Welcome to the Hood: The Importance of Location, Culture, and Totems

Location, Culture and Totems have always been relevant in Hip Hop. Location is a huge aspect of Hip Hop because artists make it one. There are songs strictly about locations artists are from and pride is the first thing that comes to mind when listening to this music, as these artists wouldn’t be rapping about them if they weren’t proud. “Homecoming” by Kanye West is prime example of a rapper having pride for the location he’s from. Kanye West talks about “Chi- Town” (Chicago), which is where he moved when he was 3 years old. In the song “Homecoming” Kanye West personifies Chicago as a girl who introduces herself to Kanye when he moves there, “Excuse me lil homey, I know you don’t know me but, my name is Windy and I like to blow trees”. Other artists display love for the city they’re from through an entire song or sometimes just subtly, like Jay-Z in “Empire State of Mind” about the NYC and Eminem who mentions Detroit in many of his songs. 

Culture and totems go hand and hand with a different locations that emphasize hip hop. Hip Hop cultures vary from city to city but are commonly associated with rap, DJing, dance, and graffiti. The culture varies everywhere you go but was bigger historically than in the 21^st century we live in today. Today, there’s a more mutual and collaborative Hip Hop game, as artists don’t have as much beef or hatred for one another. Back in the 1980s and 90s, big time record labels acted as rivals, and artists that held a certain label let that define where they were from and what they were about. West Coast and East Coast rivalry was the most evident and even lead to the death of two of the most iconic rappers to date, Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls (Christopher Wallace). Totems were a lot more evident in the 80’s and 90’s also. 

As you can see from the video, Biggie displays a real flashy and wealthy scene featuring money, women, and champagne all in a high class looking club. This East Coast scene is almost directly contradictory to the kinds of music videos displayed in the West Coast at the time, for example Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s “Nuthin but a G Thang”.

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s music video features themselves, in a low- class neighborhood attending a block party. It can be easily analyzed the totems or symbols in these videos differ greatly, as Biggie’s takes advantage of his money to use totems like champagne, a high-class night club, and money itself, while Snoop and Dr. Dre and in a low- class neighborhood at a barbecue, with people of all ages. It’s also worth noting that Biggie and the people around him are featuring clothing people would wear in a nice wealthy club like Biggie’s flashy hat, sweater, and jacket, while Snoop Dogg is wearing a plain hat with a Marijuana leaf, and a regular black sweatshirt.

1.       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ488QrqGE4

2.       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rnr2wuAhYc

3.       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phaJXp_zMYM

4.       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7b2kaPVWEE