Edmonton Hiphop Kulture: Techniques of Self and Cultural Sustainability

Introduction

The word culture is rich with complex meanings and despite its use in common speech, little is known about it and even less about the practices that contribute to ‘its’ continued existence, what might be referred to as cultural sustainability. Michel Foucault (1988) has suggested that culture is a form of administration built by techniques of production, signification, domination, and self (p. 18). Foucault’s idea is that individuals find and make use of techniques that make themselves and culture at the same time (Kendall & Wickham,1999, pp.3-54).

Given this perspective, the researchers hypothesize that the sustainability of a culture relies on the continued use of these specialized techniques. The alternative therefore might also be true; the disuse of techniques will lead to the dissolution of culture. This article showcases the techniques of self practiced in Hiphop Kulture, shared in Cipher5, and that they contribute to the sustainability of Edmonton Hiphop.

Roots

KRS-ONE (2009), master emcee and Hip Hop pioneer, identifies and defines various components within the culture (p. 80). These individual components are defined as Hiphop Kulture, Hiphop, Hip Hop, and hip-hop. Hiphop Kulture is “the manifested character, patterns, beliefs, sciences and arts” of “an international community of specialized urban people” (2000, Temple of Hip Hop, para. 5); Hiphop is “the creative, causative force behind Hip Hop’s elements” (2009, p. 80); Hip Hop is “the creation and development of Breakin, Emceein, Graffiti Art, Deejayin, Beat Boxin, Street Fashion, Street Language, Street Knowledge, and Street Entrepreneurialism” (p. 80); and hip-hop is “rap music product and those things and events associated with Rap music entertainment—hip-hop is a music genre” (p. 80). These spellings are used throughout this paper to specify the individual components of Hiphop Kulture.

Hip-hop [rap music] is often claimed by hiphoppas to be misunderstood. Despite there being more than three dozen sub-genres of hip-hop (Rabaka, 2013, p. 286), most of which emphasize social, political, and racial equality, rap music has been commodified, reducing its mass distribution to two styles: commercial and gangsta rap (p. 286). Rabaka refers to these two styles as “the ghetto-gangsta-nigga-pimp-hoe-thug theme” (p. 6). The exploitation of these sub-genres has “critics of the genre [arguing] that rap reinforces misogyny, glorifies drug culture, and advocates violence. Some believe that it contributes to self-destructive behaviours for its youth consumers who try to mimic the attitudes and lifestyles of their favorite rap icons” (Alvarez, 2012, p. 123).

Historically, “Hip-hop emerged during the decline of both the civil rights and Black Power movement” (MacDonald, 2012, p. 95) out of a need for a marginalized group to express itself in opposition to the hegemony of the dominant culture of the period (Rabaka, 2013, p. 291). In fact, “for many youth of color, rap music is not seen as a destructive force; it’s seen as an asset. It provides an outlet for expression” (Alvarez, 2012, p. 123).

Following the rise of hip-hop as a genre, KRS-ONE (2000) played a role in the development of Hiphop Kulture. He established the “Stop the Violence Movement” in 1989 and founded the Temple of Hip Hop, a cultural organization that frames Hiphop as a lifestyle and a spiritual practice. The Temple of Hip Hop builds upon the principles and philosophy written in KRS-ONE’s The Gospel of Hip Hop (2009). These principles challenge the media’s commercialization of hip-hop and instead highlight Hiphop Kulture as an international community of peace:

This Hip Hop Declaration of Peace guides Hiphop Kulture toward freedom from violence, and establishes advice and protection for the existence and development of the international Hiphop community. Through the principles of this Hip Hop Declaration of Peace we, Hiphop Kulture, establish a foundation of Health, Love, Awareness, Wealth, peace and prosperity for ourselves, our children and their children’s children, forever. (KRS-ONE, 2009, p. 552)

These practices are alive in Edmonton, Alberta, in a Hiphop knowledge-sharing circle called Cipher5.² Artists and lovers of hip-hop music attend the circle weekly in a downtown Edmonton café. Facilitated by Hip Hop specialists Andre Hamilton (Dre Pharoh), Don Welsh (ID), and MacEwan University professor Dr. Michael B. MacDonald, the goal of the group is to explore the foundational practices of Hip Hop through real-life issues by discussing everything from the history of Hip Hop to postcolonialism to sexuality to making beats.

Modeled after Paulo Freire’s “culture circle” (MacDonald, 2012, p. 101), Cipher5 is an opportunity for artists to make connections and build knowledge as a path to personal growth through conscientização, the development of critical consciousness (Freire, 1974, pp. 37-51). Sometimes documentaries are shown (United States of Africa, the Art of Rap), and excerpts are often read from The Gospel of Hip Hop to lead group conversations. Cipher5 has been active for three years and was recently awarded the title “Temple of Hip Hop Canadian Chapter” by KRS-ONE (A. Hamilton, personal communication, May 27, 2014).

The researchers attended Cipher5 as a cultural research environment where techniques of Hiphop Kulture are studied. Through autoethnography and participatory observation, the researchers theorized that the following techniques of self,³ defined as the daily practices an individual uses to transform his or her body, soul, thought and conduct of being (Foucault, 1988, p. 18), contribute to Hiphop Kultural sustainability in Edmonton: belonging, self-expression, and identity building. This paper is organized into two sections: the first presents the research findings on belonging and self-expression in Cipher5. The second section focuses on how identity is developed through the elements of Hip Hop and in Cipher5.

Research Design

This paper derives from the researchers’ work with ethnomusicologist and MacEwan University professor Dr. Michael B. MacDonald. MacDonald (2014) began Cipher5 to study how the techniques of culture contribute to the understanding of how music cultures operate and how Cultural Aesthetics function (p. 435). The research findings were determined through participatory observation and autoethnography from the researchers’ attendance at Cipher5 and through interviews with members of the Edmonton Hip Hop community.

Belonging and Self-expression

The researchers began attending Cipher5 meetings with minimal prior knowledge or experience of Hiphop cultural practices. Despite this minimum background, the researchers found themselves accepted and encouraged by the community of practitioners to participate in the knowledge circle. The regular attendees created an environment where inquisitive minds contributed and found a place of belonging in a culture they may not have previously identified with. This welcoming nature was in part created by the open circle formation, where individuals came together as equal, valuable participants in the discussion.

The group challenged and critiqued shared opinions and learned from each other through critical discussion of frequently explored, controversial topics such as racism, sexuality, drug use, and postcolonialism. This is the process of critical exploration as described in bell hooks’ Yearning (1990) in which “committed cultural critics - whether white or black, scholars or artists - can produce work that opposes structures of domination, that presents possibilities for a transformed future by willingly interrogating their own work on aesthetic and political grounds” (p. 55).

In her essay A Community of Care, hooks (2009) explored “a culture of belonging” (p. 216) as an idea of community that emerges from intimate relationships with others: “As we work with others, and as we endeavour to get to know them, we learn to appreciate them in their depth and integrity and with a better appreciation for their potential and need” (Krocker, as cited in hooks, 2009, p. 228). Using autoethnography, the researchers have developed a deeper understanding of themselves and the community of Edmonton hiphoppas through the process of getting to know each other in Cipher5. hooks shared her perception of the pronounced disconnection between people and individual purpose:

Again and again as I travel around I am stunned by how many citizens in our nation feel lost, feel bereft of a sense of direction, feel as though they cannot see where our journeys lead, that they cannot know where they are going. Many folks feel no sense of place. (hooks, 2009, p. 1)

Hooks (2009) recognized this lack of belonging as an “everyday anguish,” a widespread social experience that divorces us from a sense of purpose, which she defined as “the making of lives that we feel are worth living” (p.1). As stated above, building relationships with others may facilitate a process that leads to community. In Cipher5 people of all backgrounds, gender, race and age come together to join in the production of new knowledge through critical discussion. This knowledge is created through the techniques of expression, belonging and relationship-building. As such, the following explored Cipher5 as a culture of belonging and a place for self-expression through which hiphoppas are made into subjects of culture, in turn contributing to the sustainability of Edmonton Hiphop Kulture.

A key component in creating a culture of belonging is the creation of a safe environment in which all participants feel acknowledged, accepted and appreciated: “Marginalized or traditionally voiceless students must have a safe arena in which to develop creative expression” (Wang, 2010, p. 68). A local high school program called The Beat of Boyle Street created a non-threatening environment for marginalized youth. Instead of forcing and coercing a structured method of education, these instructors created a curriculum that used beat making and rapping as tools for facilitating student engagement in the education system.

This type of program was suitably developed and implemented in Edmonton, which is home to the highest urban Aboriginal population of any Canadian city (Environics, 2010, p. 17), and where secondary school drop-out rates for Aboriginal youth are significant (p. 15). An unsafe, threatening environment becomes welcoming when students are encouraged to express themselves in the art forms by which they naturally gravitate towards. This form of student-led creative activity created a culture of belonging where students felt safe to express themselves by using the elements of Hip Hop as techniques of self.

The medium of this expression should honor their prior knowledge and skills rather than be a rigid form of language or a generic activity deemed “literate” or “educational” or “valued” by the dominant culture. Youth must be in control of their own representation. (Wang, 2010, p. 68)

By engaging in this method, students were able to become participants of Hiphop Kulture, and through their practices contribute to the sustainability of Edmonton Hiphop.

Beat making and rapping are also used as techniques of self-expression by social worker and pioneer of HipHop therapy, Tomás Alvarez III in his youth program Beats, Rhymes, and Life in Oakland, California:

The notion of rap as a form of catharsis dates back to the early days of rap music and Hip-Hop culture. In the 1970s African American and Latino youth began using rap and other elements of Hip-Hop . . . as cathartic and social outlets to deal with harsh conditions found in their neighborhoods. Through rap, disenfranchised youth were able to cope with stress, build support groups, speak out about the conditions in the neighborhood, and gain a sense of identity. (Alvarez, 2012, p. 123)

The researchers found similarities between how the participants of Beats, Rhymes and Life and Cipher5 have used the Hip Hop elements as a technique of self-expression for the purposes of self-empowerment. Participants of Cipher5 share how they have used the elements of Hip Hop as a way of overcoming personal difficulties, even referring to Cipher5 as a “therapy circle” by the facilitators themselves (A. Hamilton, personal communication, Feb 10, 2014). For example, a well-respected DJ in the circle “never even used to speak” (A. Hamilton, personal communication, Feb 10, 2014); for the first year of attendance, he remained a silent observer. Now, he shares his vast knowledge of Hiphop Kulture at great length, even allowing himself to be interviewed and recorded by fellow artist KazMega on his album Everybody’s KINg (2014). Through self-expression, this DJ and Hip Hop specialist actively shares his knowledge in Cipher5 meetings, and in doing so contributes to the sustainability of Edmonton Hiphop Kulture.

This section has demonstrated how a culture of belonging and self-expression are used as techniques of self. Foucault (1988) defines techniques of self as the following:

. . . processes which permit individuals to effect by their own means or with the help of others a certain number of operations on their own bodies and souls, thoughts, conduct and way of being, so as to transform themselves in order to attain a certain state of happiness, purity, wisdom, perfection, or immortality. (p.18)

It is through this transformative process that individuals contribute to the creation of a deeper level of understanding, acknowledging the emotional, physical, spiritual, social and economic ingredients that make up a community and a culture. By developing a culture of belonging and utilizing practices of self-expression, hiphoppas are able to practice the techniques of self that contributes to the sustainability of Hiphop Kulture.Continued on Next Page »