Monday, February 13, 2012
Week 5- Hip-hop's Relationship to Multiculturalism and Polyculturalism
In the case of Hip-hop in the United States, discussions of "race" often conflate African American identity and culture.This week in our readings, Robin D.G. Kelley argues polyculturalism, unlike multiculturalism, recognizes that there are problems with simplistically conflating race and culture. Polyculturalism acknowledges the inter-related connections and fluidity between cultures. Multiculturalism keeps cultures separated and static--allowing them to relate alongside one another. However,the history of Hip-hop culture is often separated from the people that produce it. In defining the keywords of polyculturalism and multiculturalism in relationship to Hip-hop this week,think about the ways that the meaning of Blackness has shifted since Hip-hop's inception.
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Multiculturalism in Hip-hop is defined as the management of underrepresenting groups of people while promoting the idea of place boundaries around culture. (Lecture 2/13). So with this idea one is dealing with the concepts of trying to understand different cultures, as they stand alone instead of encompassing all of these cultures into one. In the Kelley article, he talks about John Langston Gwaltney and how Gwaltney believes “there is indeed an African American culture, and a “black” way of doing things.” (Kelley 138). To single out one group of people in comparison instead of saying that there is, for example, an “American” way of doing things. Vijay Prashad has an interesting take on multiculturalism when he says, “So you could have an engagement with African American history in African American history month, but you couldn’t talk about the slave master because the slave master was out of the building.” (Chang 37). Prashad believes that multiculturalism was conservative and still is to this very day. Polyculturalism on the other hand is dealing with a much more in depth look into cultures. For example, one can examine Hip-hop as being polycultural in the sense that it is one community where you can have artists from different backgrounds coexisting from the relationship between Eminem and Dr. Dre to seeing Jin freestyle on 106 & Park. The diversity across Hip-hop and the respect of many different races without having to divide them would classify it as a polycultural community. The example at the end of class on Monday was with the Newser website, explaining that multiculturalism is more like getting the quick review just to get enough information to talk about it while polyculturalism digs deep into the information. (Lecture 2/13).
ReplyDeleteIn attempt to show how distinct cultures can co-exist side by side, multiculturalists overemphasized defining differences between groups. The focus on diversity unintentionally led to concepts like “model” minority cultures (Tate, Prashad, Neal, Cross 37) and “authentic negroes” (Kelley 140) that were celebrated because of their deviance from the dominant culture. Professor Persley noted that multiculturalism makes “subcultures’ productions only valuable in terms of the dominant culture’s standards”. What happens is that the dominant culture selects specific elements that they appreciate from“minority cultures” but fails to comprehend their cultural practices in a holistic sense. Although multiculturalism certainly sounds equality-loving and justice-centered, it actually perpetuates cultural and racial separation by over asserting “differences as positives” (Persley). Multiculturalism glorifies the “exotic” while making “white” a sort of automatic ethnic default, resulting in responses to questions of heritage like, “Oh, I’m just white”. Kelley’s points out that this response is biased by dominant cultural norms since, from the stance of polyculturalism, we are all “products of a variety of different cultures” (2). Edward Said suggests that modern fascination with multiculturalism is just a “cultural and intellectual retreat from the new realities of global power” (349). Celebrating cultures that we realistically have little understanding of or true concern for fools us to believe that shallow appreciation of diversity eliminates the realities of inequality. A better understanding, as modeled by polyculturalism and hip-hop music, is that cultures are inseparable from humans, they mix and change as people interact; they are borderless and never bodiless.
ReplyDeleteThe definitions for polyculturalism and multiculturalism mixed together in my mind, but after reading Robin Kelley’s “The People in Me” the differences in both terms became clearer to me. According to Kelley multiculturalism places different cultures into categories instead of looking at the different aspect of each culture. Multiculturalism does on the other hand shine a spotlight in informing why people believe in different things. Kelley’s view of multiculturalism is that it basically separates people into categories of stereotypical aspects of a religion you actually never learn about the person but more as group in the culture. As for polyculturalism, to Kelley not only is the word a more accurate definition of black culture but also as a way to take one culture and mix it with other cultures to form a culture of its own. In a way to me polyculturalism is almost like sampling. Cultures find aspects of other cultures customs and to form a brand new culture; just as DJ samples different types of music. Without these two forms of culture we would not have the appreciation of Hip Hop being a form of art. For example, I feel that rapper Nas in “Hip Hop is dead” is talking about the same thing. That hip hop is as he said dead without culture appreciation. The reason I agree is learning the difficulty or the knowledge you gain from listening to this form of music is unbelievable without the prior knowledge of hip hops history
ReplyDeleteAccording to our lecture, “multiculturalism in Hip-hop is defined as the management of underrepresenting groups of people while promoting the idea of place boundaries around culture” (2/13). The idea of multiculturalism is basically trying to understand different all the people from all different cultures. In the Kelley article, he talks about John Langston Gwaltney. Gwaltney believes “there is indeed an African American culture, and a ‘black’ way of doing things.” (Kelley 138). To single out one race and say that is the way of doing things is not right, that just makes everything seem more stereotypical. Multiculturalism also says “there are boundaries around culture” (Lecture 2/13). Polyculturalism is dealing with a much more in depth look into cultures. Polyculturalism is more of taking one culture, mixing it with many different and new cultures, and then creating one new culture from it. Different cultures come into the hip hop world and use what they know of their hip-hop knowledge and of what hip hop first started out to be. To me, polyculturalism is what hip-hop is today. Hip-hop has turned from one way of free styling and making raps to rappers from all over the world rapping about many different things. Polyculturalism has changed the meaning of “blackness” in the hip-hop culture because of where everyone in the “hip-hop game” is coming from, and what they have to say.
ReplyDeleteIn the music genre known as hip hop, there is a difference between what is known as “polyculturalism” and what is known as “multiculturalism”. Polyculturalism, according to Preshad, is a term that refers to all of the world’s cultures being interconnected, or inter-related. Preshad says the term multiculturalism is an institutional management of diversity. He further explains how multiculturalism is more about diversity, whereas polyculturalism is more about interaction. According to Robin Kelley’s article “People in Me”, polyculturalism is the acceptance of many different cultures which results in blending those cultures. Kelley says multiculturalism is stacking cultures against each other and merely comparing them, not acknowledging that they are mutually dependent on each other. “And if you still don’t believe me, just consider how multicultural ‘hip hop’ has always been. Not only were the pioneering dj’s, rappers, and break dancers… rap artists wrecked all the boundaries between so called ‘black’ and ‘white’ music (Kelley). According to Greg Tate’s article, there exists a “good multiculturalism which talks about the multiplicity of human cultural interactions” but there are still “administrative traps” that multiculturalism falls into (Chang 38-39). I find it difficult to relate multiculturalism to hip hop. Just look at the diversity between hip hop artists such as NAS, Nikki Minaj, Beastie Boys. Hip hop incorporates many cultures in its beats, words and style. Hip hop in my opinion is about diversity. Blackness now refers to a culture a way of rapping, dancing, dressing, etc. It is a culture and not a skin color.
ReplyDeletePolyculturalism is a concept asserting that all the worlds cultures are inter- related, while the Multiculturalism obscures power relations, & looks deeper at the differences in race and gender. Hip hop music to me is polycultural because it's international, has been integrated into other cultures, and other forms of art, and belongs to no specific group of people anymore. I couldn't agree anymore with Robin Kelley when she states, "We were multi ethnic and Polycultural from the get go". She is saying that the first practitioners of the hip hop culture were from all different ethnicities and most of them lived in the inter city New York which happens to be a very diverse city. In the article, "Got Next" they mention that Multiculturalism had its time from the 1979 united- front boycott of "Fort Apache" to 1997's book by Nathan Glazer. Polyculture then hit it big late 20th century to the 21st century. In a multicultural environment people are able to look inside their own cultures and when they do that, they find things unique to them but similar to other cultures. This led to a lot of collaboration from people from different cultures creating a multicultural hip hop art form. An example is the group "The People Underneath The Stairs", featuring two producing rappers, who combine their backgrounds in funk and latin music. Your able to get more out of your resources in hip hop if your multicultural. In the beginning of hip hop blackness was defined as one uniform identity, but since hip hop has been integrated with other African cultures, there now are other forms of hip hop that bring their own unique forms of culture.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of the reading “Got Next: A Roundtable on Identity and Aesthetics after Multiculturalism Roundtable” started by presenting an idea that I was previously unaware of. I didn’t know that a topic or idea like multiculturalism could have a specified moment or era in which it prospered greatly. According to the second paragraph of the reading, multiculturalism’s moment lasted from 1979 to 1997 and impacted many aspects of society around the world. One of the points that I found interesting throughout the rest of this reading was Brian Cross’ asking “Is Hip-Hop the New Multiculturalism?” (Chang, pg.39). It’s a question that got me thinking about what hip-hop artists are saying through their music. Cross saying that Ice Cube taught him more about the Los Angeles riots in 1992 than any other source proves that during multiculturalism’s “moment,” hip-hop was a greater part of people’s educational process. From reading Robin Kelley’s “People in Me,” the idea of polyculturalism has had its “moment” before multiculturalism seemed to gain prominence. According to Kelley, “what we know as black culture has always been fluid, hybrid, and polycultural.” (Kelley). The difference between these two terms, polyculturalism and multiculturalism, can be confusing at times after reading about them in-depth. Despite the confusion, I liked how Kelley connected polyculturalism with terms that we have written about and discussed earlier in the semester. Kelley says that acknowledging your polycultural heritage involves “expanding our definition of blackness…” (Kelley). The readings by Kelley and the various opinions by the people in the Chang reading explain these significant terms with in-depth explanations and examples that connect them to real life examples.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop is often referred to as “black” music, a voice for black youth to illustrate their struggles. “Several scholars insist that Hip-hop is the pure, unadulterated voice of a ghetto that has grown increasingly isolated from “mainstream” society” (Kelley 146.) To describe Hip-hop as simply that, ignores the diversity of many cultures that combine to make Hip-hop what it is. “Missing from this formulation is rap music’s incredible hybridity. From the outset, rap music embraced a variety of styles and cultural forms, from reggae and salsa to heavy metal and jazz” (Kelley 147.) Referring to Hip-hop as just a “black” music, ignores the undeniable polyculturalism aspect that lives in the music. America is a melting pot of cultures and it is impossible to prevent the different cultures from mixing and feeding off each other. “Hip-hop’s hybridity reflected, in part, the increasingly international character of America’s inner cities resulting from immigration, demographic change, and new forms of information, as well as the inventive employment of technology in creating rap music” (Kelley 147.) As presented in lecture, multiculturalism was a movement in the U.S., following the Civil Rights Movement, that “managed underrepresented groups and promoted the idea of inclusion through representation.” Today polycultural has become the preferred term for many. “These cultures live in and through us everyday, with almost no self-consciousness about hierarchy or meaning. In this respect, I think the term "polycultural" works a lot better than "multicultural," since the latter often implies that cultures are fixed, discrete entities that exist side by side -- a kind of zoological approach to culture” (Kelley.) Hip-hop has sampled from many cultures and music genres to become polycultural art form.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas of multiculturalism and polyculturalism have played a bigger role in hip-hop than the average listener may believe. Multiculturalism is the management and inclusion, through representation, of underrepresented groups (Hodges Persley). The concept of multiculturalism in the United States occurred during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, before hip-hop’s creation. Before 1968, all people of color remained “outside” the boundaries of white society and were viewed in society as “labor and spectacle” (Hodges Persley). After the struggles that occurred during the movement, there was a rise of multiculturalism within the United States. It continued to rise until its eventual decline that occurred with the end of affirmative action in America (Hodges Persley). This decline led to a rise in the idea of polyculturalism, the idea that culture is embodied and cannot be separated from those that produce it.
ReplyDeleteBoth these ideas, multiculturalism and polyculturalism, have been an important factore throughout the history of hip-hop. Hip-hop, by many, is considered to be a different form of multiculturalism promotion throughout the United States. It was considered to be more multicultural in the 1970’s, when its diasporic roots were more acknowledged and celebrated (Greg). This is in comparison to modern hip-hop, where it has been both industrialized and made into more of a mainstream media in order for record companies to capitalize on hip-hop itself. A few artist, for example Nas, have noticed this change in hip-hop and have made it a point to speak out against this change throughout their lyrics, calling it the “Death of Hip-hop”. Polyculturalism in hip-hop uses the diverse racial and ethnic groups and allow it both “transcend” blackness and produce it through its relationship to differences in society. This is apparent in hip-hop during the 1980’s, when white youth first become attracted to hip-hop. Hip-hop was then allowed to enter the mainstream marketplace as “multicultural” music, rather than a uniquely “black” music genre (Hodges Persley). For these reasons, the underlying ideas of multiculturalism and polyculturalism have shaped what hip-hop is today.
Before reading the online article “People in Me” by: Robin Kelly, I did not know how big of a role polyculturalism played in hip-hop. This term has influenced not just hip-hop but general culture through out the world. The term polyculturalism means cultures being unified. “We were and are "polycultural." By "we," I'm not simply talking about my own family or even my `hood, but all peoples in the Western world. It is not our skin or hair or walk or talk that renders black people so incredibly diverse. Rather, it is the fact that most black people in the Americas are products of a variety of different "cultures"” (Kelly) This is a perfect example of polyculturalism that Kelly gave in his article. In this same article Kelly says multicutlurism separates cultures into whom they are. “Such a view of multiculturalism not only obscures power relations, but often reifies race and gender differences.” (Kelly) In my opinion I think that you find more polyculturism in hip-hop rather than multiculturalism. The reason I think this is because there is such a mix of culture in hip-hop. In other words hip-hop is helps to unify cultures.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturalism, as said in the lecture, is the management of underrepresented groups and promotes the idea of inclusion through representation. In multiculturalism, cultures are only defined by the people in the culture. Generally it’s applied to the demographic make-up of a certain place. It is usually at the level of an organization such nations or cites. Multiculturalism focuses on the interaction and communication between different cultures, as well as the isolation of cultures which helps protect the unique qualities of the culture. So since Hip-Hop is a culture that Hip-Hop interacts with other culture, but is not influence by other cultures and vise a versa. This is obviously not the case since a lot of Hip-Hop is based off of other cultures. That is why people are referring Hip-Hop to being Polycultural. Polyculturalism encourages the complexity of cultures and assumes that culture is embodied and cannot be separated. It basically says that the world’s cultures influence one other and grows together.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturalism promotes the idea that cultures are discrete, bounded, and static; there are boundaries around culture (lecture). The idea of multiculturalism groups all people who "appear" to be part of one culture, together. It is hard to define something that represents multiculturalism, because almost everything is using a sample, lyric, or style from something they have witnessed or heard. There will always be artists like Fat Tone who died, living the "gangsta" life he rapped about, but unless you can appeal to different cultures, your music will stay regional.
ReplyDeleteIn Kelley's article, she believes that polyculturalism is constantly present in western culture. This makes sense because the only people who are truly from America are the Native Americans. Everyone else (which is the majority of the population) is from a different country and most people have multiple backgrounds. Polyculturalism is seen all around the hip-hop community. One artist who appeals to multiple cultures and works polyculturally is Tech-N9ne. Tech N9ne is from a social class and community that are synonymous with gangster rap and the stereotypical "black" culture. Tech-N9ne broke the barrier of what Kansas City rap had been to that point and attracted audiences from all across the globe. In the song slacker, which was made early in Tech's career he says " I got whites natives and Mexicans and blacks with me..." which let it be known he was not just rapping for one culture but anyone who was willing to listen. Recently, Tech came out with a track titled "Worldwide Choppers." Tech-N9ne is famous for his fast rapping, also known as "chopping." On this song Tech acquires verses from artists all around the world who use the same style of rapping. In other words, Polyculturalism is becoming more prevalent as generations pass. As different cultures enter the hip-hop scene, what is popular will always continue to change.
The term multiculturalism can be defined as the management of underrepresented groups and promoting the idea of inclusion through representation, rather than overturning a system of power and privilege. This idea of multiculturalism is promoting the concept of interacting different cultures, but with boundaries. In other words, to help those better understand different cultures without mixing and submerging them (2/13 Lecture). But as Nathan Glazer puts it, “We are all multiculturalists now, boy do we need to reexamine what being a multiculturalists is,” and some believe that hip-hop has been that reexamination (Tate, Prashad, Neal, & Cross 33). The idea of polyculturalism encourages the complexity and differences of cultures. It assumes that culture is embodied and cannot be separated from those that produce it, and does not engage in assumptions of “universal” subjects that can be separated from race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and nationality (2/13 Lecture). After reading Kelley’s article, “People in Me”, I got a much better understanding of multiculturalism in comparison to polyculturalism. In regards to multiculturalism, Kelley says, “the latter often implies that cultures are fixed, discrete entities that exist side by side,” and with polyculturalism, she refreneces to the fact that we all are “polycultural”, in the fact that we are all made up of a variety of different cultures (Kelley 2). In the relation of hip hop, polyculturalism uses many different cultural contributions of diverse racial and ethnic groups, allowing it to “transend” blackness and produce it through it’s relationship to diversity (2/13 Lecture).
ReplyDeleteThe way our society works, everything must fit within a contained box so that we can define, accept it. In my opinion, Hip-hop is a threat to this idea. Coming out of the “post civil rights” era, hip-hop was a detrimental contradiction to the N-word the country tried to fit us in. In Kelley’s article, Carl Nightingale describes Hip-hop in the past as a way to express the struggles of the black man while uplifting him. Hip-hop shows the world what it really means to be black in America. I think the idea of multiculturalism is what helps keep all races in our boxes. As we talked about in class, multiculturalism is more about acceptance at an arms length. Polyculturalism is an embodiment of race. Black artists have seen that if they fit into the box they can make it, but is it really something to be proud of when you lose your cultural identity to just be seen as “black.” Polyculturalism when linking it to hip-hop is a way to redefine blackness. What I mean by this is, box black has a few acceptable interpretations: the ignorant thug and the Carlton. Polyculturalism is about coming to accept your culture or what it really is not what aspects of it work within society’s ideals. Kelley makes the point that many think, “Rap music has undermined black cultural integrity.” I think rappers are just on their hustle. Rap just like everything else that has gone mainstream is just hip-hop’s sell out.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the lecture (2/13), “multiculturalism in Hip-Hop is defined as the management of underrepresenting groups of people while promoting the idea of place boundaries around culture”. According to Preshad, polyculturalism is a term that refers to all of the world’s cultures being interconnected, or interrelated. My understanding of multiculturalism in Hip-Hop is there are different types of art forms like Mcing, DJing, Breaking and Graffiti in Hip-Hop culture. My understanding of polyculturallism in Hip-Hop is these different types of art forms mixed together and create the unique Hip-Hop culture. In Kelly’s article “People in Me”, Kelly says it is not our skin or hair or walk or talk that renders black people so incredibly diverse. It means most of the black people in the Americans are the products of a variety of different “cultures”. So back to the Hip-Hop culture, it is the same. All four keys in Hip-Hop cultures are the products of a variety of different “culture”. What Hip-Hop culture is today is the product of both multiculturalism and polyculturalism.
ReplyDeleteBefore lecture I never realized there was that much of a difference between multiculturalism and Polyculturalism. Now I know that there are major differences. Multiculturalism is defined as the management of underrepresenting groups of people while promoting the idea of place boundaries around culture (Lecture 2/13). Multiculturalism promotes the idea that cultures are discrete, bonded and static; and that there are “boundaries around culture” (Lecture 2/13). Polyculturalism on the other hand implies that all cultures are intertwined. To me the major difference between multiculturalism and Polyculturalism is that with multiculturalism change is not allowed or there is no room for change, but with Polyculturalism it seems as if change is accepted rather than rejected. Most hip-hop songs from the beginning, and still today, sample from many different cultures. Due to sampling, the mixing of cultures occurs, and that is why I believe Polyculturalism is a major aspect in hip-hop today.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturism in context to hip-hop, promotes ideas of cultures being discrete, bonded and static. Where as, polyculturism implies that all of these cultures are intertwined. In hip-hop we find distinct examples of both of these. Lots of hip-hop has a distinct sound that can be referenced to the style in which the artist uses, all the way down to the regional sound it has, as sounds of hip-hop vary widely the world round. Also, we see artists of hip-hop sampling from artists of many various genres. That is where the polyculturism is prevalent, in hip-hop we find artists sampling and using bits from artists coming from various cultures and places around the world, not to mention entirely different generations as well. It is very interesting to see how each of these influences respectively has helped to shape hip-hop.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to avoid the topic of race when discussing hip-hop culture because it is such an essential part of its character. One common misconception is that people often only associate hip-hop with African American culture while leaving out other races and ethnicities that have greatly influenced many aspects of MC’ing, b boying/b girling, graffiti and DJ’ing. As Kelley explains, multiculturalism and polyculturalism are two ways of trying to explain the melting pot that is hip-hop but these are two ideas that are very different from one another. She explains in People in Me that multiculturalism “implies that cultures are fixed, discrete entities that exist side by side”. This method keeps different races within the same vicinity of hip-hop separated from one another. Polyculturalism on the other hand “encourages the complexity of cultures…[and] assumes that culture is embodied and cannot be separated from those that produce it” (2/13 lecture). This way of thinking kind of combines cultures instead of dividing them. Juan Flores, the author Puerto Rocks provides a good example of this by explaining the fusion of Puerto Rican and Black cultures by using hip-hop as a mediator. At first, these two groups seemed more multicultural, but acceptance to change between one another and a mutual respect for one another embodied what it means to be polycultural.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturalism & Polyculturalism
ReplyDeleteBy definition, multiculturalism is “the management of underrepresented groups and promotes the idea of “inclusion through representation” rather than overturning a system of “power and privilege” (Lecture). Multiculturalism promotes the idea that cultures are discrete, bonded, and static (Lecture). The revolution that was the Civil Right Movement shook the United State’s identity and what we stood for as a whole. Up until that point, as Prashad said “all people of color remained “outside’ white society and entered into the mainstream as either “labor or spectacle.” Many people who are uninformed about hip hop think that hip hop is simply associated with black people and about their stories of the ghetto and how they got out of it. This could be farther from the truth. Many cultures and ethnicities are involved in the rise of hip hop and many of them collaborate or mix together. This introduces the idea of polycultrualism. Polyculturalism encourages complexity of cultures and attempts to address issues of power and privilege in institutions, places of business, and cultural spaces (Lecture). An example of polyculturalism is the relationship of Dr. Dre and Eminem. Dr. Dre who rose to stardom for being from Compton, being in N.W.A., and having a successful solo career, was about as stereotypically “black” as you could get at the height of his popularity. He then finds Eminem, a guy from Detroit who happens to be white, which happens to be a minority race in hip hop. Dr. Dre was looked at as crazy to sign this guy who comes from across the country and a totally different social upbringing than him. He took the chance and he featured him on his Chronic 2001 album, and they went on to become one of the most famous duos in hip hop history.
Individuals in the white community tend to describe hip-hop as “black” music. They say that they accept African Americans and that everyone is equal but yet they still keep them separate when they label this genre of music as “black”. This is what I think of as multiculturalism. The idea that people accept different cultures but they still remain separated. They don’t blend together and learn from each other, but instead they just learn to live with each other. In reality, the world should be seen as polyculturalism. People still group individuals and think that it’s that easy to identify where they came from, and what culture they celebrate. The truth is, “that so-called ‘mixed race’ children are not the only ones with a claim to multiple heritages. All of us, and I mean ALL of us, are the inheritors of European, African, Native American, and even Asian pasts, even if we can't exactly trace our blood lines to all of these continents” (People in Me). Polyculturalism defines all individuals. That’s why people need to stop trying to group or define each other, because everyone has a unique heritage and past that you cannot pick out from the surface. Hip-hop is a fine example of multiculturalism because it’s a blend of different cultures, but you can clearly identify where sounds came from such as, “reggae and salsa to heavy metal and jazz. Hip Hop’s hybridity reflected, in part, the increasingly international character of America’s inner cities resulting from immigration, demographic change, and new forms of information, as well as the inventive employment of technology in creating rap music” (Kelley, 147). In conclusion, music can be seen as employing multiculturalism because it draws identifiable sounds from all different cultures whereas Polyculturalism can be applied to people because each individual has all sorts of cultures within them that can’t be separated.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturalism promotes this idea that cultures are discrete, bounded, static, and that there are set boundaries between cultures. Although the U.S was thought of as a place accepting of multiple cultures, there were obvious differences between the opportunities and life styles given to whites compared to the minorities, specifically African Americans during and post the Civil Rights Movement. As Kelley says, “In the mid to late 1960’s a group of progressive social scientists, mostly ethnographers, challenged the more conservative culture of poverty arguments and insisted that black culture was itself a necessary adaptation to racism and poverty, a coping mechanisms that grew out of the struggle for material and psychic survival (Kelley 136).” This idea of multiculturalism now seems inaccurate towards the production of hip-hop and much of what is known as African American culture. Hip Hop culture emerged as a way for African Americans as well as other minorities to rise up from the racism and escape the issues of social inequality. Kelley states, “It is not our skin or hair or walk or talk that renders black people so incredibly diverse. Rather, it is the fact that most black people in the Americas are products of a variety of different cultures (Blackboard).” The emergence of hip-hop and obvious shift of ideas about diversity brought about this idea of polyculturalism. The idea that culture isn’t set, culture is embodied and cannot be separated by race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and nationality. African American’s, Latino’s, Dominican’s, Jamaican’s and many more are thought to have produced this hip- hop culture, yet it’s hard to determine exactly what each group added to the music, we just know that they did. Polycultural is the perfect word to describe not only hip- hop but also American society today, we are all descendants of hundreds of different backgrounds and to separate us in the way multiculturalism describes is in the wrong. As Kelley says, “Our lines of biological descent are about as pure as O.J’s blood sample, and our cultural lines of descent are about as mixed up as a pot of gumbo (Blackboard).” And the same goes for hip- hop culture, without all the additions given by numerous cultures and backgrounds hip- hop would be totally different.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely a difference between multiculturalism and polyculturalism in Hip Hop. You have to deal with both types when it comes to this. In hip hop multiculturalism is defined as “the management of underrepresenting groups of people promoting the idea of place boundaries around culture” (lecture 2/13). When we talk about “blackness” many people look at African Americans and automatically think gangster and if someone says, “do it the black way,” things automatically get looked at different when it’s not always like that. You can’t really just categorize people like that, not all people of the same race act the same. Point blank. But there are characteristics that can influence and help someone or another culture and come up with something that is mind blowing to some people. Polyculturalism means inter related, and is the complete opposite of multiculturalism. In this way of thinking it that puts all of us into one category. The idea is that we all are in one category because we are all here on this Earth together and adapt and learn from each other. I do believe that we all learn valuable things from each other, no matter what the race is. There are different cultures but that doesn’t mean we aren’t all inner twined with each other. People all over the world are sampling each other’s work whether be in music, movies, or just on the street corner. We all learn and sample from different people and different cultures. Hip Hop wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for people opening up and excepting the polyculturalism and coming up with new ways to do things. Diversity these days is a lot different from in the past and will only keep changing, but the roots are still the same.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of multiculturalism obviously plays a large role in hip-hop simply in that there are many cultures involved in the music and even the culture of hip-hop itself. In relation to polycuturalism however, it seems that the latter is a much better argument for defining or recognizing how the culture of hip-hop works. While multiculturalism promotes the idea that cultures are static, concrete, and bounded, as discussed in class, it does not necessarily describe how this has influenced hip-hop. In the essay “People in Me,” Robin Kelley writes of how he was never easily understood as one specific race or ethnicity. The question of “What are you?” was constantly brought up, which he then addresses in relation to the idea of “blackness” that we discussed in class earlier in the semester. This black culture that he was apart of was rarely left at just that. Cultures beyond African American, which is diverse in and of itself, are poured into the hip-hop culture giving it it’s own, new twist. Several Hispanic cultures have influenced hip-hop as well, and not so stereotypically either. Kelley even writes of how his mother never said things like “Oh Lawd,” or “Hallelujah,” as portrayed in many movies over the years. His argument, as it fits with polycuturalism, was simply that his African American heritage is the product of many diverse cultures, as is the case with most black people in the Americas. In class the idea of polyculturalism was described as encouraging the complexity of cultures as well as assuming that culture is “embodied and cannot be separated from those that produce it.” I look at this as simply acknowledging and respecting the fluidity and density of various cultures in the larger culture that they produce.
ReplyDelete“An institutional adjustment to diversity…forced adoption of socially constructed and federally defined limits of race” (lecture 2/13). This is multiculturalism in a nutshell. It is the unrealistic and false expectation of American society as it tries to create uniformity in the midst of complex, unique, and intertwining cultures. Multiculturalism has set limits and created boundaries, which must, consequently, be reexamined. And as Change states it, “hip-hop has [become] that reexamination” (33).
ReplyDeleteLooking at the history of multiculturalism’s development, we can see a struggle for equality amongst races and ethnic groups, which in turn led to societal and political recognition for change (lecture 2/13). The problem with this phenomenon was, and is, that people “…believing it’s actually liberal when indeed it’s actually power telling you not to engage it” (Vijay 38). Hip-hop has become a platform for transcending cultures. While society has chosen to conflate culture, hip-hop has become a re-constructer of these misconceived margins. Polyculturalism encourages the complexity of cultures (lecture 2/13), and hip-hop attempts to convey this polyculturalistic view. This creates an unsettling environment for many individuals, but it also acts as a tool of truth.
Kelley, in addressing the social scientists’ construction of the ghetto, leaves his readers with this thought: “…we need to resist deep-seated habits of mind and systems of authenticity. We need to be suspicious of an almost-automatic tendency to relegate non-Western peoples and objects to the pasts of an increasingly homogeneous humanity” (148). Kelley stresses that we not be innocent bystanders of half-truths. Rather, we must engage and address the issues being contorted.
“By constructing the black urban world as a single culture whose function is merely to survive the ghetto…ultimately collapsed a wide range of historical specific cultural practices…and search for a concept that would bring them all together.” (Kelly 140) Hip-hop has a stereotype and as a majority of us know, stereotypes are hard to break unless you are forced to break them. So in my mind the idea of polyculturalism, or the integration of cultures, is not possible in the American society. This is best said in “Got Next”. “You say ‘hip-hop’, you really locate a space that as diverse as it is, still operates in a singular kind of relationship to other spheres of culture and power of authority”. (Chang 36) What they are saying is, yes, hip-hop is diverse because it samples from all different backgrounds but at the same time it has social restrictions on it. In “People in me”, Kelley describes his mom in the section titled “Polycultural Enigmas” as a woman who “never fit the ‘ black woman’ image of how she looked or how she lived her life. (People in Me) Once again we see this social restriction in the American Society. So in turn hip-hop can’t be defined as polycultural but multicultural, or cultures living side-by-side and acknowledging the other exists but never integrating, because society has put it in a box.
ReplyDeleteThe terms of polyculturalism and multiculturalism both directly apply to the evolution of Hip-hop culture. The best way I can explain it is that the Polyculturalism in Hip-hop is a result of a multicultural world. What I mean by this is that Hip-hop itself is an ongoing collaboration. It is constantly evolving and tying in new elements to advance both musically and culturally. This progression can be seen as its polyculturalism because the unified culture of Hip-hop itself has, and, continues to be, molded from a multicultural world. Where the meaning of Blackness ties in to the equation is that similar to how the polyculturalism in Hip-hop came from a multicultural world, Hip-hop came from Blackness; it originated underground and on the streets where it was seen as a separate and race based or “Black” culture. Today however, one’s Blackness is not necessarily judged based on ones race. More, it is one’s ability to spiritually connect to that specific culture.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturalism is the management of underrepresented groups and promotes the idea of inclusion through representation rather than overturning a system of power and privilege (2/13). It allows cultures to live along side one another, but not actually immerse in each other’s differences. For example, Hip hop today can be said to be multicultural because many people enjoy rap music and hip hop beats, but just because someone likes rap music doesn’t mean that they embody the true essence of hip hop culture and the properties that lie behind it. This is why polyculturalism is different. Polyculturalism encourages the complexity of cultures and does not engage any assumptions. Polyculturalism acknowledges and connects different cultures not only on a superficial level, but also on a deeper, more personal level. We know that the people producing hip hop music have diverse backgrounds. Whether they are white, black, Asian, or Latino, it can be said that the culture of hip hop is both polycultural and multicultural. Some hip hop fans may just be hip hop fans because of a few mainstream radio songs, but then there are those people who produce the music and go deeper and embody all aspects of hip hop culture. Most importantly, hip-hop’s use of cultural contributions of diverse racial and ethnic groups allows it to both “transcend” blackness and produce it through its relationship to difference.(2/13) Hip-hop is what brings many cultures together to create a new kind of culture. Different cultures are immersed into hip-hop to advocate and trend the idea of “blackness” in America.
ReplyDeletePolyculturalism identifies the problems with simplistically conflating race and culture and also acknowledges the interrelated connections between separate cultures. Multiculturalism on the other hand, keeps cultures separated. Multiculturalism promotes the idea that cultures are discrete, bonded and static and that there are boundaries around cultures (Prof NHP). From 1976 to 1987, there was a great rise of multiculturalism in the United States, but from 1992-1996 was the end of Affirmative Action and also the decline of multiculturalism (Prof NHP). Hip-hop used to be seen as “black music” but due to awareness of multiculturalism, Hip-hop ultimately transformed from “black music” to more of “multicultural music”. Now, Hip-hop has become a mainstream music genre and tries to appeal to the broadest audience available. Due to the mainstream rise of Hip-hop, lots of artists have wrote songs disregarding the new ways of Hip-hop too (For example, Jay-Z’s “D.O.A.” or Nas’s “Hip-hop Is Dead”). All in all, Hip-hop would not be what it is today without the starts of polyculturalism and multiculturalism and as music progresses my prediction is that Hip-hop will only become more polyculturalistic due to the increase of diversity within the genre.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturalism is defined as the preservation of different cultures or culture identities within a unified society as a state or union. As we discussed in class the term came about in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. Multiculturalism is what Dr. Martin Luther King strived for to have many different cultures coexist as one. Kelley suggests that as a culture we over look the individuality of specific cultures, especially black culture. “We were multi-ethnic and polycultural from the get-go. Most of our ancestors came to these shores not as "Africans," but as Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa, Kongo, Bambara, Mende, Mandinga, etc,” Kelley said. What I think she means by this is we don’t over look where people from England, Ireland, or Spain are from, but there is a generalization of “Africans.” She also suggests that hip hop has been the separation of “black” and “white” music and culture. “And if you still don't believe me, just consider how multicultural "hip-hop" has always been. Not only were the pioneering dj's, rappers, and break dancers African American, West Indian, Puerto Rican, and strongly identified with the African diaspora.” Blackness and hip hop had a very strong correlation, especially when it first started out. In present day the hip hop culture has changed dramatically in my opinion. It isn’t just centralized around the black community. Like we discussed in lecture, we now include hip hop awards in the Grammy’s, but many of us like to think of the Grammy’s as a main stream older generation “white” award show.
ReplyDeleteWhen talking about the topic of polyculturalism versus multiculturalism, one can tell that these two similar concepts are actually opposites. Multiculturalism is pretty much how America is. We have one nation, but inside our nation we have many different groups of people. Whether it’s race (black, white, Asian), religion (Judaism, Christianity, Catholic) or even gender (male, female), America has it all. That is why we are a multiculturalist nation. Polyculturalism refers that all cultures are assimilated and together. This is simply not the case in America, as we are all independent in our own special ways. Hip-hop, has a lot of both of these cultural features. Polyculturalism refers to a lot of the sampling and similarities that rap songs have. Clearly, hip-hop and all music is going to sound similar to each other. There are only so many different sounds and lyrics people can use. This is not a bad thing, but it definitely means that a lot of hip-hop is polyculturalistic. On the other hand, a lot of rap has unique sounds. Eminem was very unique, and people like Tech 9 are extremely distinguishable in their flow and delivery. This is where the multiculturalism comes in to play, as hip-hop has a lot of different sounding rappers. Now, there is really no right or wrong way of looking at it. Hip-hop will continue to have similar sounding music, but then there will be some stuff you hear that you’ve never experienced before. That is the beauty of hip-hop and why everyone can appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the semester as we have studied the origins and progression of hip-hop, what remains parallel to these dynamics is certainly the acknowledgement of hip-hop's past, and more importantly, its cultural roots which sprawl as wide as they do deep. As perspective and understanding of hip-hop culture, interwoven with notions of black societal norms, has begun to shift we should expect change in the ways we categorize the phylogeny of peoples and the disparate backgrounds that are present not only on the surface, but within them. "Blackness, black culture, and black life have never been easily identifiable, secure in their boundaries, or clear to all people who live inside or outside of our skin" (Kelley 2). Robin Kelley explains that we use terms like multiculturalism to place individuals inside a barrier that may be easily identifiable and processed. However, terms that may have been "politically correct" are now seeming to undermine the academic urge for betterment. "Multiculturalism not only obscures power relations, but often reifies race and gender differences" (Kelley 2). Kelley would highlight polyculturalism as a better outfit of distinction. The ideologies of polyculturalism (ex: cultural emersion, universal genetics) seem to coexist and even flourish with the hip-hop community, understanding and recognizing its vast genealogy and sociological diversity. Furthermore, if we recognize our history and contemporary age as a perpetual, un-static duration then we should use the example of multiculturalism vs. polyculturalism as a way to understand and commit to future terminology that may provide greater relevance in societal progression.
ReplyDeleteWe learned in lecture that “multiculturalism” is a management of underrepresented groups that promotes the idea of inclusion rather than over turning a system of power and privilege. Since the beginning hop-hop has been known as a way for the struggling black youth to release stress and get out their problems, known as “rap music”, or “black music”. “Several scholars insist that Hip-hop is the pure, unadulterated voice of a ghetto that has grown increasingly isolated from “mainstream” society” (Kelley 146). But hip-hop is more than that. Hip hop- is diverse, polycultural, and universal. In Kelley’s article, he talks about how there is an African American culture, so there’s always going to be a “black way of doing things.” But then he goes into talking about his mother who in her entire lifetime never fits the description of her skin color. She’s black but she never does things “black women” do. Because society hasn’t integrated this is idea of people being like the other, is how we get the term polyculturalism. In lecture we learned that polyculturalism assumes that culture is personified and cannot be separated from those that produce it. It doesn’t seem to be “universal,” because how could it be universal if it’s never gone anywhere? Society doesn’t really view hip-hop any differently than they did when it first began, although as a whole hip-hop has changed. Although cultural contributions of diverse racial and ethnic groups allow hip-hop to go beyond blackness and produce it, many cultures, including African American, still see themselves as a less dominant community, because that’s what society still makes them out to be, as demonstrated in “Walk this way” by RUN-DMC, (Lecture).
ReplyDeleteDylan Woodard
ReplyDeleteThe idea of multiculturalism plays a large role in how hip hop has evolved into what it is today. Hip Hop has been labeled to be “black music”, which includes any other culture that is apart from ‘White America’. So the idea of polyculturalism, which is the mixing of cultures, in hip hop is there but I would not say hip hop is the best example of it. In hip hop, there are many cultures that all respect one another but they don’t necessarily come together as a whole. On the topic of sampling, polyculturalism stands out. When artists use samples from totally different cultures and music it shows how we can learn from other cultures. The culture of hip hop is combining with others to become something that no one can put a name to. Because of this, hip hop will continue to change shape and hopefully can learn from various cultures.
"All of us, and I mean ALL of us, are the inheritors of European, African, Native American, and even Asian pasts, even if we can't exactly trace our blood lines to all of these continents." Robin Kelley said this in "The People in Me" article, and I think in just that one sentence explains a lot. Multiculturalism promotes the idea that cultures are discrete; the preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a unified society, as a state or nation. In other words, America is multicultural. We all live here but we all don't look the same or have all the same believes. Polyculturalism is the concept that all the world's cultures are inter-related.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to these two topics with the idea of music is simple. Through my eyes at the beginning of the semester I would have seen music to be multicultural. Everyone in the music industry is all doing what they love and yet are all so different. Some are country, rap, or pop singers. Some are black, white, Asian, or Latino. But when you dig into the music industry and start to look a little harder it is becoming more polycultural. Such as when people sample music into their own. They are taking someone else's stuff and inter-relating it with theirs. They are mixing two different pieces of music into one and that's what polyculturalism is all about. At some point I hope everything will become more polycultural, and we aren't all so separate and distant.
“Multiculturalism promotes the idea that cultures are discrete, bounded, and static” (Lecture 2/13). Many sociological concepts are still multicultural because we think if we do not believe we are a part of the cultural, then the best we can do is understand that concept superficially instead of experiencing that concept like someone of that culture would. The ultimate goal is to become polycultural. Experiences like this class in itself help society achieve that goal. In class, every individual no matter their race is trying to become more fluent with the hip-hop vernacular. We have described it as immersion before, and I think the only way to spread hip-hop or even any concept that is usually associated with a singular culture over all cultures, to have ideas that are truly polycultural, is to immerse yourself in that concept. I see multiculturalism as polyculturalism just with a safety blanket to hold onto. We are not sure how to get to that total polycultural point, and the safety blanket, our stereotypes and ways we still segregate, are the “bounds” in the definition of multiculturalism. More and more people who do not identify with the origin of hip-hop culture are starting to listen to hip-hop music showing steps away from multiculturalism toward polyculturalism. We even see Eminem breaking the multicultural barrier toward polyculturalism by dipping into hip-hop culture firsthand. However, I would still argue that hip-hop could be universal but is not quite that way, yet. Anyone can listen to hip-hop music and find a way to relate to it, but will they?
ReplyDeleteOn February 13th we discussed the term multiculturalism. According to the lecture multiculturalism in hip-hop is defined as the management of under representing different groups of people while at the same time promoting the idea of place and boundaries around culture. When talking about polyculturalism, Preshad calls it a term that goes back to talk about the cultures around the world and how it is all connected. Polyculturalism is a very complex term because it talks about so many different cultures. You can relate polyculturalism to hip-hop in many ways simply because so many different type of people are in the hip-hop industry. For example Wiz and Snoop. They both rap about the same sort of things, when listenting to them they came from pretty much two different worlds. These two hip-hop stars actually recently released an album together. To conclude, polyculturalism and multiculturalism are in hip-hop every day life.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting about Hip-hop is that it has incorporated a type of polyculturalism from its roots. Hip-hop emerged within a multicultural push in the 1970’s and began to gain national attention when the talk of multiculturalism became prominent in the late 80’s and early 90’s (Chang, 35). Multiculturalism gained prominence in politics, business, and the academy. There was a push to add diversity to every institution. Yet, in hip-hop there was a different push. This push was one to not just celebrate differences, but a polycultural push. From an outside or sociological view the term “blackness” would refer to those who were African Americans. However, within hip-hop “blackness” was a term that encompassed much more. Artists from all ethnic groups would have been included under this term. What made one “black” was in interaction and dialogue with the foundational ideas and expression of hip-hop. In one sense the Beastie Boys would be just as hip-hop or ‘black’ as Jay-Z. Hip-hop has had the ability to stimulate a give and take of many different narratives. How could one nail down exactly what category one falls in when one is a “melting pot” of sorts (People in Me)? Hip-hop through ideas like sampling has brought together different narratives to create new narratives. Polyculturalism’s claim is that all cultures have intertwined to create what cultures we have today. Hip-hop though it started with a certain culture has had a mentality of taking and giving to other cultures. This may be one reason hip-hop won’t die.
ReplyDelete“Multiculturalism is the management of underrepresented groups and promotes the idea of inclusion while polyculturalism encourages the complexity of cultures and attempts to address issues of power and privilege in institutions, places of business, and cultural places (lecture 2/13).”Ecko Unlimited and FUBU are brands of urban lifestyle clothing that have been commonly known to be associated with the Hip-Hop, graffiti, and African-American/Latino cultures even though Mark Ecko himself is American. Mark Ecko built up his company’s empire with just six t-shirts and one can of spray paint while FUBU (For Us By Us) founded by Daymond John, started with a line of hats made in his home. The rags to riches story we hear numerous Hip-hop artists rap about today. Ecko Unlimited was a brand of clothing that essentially set out to be a part of the Hip-hop culture because Mark grew up in a town with a large population of African Americans and Latinos thus in order to make a profit, the cloths had to appeal not only to just one race but rather a culture. FUBU’s brand ultimately fell into and instantly became a part of the hip hop culture because of the message that the company delivers implying that these cloths were designed primarily for American Americans made by African Americans but not to be exclusively worn by African Americans. These two specific brands of clothing are examples of multiculturalism because the brands ultimately represent the boundaries of the hip hop society and are viewed as “black” or “latino” clothing thus keeping those other races outside the boundaries. On the other hand an example of plolyculturalism in terms of hip-hop and fashion would be the Polo brand because of how it is worn all across races and incorporated in hip hop essentially the interrelation between all races apart of the hip hop culture.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a global society, where people all over the world are connected to one another. Not only are we connected virtually and communicatively, but as Kelley points out, we are connected biologically through bloodlines. Thus, we are living in a polycultural world, yet many people fail to acknowledge or understand the fact that a person can associate him or herself with several races and ethnicities. Kelley argues that polyculturalism is a more constructive term than multiculturalism because multiculturalism implies many cultures side-by-side instead of many cultures making up one person. This concept has affected the idea of blackness and black culture. “Outsiders” tend to lump people of multiple ethnicities into one category of “black” without taking into consideration the fluidity and hybridity of black culture. Social scientists are partly to blame for this, as they make sweeping generalizations about black culture and attribute several characteristics to one large and very diverse group of people. The same can be said for hip-hop culture. Hip-hop comprises many different styles and aesthetics, and its history alone is multidimensional and polycultural. In fact, hip-hop artists have a unique challenge and opportunity to break down some of the stereotypes associated with blackness and black culture. Many step up to the challenge, even if subconsciously, by presenting themselves as polycultural and speaking about where they come from.
ReplyDeleteMulticulturalism rose from history as an “institutional adjustment to diversity” (Persley lecture 2/13). When hip-hop entered into mainstream music, it was marketed as “multicultural” because it was not only “black people’s music,” but music that transcended cultural boundaries. Multiculturalism gives representation to minorities, but still maintains structure. Being black today is not the same as it was fifty years ago, but “if you’re talking about African American culture, sound and music is the glue”(Chang 45). Hip-hop has a voice, and this voice is diverse by the people who project it. White European-Americans, Latinos, Asians and African Americans are all involved in the production of hip-hop today. The term polyculturalism takes the term multiculturalism a step farther, and addresses the corrupt structure of white to minority balance. For example, affirmative action addresses the power corruption in businesses for minorities. In black music, creativity and experimentation in language must also be understood as sources of visceral and psychic pleasure (Kelley 147). Hip-hop, similarly, is an expression of what artists want to say and what they want others to feel. Contemporary black urban culture is a hybrid that draws on Afrodiasporic traditions, pop culture, the vernacular of previous generations and a whole lot of imagination (Kelley 148). So in this sense, polyculturalism is a part of hip-hop because it does force us to engage other cultures whether we like it or not.
ReplyDeleteAn example: when I was in the 5th grade (in 1991, when multiculturalism was rising towards its apogee and eventual decline), I was assigned a short report on Marcus Garvey. I remember reading an encyclopedia entry or two, plus some news stories written about Garvey in the 1920s. The problem was, all of this was written by white authors some of whom had an axe to grind against Garvey and his movement, and 11 year olds don’t generally have the best grasp of critical analysis- or know when to consider a narrator unreliable. To say that I came away with some wrong-headed impressions of Garveyism would be an understatement. To me, this example summarizes the essence of multiculturalism as defined in class lecture and the readings: a superficial process of acknowledging the existence and validity of cultures other than the dominant one created by white colonialists, assigned from the top down, in this instance, from teacher to student. Cultures are treated as separate and fixed in time, meaning they can be studied and commodified. The idea that the “hood” is an untamed jungle full of angry natives with a completely foreign culture (complete with tribal music, ie hip-hop) is, at its worst, exotifying nonsense that increases, rather than alleviates the systemic issues of Othering associated with blackness in the United States. Polyculturalism may provide an antidote, but the idea of a “post-racial” society, which ultimately serves the dominant culture, still ignores systemic, institutionalized racism.
ReplyDeleteAs seen in lecture on 2/13 multiculturalism is the management of underrepresented groups and promotes the idea of inclusion through representation rather than overturning a system of power and privilege. Something that stuck out to me in lecture is when we discussed the student movements that tried to address that “American” culture was not only produced by people of European decent. What makes America multicultural is the cultures that aren’t strictly European. Multiculturalism is what happens when many people form different backgrounds are all meshed together and getting along. Multiculturism really began happening in the United States between 1976 and 1987; however, there are setbacks, like the Rodney King uprising, that we need to over come. I really enjoyed watching the music video for “Walk This Way” with Run DMC and Aerosmith because I feel like the video was attempting to literally ‘break down/through the walls’ of multiculturalism by bonding those two musical groups together.
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