger I ate yesterday was tubular!” and an outsider would be confused, whereas another surfer would understand that meant they thought it was an excellent hamburger.
Values: Defined as, the core beliefs and practices from which people operate. Values are usually the most important thing to understand in evaluating a subculture, and often some of the most important things to the members of the subculture themselves.. If you can understand the values of the subculture, often times you will see that the lingo and style of the subculture are merely expressions of these values. Surfers in the 60’s valued and revered nature in a way that mainstream society did not. They were thinking more ecologically way before the rest of mainstream society. This is why they appreciated wearing shell necklaces and growing their hair out long — because it was an appreciation of what was natural. The fashion was an expression of their values. The word tubular was something they used to describe the nature (waves) they encountered surfing, so of course they extended this word into a broader range of their lives and it became part of their lingo.
Stigmas: Defined as, a severe social disapproval with a person on the grounds of a particular characteristic which distinguishes them from others in society. This is the only thing in our list that does not originate from the subculture itself. These are the negative terms that people from outside of the subculture use to invalidate or oppress the people within the subculture. Surfer’s in the 60’s were labeled with many stigmas. They were called “dirty” (because they were often covered in sand from being at the beach), “lazy” (because they were seen at the beach during times other people were working), “druggies” and “criminals” (because they smoked marijuana, which at the time was illegal). In fact, there is still a term today that must be based on surfers from the 60’s that people use to insult others called “beach bum” that implies all these things at once, dirty, lazy, druggie, criminal. Because this list of stigmas is so long, they must have been seen as fairly threatening to mainstream culture to garner such a large backlash, which makes it is easy to say that 60’s Surf subculture was a counterculture.
SHORTER VERSION
Name:
Location:
Style: list at least two items here
Lingo: list at least two items here
Values: list at least two items here
Stigmas: list at least one item here, but try for two
