Re: How to Kill A Community

The other day, the typically profound Marc/”Bad Catholic” posted an article about rap. (Due diligence: It’s NSFW because he quotes lyrics.)

Actually, the article was really about how commercializing folk culture kills the community that created that culture.

In short, he says that rap was once a way of expressing the nuances of life in an inner city. “Not innocent in its lyric, but based around positive goods — fiery social criticism and a celebration of a being black,” he says. “Now, in the mainstream, the values it preaches are largely indistinguishable from the values of capitalism and post-Christian, suburban, sexually-liberated, white culture.”

He sums up rap’s jump into “inauthenticity” by saying “Rap is Republican.” And it became that way because a good cultural thing was monetized by capitalists.

But while I typically appreciated Bad Catholic, I’m not satisfied with Marc’s conclusions here. I wrote as much in the comment sections, but he stirred me to thought, so the rest is spilling out here.

First, isn’t it authentic for rappers who make money to rap about how they’re making money? Shouldn’t there, then, be a better diagnosis of the problem than “lack of authenticity?” And I’ve seen plenty of wonderful relics of folk culture corrupted without money as the main factor.

It seems to me that “money always corrupts” is a pretty un-nuanced argument. A cheap-shot, even, because bashing capitalism is forever vogue.

So, I’m thinking there are some other factors. There’s more to the corruption of folk culture than money.

What if the other insidious player here is not so much capitalism—but the cult of Cool? It’s honestly what annoys me more of the two.

Take an example. There’s Molly—the girl tatted her arm because she left a cult, and in the process of growing and healing, there are truths she wants indelibly inked onto her newly redeemed body. Then there’s Meg, who gets the same design inked on her arm because she saw it on Pinterest.

When actions (listening to rap/getting tattoos/going to farmers markets/cooking organic/eating Paleo, etc.) are chosen because it just seems cool, then the act loses its meaning. It isn’t connected to an intellectual decision or because of spontaneous joy the action brings. The act is just a pose.

And, undoubtedly the cult of coolness is fed by social media. “I have to go to a concert so I can Instagram that I was there and people will identify me with this cool music” seems to corrupt many a wonderful experience.

But I’d go the way of babies and bathwater if I blamed Instagram or Pinterest for this pursuit of cool. Instagramming a sunset doesn’t automatically corrupt the view. In the rap narrative, hoping that one day you’ll get a record deal and be able to quit your day job isn’t necessarily a vile ambition.

The problem lies in claiming a thing without loving or enjoying it; following a course of action without conviction. Fakeness isn’t a direct result of money or trying to be cool, but a direct result of life with minimal contemplation and introspection.