'Street Cred' as a Proxy for Authenticity²²

“Street credibility serves as a proxy for authenticity because if an artist doesn’t have street credibility, and they’re supposedly reppin’ the streets, then one could say ‘well, then, they’re not authentic.’”

- DJ Eurok (Interview, 2005)

As Eurok illustrates with the phrase “they’re supposedly reppin’ the streets,” and as we have already discussed, the popular assumption is that authentic Hip-Hop is necessarily from the inner city.  In terms of a basic sociological model, there are convincing arguments for this position.  However, I argue that this reasoning does not coincide with the ideology of multi-cultural inclusivity upheld by the Universal Zulu Nation and, thus, a significant site of Hip-Hop culture.  In fact, the simplicity of the “street cred” perspective can even lead to spurious interpretation.  For instance, McLeod (1999) concludes that when hip-hop artist, Rass Kass (1997) says, “For me, the most important thing is the street – that’s what I make my shit for and to do anything else would be fake,” he is saying that any rap that isn’t about the street is fake (143).  I contend that this is a misinterpretation.  Rass Kass was, in fact, emphasizing the importance of relating his own experience and perspective, which like many—though not all—hip-hop artists, happens to be closely tied to the street, rather than rappin’ about issues that don’t pertain to his own experience.  McLeod’s conclusion reveals how a bias toward a conception of Hip-Hop authenticity that accounts only for street credibility has the potential to produce misinterpretation.  Still, it is important to examine why street credibility has become so central to common conceptions of authenticity.

"The Nigga You Love to Hate"²³

“I’m tired’a rappers ackin’ like they need a gat to represent/ And gotta get head just so the song is relevant/ Pull out they cock just so America’s shocked/ Parents are scared kids’ll imitate it/ But they’re secretly titillated/ And you buy into it by frontin’ you’re offended/ When it’s clear that your attendant to the monster they invented/ So/ Hittin’ the charts at number one/ The new title/ From ya favorite love-to-hate-it Black American Idol.”

- NuSonRize (2005), “Don’t You No”

Any in-depth discussion of Hip-Hop authenticity must take into account the significance and impact of what I will call the Commercial Hip-Pop Empire: the multi-billion dollar sector of the music and entertainment industries that has pimped and exploited the most marketable aspects of Hip-Hop culture for unprecedented profits.  Or, as slam poet Taalam Acey (2002) puts it:

Ninety-nine percent of the time, pimpin’ words, parts of capitalism through record company ho’s, platinum-coated egos, puttin’ out bullshit lyrics, hyper-marketed to supercede those revolutionary mantras of yesteryear.

With street credibility at the center of common conceptions of Hip-Hop authenticity, the most powerful mass media entities have played up the most disturbing aspects of rap’s original urban context, while simultaneously omitting the resistance that has been a part of Hip-Hop since its inception. 

This is because mass media outlets such as these have continually exploited the finding that the more record producers package rappers as violent black criminals, the bigger their white audiences become (Armstrong, 343).  In other words, images of violent, misogynistic, frivolous, and predominantly black males have been meticulously crafted and continually hyperbolized—to produce the fantastic, comic book-superhero caricatures we hear on the radio and see on the television today—because these images are proven to sell.²⁴  It is important to be aware that there are other perspectives and messages in the music produced by artists who respect the history of, and values associated with, Hip-Hop culture that are often very different from those in much of the music currently masquerading on MTV, BET, and major radio stations as “hip-hop.”

One disturbing consequence of the commodification and exploitation of the image of street credibility is the widespread negative depictions of blacks as violent, horny, frivolous criminals.  Another is that many artists with few other opportunities for financial stability must often strive to fulfill this image if they hope to obtain and maintain a record deal.  As a side note, some may be quick to question whether such claims make the mistake of defending individuals who, in fact, do espouse the values portrayed in their songs and music videos. I make no such claims – indeed, like their counterparts in rock and pop, some mainstream rappers do uphold unlawful, sexually explicit and frivolous lifestyles. What I do claim is that the Commercial Hip-Pop Empire places many artists in a position where they must forego meaningful, self-expressive and, thus, more authentic messages in their music and videos in favor of drugs, sex, violence, materialism and excessive cussing – all things that are not only proven to sell, but that are also guaranteed to entice a mainstream consumer society which has been conditioned by a White supremacist culture to expect such things from those who appear to represent Black, inner city experiences and aesthetics.

Is it a coincidence that these violent portrayals most often depict black-on-black crime?  Indeed, there is an element of portraying reality here, but some believe that the exploitative packaging of Blackness is not only meant to increase profit but is also meant to serve a colonial purpose.  Jared Ball (2005), a Media Studies professor at University of Maryland and host of ‘Blackademics’ on WPFW, explains:

Now my only argument is that this is what is the intended creation… You can’t have the cultural expression of a colonized people be talking about overthrowing the colonial relationship.  It has to be talking about blingin’ and killing each other. 

Support for this claim and additional insight comes from Fade to Black, a documentary on rap icon, Jay-Z (2005), in which he discusses this dilemma with a business associate and a fellow rapper:

Jay-Z: What about this guy? [gesturing to the other rapper in the room] – he’s rappin’ about shootin’ and killin’ people. What do you think about that?
Associate: That’s alright. That’s what people want to hear. They want to buy it…
Rapper #1: Truthfully, it’s whack… I don’t be wantin’ to do that. It seems like sometimes that’s all niggas wanna hear. You get fed up…
Rapper #2: Why would you write a rhyme that you don’t wanna write?
Rapper #1: That’s what I’m saying – I’m still tryin’ to find myself to this day.
Rapper #2: That shit ain’t hard – be you.
Rapper #1: I know – but I’m saying – to be able to put it out to the people.  That shit is aggravatin’.
Jay-Z: Yo, you see how rappers are now? [To the camera] See what the public—see what y’all did to rappers? They’re scared to be they self. Niggas don’t think that people will accept them as they self.

Jared Ball (2005) offers additional insight on this scene and what it says about the impact of commercial forces on Hip-Hop:

One of the emcees on Jay-Z’s label is talking about how he hates rhyming about killing and thuggery, but he feels he has to do it for him to get any commercial attention.

Although Jay-Z seems to be blaming the public for this emcee’s creative dilemma, there is reason to believe that commercial forces are the larger culprit.  Indeed, many rappers in the mainstream are entirely aware of what the industry is seeking and are willing to jump through the necessary hoops in order to get paid.  DJ Kinsley (2004) describes the decision that many artists must confront:

Sometimes we have the righteous hip-hop which doesn’t really make it anywhere, so that can make a person wanna jump on the bandwagon.  Everyone’s clapping guns and showing booties in the videos… That’s the direction they’ve gotta take it in order to win. You can’t blame them for it. That’s what the leaders of the game, as far as the media and what not—that’s what they want in order to make you win, so people just following the bandwagon. You might see 50-cent dancing in videos now… I remember when Mobb Deep did a song with 112 – it was a shock… but it’s part of working your way towards mainstream, trying to increase your listeners, trying to crossover ‘cause you can’t be underground forever.  Underground don’t pay the bills.

Jay-Z’s (2003) infamous track, “Moment of Clarity,” offers a more lyrical take on this same idea:

And the music I be makin'/ I dumb down for my audience/ And double my dollars/ They criticize me for it/ Yet they all yell "Holla"/ If skills sold, truth be told/ I'd probably be lyrically/ Talib Kweli/ Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense/ (But I did five Mil)/ I ain't been rhymin' like Common Sense/ When your sense got that much in common/ And you been hustlin' since/ Your inception, fuck perception/ Go with what makes cents./

In this verse, Jay-Z admits that he ‘dumbs down’ his lyrics and caters them to more marketable themes to increase his listenership.  Like the quote from DJ Kinsley, Jay-Z’s lyrics also suggest that the most popular rap artists will often elect to record rhymes that are more likely to sell, rather than create music that is more lyrically skillful or true to one’s own experience.   

How does this impact an emcee’s performance of authenticity?  Becker’s (1982) discussion of art’s reception may provide additional insight:

[T]he reputation of the artist and the work reinforce one another: we value more a work done by an artist we respect, just as we respect more an artist whose work we have admired (23). 

Add this to what Rux (2003) explains—“it is the image of these icons and their proclamations of themselves that reach beyond them, creating a mass of followers who are inspired by their belief in the performance, not the person” (25)—and we can see how being constantly bombarded with these images and themes, though they happen to not be authentic to the artist, can influence our perception of authenticity.  Kool Mo Dee (2003) describes this phenomenon in journalism:

[M]ore times than not, based on the money spent and image created, people are voting on the personas. A lot of journalists don’t have the heart to go against the grain of the popular artists at the time… You create a fake monster, and then respond as if the monster is real (Kool Mo Dee, ix).

"Don't You No" by NuSonRize of The Sky Beneath

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>>Click here to view Taalam Acey Video Short "When The Smoke Clearz" <<
NOTE: Explicit Content

Interview Excerpt: Unakron

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Interview Excerpt: Jared Ball on Jay-Z's Fade to Black

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Interview Excerpt: DJ Kinsley

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"Moment of Clarity" by Jay-Z

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Interview Excerpt: DJ Eurok