Hoops: The 5th Pillar of Hip Hop

by Atma Brother ONE on Jun 23, 2006 8:40 AM PDT in Science

This is normally a topic for the audience (all 4 of them!) of Two Turn Tables and a Blog and The Free Shai World Report (the 2 other two members of the Hyphy Bloggin' Network -HBN- trinity), but here goes...

In Jeff Chang's recent interview with John Jay (the director of the ad giant that helped Nike develop it's seemingly authentic Hip Hop persona and connections) for the PBS POV Border Talk special, Jay pronounced basketball as the 5th pillar of Hip Hop culture with the other 4 pillars being MCing, DJing, Breaking, and Graf. The marriage between Hip Hop and Hoops has been going strong for nearly two decades. They have both grown tenfold and shaped each other to the point that one rarely exists without traces of the other.

Evidence of the influence these two subcultures have had on each other are demonstrated with magazines such as Slam and Dime as well as the proliferation of Hoops threads in any Hip Hop music video. There's a reason recent sneaker ad runner-up "My Old Coach" is cut to the classic Onyx track "Slam". Hip Hop and Hoops are intertwined and inseparable like Shawn and Marlon Wayans. There's a reason why I can write "Golden State of Mind is super-duper-hyphy-hyphy-hyphy-hyphy..." and many of you know what I'm talking about.

Hip Hop and Hoops are not just Black and White. As Jay notes in his interview with Chang, both of these cultures are global- just like the Bay Area and just the Golden State of Mind team and readers.

It is painful that Commissioner David Stern and the rest of the powers that be in the NBA seemingly go to no end to reject this marriage of Hip Hop and Basketball. This past year's enforcement of a dress code that rejected players from wearing retro jerseys and other hoops gear on the sidelines, during post game interviews, and even on plane rides against their own marketing and economic interests typifies these extremes. Recent All Star half time shows have even featured artists like Meatloaf and intentionally excluded Hip Hop performers. Why did the Rolling Stones have the main track for NBA commercials for an entire season? Not that there's anything wrong with Meatloaf or The Rolling Stones or those music genres and cultures, but to purposively try to destroy connections between Hip Hop and Hoops is both calculated and unfortunate.

ABC's recent coverage of the playoffs seemingly tried to phase out Hip Hop connections by minimizing its play during fadeouts and collages to commercials. Thankfully, TNT (whose NBA coverage is all around 100x better than the ESPN/ABC duo) featured a pretty fresh Hip Hop track "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor.

Why does the NBA try to reject the existence of the 5th Pillar?

Track of the Day: Lil' Bow Wow- "Basketball"
(It's a PG-13 blog! Were you expecting NWA?)

They're playing basket-ballllllllll!

In addition to being a die hard Hoops and Warriors fan are you a fan of Hip Hop culture?
Everyone try to post on this one. Even a simple Yes or No. It makes for a great discussion.

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Comments

No

I'm not a fan of, or detractor of the Hip Hop culture. I can see both sides of the argument about Stern and the NBA. What some people fail to realize in their "why aren't you marketing to me" mindset is that the baby boomer generation has a huge percentage of the money in america, and they are in their early 60s now. That is why Stern has be molding the NBA's image to attract a more conservative, white collar crowd. Because that's where the money is. I expect to see some big changes over the next 10 years as the money inherits down to GenX. Much more individuality and expression will be seen in the NBA.

by chrisz42 on Jun 23, 2006 9:36 AM PDT reply actions

yes

I think Chris got a good point. Maybe I'm a little cynical and I really think conspiracy theories have some truth to them, but isn't where the $ often times become a blatant attack against the visibility of Black culture?

i'm not calling anyone "racist" nor am I saying the NBA is racist, but hasn't the NBA worked extremely hard after the Ron Artest incident to make the NBA as "friendly" as possible (i.e. dress codes, music choices, NBA Cares campaigns, etc. etc.). I'm totally for "community service" or "social services", but aren't these just great photo ops IF ANYTHING? I mean really... does reading a story for a group of 5-7 years olds really make a difference? It really is all about the $; i think Chris makes a good point. But at some point, the representation of the NBA/Basketball should be seems a little deliberate.

by dj fuzzylogic on Jun 23, 2006 10:11 AM PDT reply actions

Yes

What are we arguing? If the NBA is racist? Who they should be marketing? Is Hip Hop Actual Music? Well yes the NBA is 10% racist 90% not. They should drop the NBA cares crap and market more towards a younger more hyphy crowd. And hip hop is awesome.

by DaAzNJRiCh on Jun 23, 2006 12:39 PM PDT reply actions

Balance

I agree that there are huge ties between mainstream hip-hop and the nba, but those aren't the only cultural ties to the nba. There are non-hip-hop heads who are die hard basketall fans. But the NBA has gone overboard in what Atma says is a rejection of the "marriage of Hip Hop and Basketball". They are pushing this "friendly" image which is devoid of anything hip hop. And that's where the problem is. You can be "friendly" and embrace hip hop. I just don't think David Stern wants to learn how to balance the two worlds.

by Fantasy Junkie on Jun 23, 2006 1:00 PM PDT reply actions

Stern is ooold

Yep, couldn't agree with you more. Heck, sometimes I have a tough time with parts of the Hip Hop culture and want to throw out the baby with the bath water, and I'm in my 30s. I can imagine what Stern and the other owners think, because I hear crap about "kids nowadays" from a lot of older folks I come in contact with.

Let's face it, the Hip Hop culture can be it's own worst enemy. A lot of the violence that goes on between some of the biggest stars alienates a large portion of the older generation. A lot of that has to do with the dis-proportionate amount of media coverage those events get, but it puts a bad image on the entire genre of music/culture. In all honesty, the NBA did embrace the Hip Hop culture about 6 years ago when Jordan retired and they were looking for a new marketing plan. It failed. I really think it's a case of selling their product, more than a decision by Stern and co. More old conservative guys buy luxury box seats.

by chrisz42 on Jun 23, 2006 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions

DaAznJrich

how do you quantify how racist someone/s is? can you say someone is racist 10% of time? just curious..

Although putting John Legend on at the past all-star game was nice, he's not exactly one to hype up the crowd solo at least or unless you're takin your girl to see him. Legend is star quality, but c'mon...the dude, solo, is borderline KOIT (light rock, less talk for those outside the bay area). I would think that just as your hitting 30s to your early 40s, you don't all of a sudden throw your tastes out the window and start listening to simon and garfunkel, rolling stones, and weid sheryl crow remixes or music from a different generation altogether for that matter. I'm rooting for the comeback of destiny's child to the NBA!

by dj fuzzylogic on Jun 23, 2006 3:40 PM PDT reply actions

I take to hip hop some

But not mainstream hip hop. The Nelly's, the 50 Cents', etc. they don't do anything for me. Too processed, too cookie cutter.

by jonathan on Jun 23, 2006 7:09 PM PDT reply actions

Yes

I don't know about the violence angle.

Violence in the league was way more prevalent during the age of those who are seen as the top tier all time greats, back when the rules were different. And defense meant Scottie Pippen could lock down(or near molest) Magic Johnson end to end in the finals-which would foul him out in the first minute of an NBA game now. Paraphrased from his own words in his blog.

Dr. J fought Bird
Jordan fought Miller
Barkley fought, well pretty much anybody!

Rapping cowboys at the All Star game a couple years back, yuck.
Rob Thomas THIS IS HOW A HEART BREAKS 20 times a broadcast during last year's finals, I didn't like that. If only that it was really repetitive. But funny they chose this Matchbox 20 former frontman who's other single contains the line "Open up to me, so I can do your girlfriends" yet you hear that song in lite rock playing Ross or TJ Max stores or whatever being played over their speakers.

I did mute my TV a few times when highlights are being shown and the music didn't feel right.

Granted those that make commercial ads over at ESPN threw in Deltron 3030 during that Piston's/Playoffs are here, Get Ready one in black and white with Ben Wallace and the team lifting weights which was nice.

Having been to sporting events around the bay I've heard BIG and 2Pac played up in the nosebleed sections near the speakers. I enjoyed that, but I'm sure some people around me might not have.

I enjoy SLAM magazine also. They hear lines such as Phil Jackson saying players come to work in prison garb(pre-dress code), then ragged on his hippie outfits he used to wear when he played.

Granted there's no sure fire way to please everyone and I think its more important that the product on court gives you the bang for your buck. And I do believe this year's playoffs were a better one than last year's.

They might have rushed to book talent post dress code and not had much to choose from or even known what they wanted concerning the supplementary entertainment?

by back2back51s on Jun 23, 2006 10:43 PM PDT reply actions

jeff chang

Can't Stop Won't Stop is a great book in that it illuminates the complexity of hip-hop's development and of its reception. Jeff Chang surely knows already that Nike's spending power has allowed it to single-handedly redirect the course of hip-hop...witness John Jay, in his interview with Chang, saying that they're paying artists to create raps about "flow" in order to tap an Asian hip-hop audience.

So does Nike have an "authentic" hip-hop connection? Well, they've sent their marketing teams out to do the legwork, talking to kids in the Bronx, etc., etc., listening to the music, going to the street shows, all that, just like MTV does their street teams. So they've got all the latest slang exactly right, the gear, all down to the last detail. Then they package it all up to sell shoes to kids whose parents cannot really afford them at the triple-digit prices they command, backed with Nike's image-making power--they've got all the real-life themes down cold, the focus on the individual as a warrior in a cold world, dependent on his or her unbreakable will--oh, Nike understands how it is, they get it!-- so solidly that kids actually enforce the message with each other: own these shoes or else be second-class among your own peers. Be a scrub. Be a mark. Get punked. Get hurt.

Phil Knight is a marketing genius, but I continue to feel sick at Nike's cooptation of hip-hop themes, imagery, and figureheads in order to exploit hip-hop's original constituency: the Black and Brown residents of places like the South Bronx, East Palo Alto, West Oakland, South Central. I can't believe John Jay feels no irony in talking about "originality" and "evolving the culture." The bottom line is what it's always been, and he's one of the people directly responsible for keeping it that way, no matter how he sees his role in world culture and liberation struggles and whatever other grand schemes he imagines himself part of while extending Nike's chokehold on the imagination and wallets of youth.

by mikej @ Golden State Of Mind on Jun 24, 2006 10:21 PM PDT reply actions

Excellent Comment

mikej- Thank you for posting your thoughts. It's really refreshing to hear such an intelligent comment.

I do agree that while Nike fronts like they "appreciate" Hip Hop culture and markets it extremely well, they don't do all that much for Hip Hop youth. The prices are ridiculous and beyond the budgets of the many ethnic and working class households.

It takes $150 to be authentic? Too much.