Social Identity of The "Rapper"

Myths of social identity can be created by virtually anything. One simply needs to view something that relates to social identity, and then the myth is constituted. It then becomes apparent that society has control over these myths about social identity. Many have already been created, but throughout time they are subject to change. For example, the ideal “rapper,” or “player,” would look a certain way. They would wear certain brands, have baggy clothes, and wear hats a certain way. Currently, “rappers” still have a social identity, but it has changed with the times a little bit. Clothes are not worn as baggy and different brands have arrived. Even the hat has changed throughout time. Snap backs were big a while back in the world of hip hop. Then New Era made fitted hats that were worn by popular hip hop artists. This caused fitted hats to take over the snap backs, everyone wore fitted hats. Just recently, certain rappers started wearing snap backs again. In addition, many other people follow up on the social identity of hip hop artists and they wear snap backs as well. As new hip hop artists rise up, myths of the “rapper” are constantly being updated. The music video, “Carry Out,” displays many modern hip hop artists that constitute the latest myth of the “rapper.”

First of all, the music video is about women who are basically seducing men. This kind of music video is very popular today and it strongly relates to current myths about “rappers” of right now. Female hip hop artists are usually dressed in a sexy way when they are being displayed through a music video or anything else similar to this. This concept has held true for many years as female “rappers” have always dressed seductively, for the most part. In this particular video, it is basically the female’s job to look and act sexy. The women here are wearing clothing that is very revealing. The clothes they have on show all of the arms, including the shoulders, and just about the entire leg is showing on each woman. The only thing that is covering a portion of these legs is the tall boots worn by the females. Just about all of these female models are wearing high heeled boots that go just below the knee. So from their knees, all the way up to the top of their thighs is showing. The upper body is displayed with low cut tops that reveal the shoulders and arms of each female. The sleeves of these women are ruffled, to give their appearance even more of a sexy look. To finish of the females attractive outfit, they were sure to have straps throughout their outfit. Straps that would connect their boots to their shorts, and other things like that. Overall, the female hip hop artists have fulfilled the social identity of having a sexy appearance to seduce the male “rappers.”

The myth of the female “rapper” has not really shifted with the times. Their general appearance has always been to look sexy. This is still the case today. When one looks at recent music videos that contain females, they will see that the females are dressed suggestively and they know they look good. The female in each video has to look attractive and she knows this. So she gives a very intimidating look which can comes off as very attractive. This is how it was in the past, and this is how it is today.

Male “rappers” are a bit different. They used to appear a certain way now they appear a different way. Back in the day, the common “rapper” gave himself the identity if a “thug” or “gangster.” Hip hop artists from the eighties and nineties were known for wearing baggy clothes and sideways hats. They had to give the impression that they were tough. A lot of them often gave the impression that they had weapons, usually guns, with them. Now, hip hop artists have changed their social identity. There has always been a myth of the “rappers” identity, and there still is. But today’s myth of the “rapper” is different. Many artists wear tighter clothes today. You can see someone of the biggest hip hop names wearing skinny jeans and a tight leather jacket. In fact, the hip hop artists from “Carry Out” are all wearing fitted jackets. None of the clothes worn by the artists from this specific video are wearing clothes that are considered baggy. The “rappers” today are not really concerned with looking tough.

In “Carry Out,” the male artists are wearing clothes that look very clean, new, and fancy. They would rather look nice, and wealthy, than look tough. By wearing nice clothes, I mean these artists are even dressing up in some shots of the video. The “rappers” from this video are seen with suit jackets and bow ties. This is something that would have never been worn by hip hop artists in the eighties and nineties. Looking proper and wealthy is the new look for “rappers.” To further prove their wealth, they will more than likely flaunt some sort of jewelry, whether it’s a necklace, bracelet, earrings, or even grills in their teeth. The male hip hop artists from this video are seen with at least one gold chain, one of them actually has two around his neck. This attempt to appear wealthy takes away from the whole “gangster” identity.

These new “rappers” are creating a new social identity that exhibits upper class looks. No more looking tough and talking about the streets. Current hip hop artist give the identity of the “rapper” a whole new meaning. The idea of wealth took over the idea of gangster. There must be a reason for this. Today, it is obvious that hip hop artists are making more money. “Rappers” today truly love their money; they are often times raping about their money on tracks. So instead of looking like tough gangsters, they give the appearance of upper class society. This creates a whole new myth of the “rapper’s” identity, as seen in “Carry Out.” The artists in this video did not look tough at all. They fulfilled the new social identity of looking wealthy, and being a part of the upper class.

The Cotton Gin

A cultural artifact is anything that is created by the human race. Whatever it is that was created will give society information about the specific culture. These artifacts are found everywhere because all artificial objects are considered artifacts. The human race has been creating objects since the first civilization in the Stone Age. The first ever artificial objects were tools made of stone, wood, and bone. This involved things such as pointed stones (arrow heads), carved rocks (axes), and later on rounded rocks (wheels). The field of archaeology is strongly related to the whole idea of historical artifacts, as an archaeologist’s job is to study human society through analysis of material and environmental information.

As time progresses, cultural artifacts become more and more complex. This is a result of civilization development which only happened because of past culture. Artifacts are left in past civilizations and they are found by the new civilization. For example, tools from the Stone Age inspired those who were a part of the next age, the Bronze Age. People of the Bronze Age made the same kind of tools, but out of different materials. New civilization is easily developed because they are simply building off past inventions. At the beginning of time, there was not much technology. They had no choice but to use what they had. Raw materials were the only way to create new cultural artifacts until times advanced to a new era.

When complexity settled in, machines began to appear in history. Instead of the basic process of carving materials into tools and other objects, mechanisms were being built. Simple devices were created in order to accomplish the basic tasks of the everyday life. The sundial was constructed in ancient times to find the time of day. Pots and other dish like objects were formed through the use of clay. These creations allowed society to eat and drink in a civilized way. Eventually an electrical powered pottery wheel was created in order to make this task easier on the people. This was one of numerous machines created to make work more efficient.

In 1793, the cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney. The real name for this machine was cotton engine; it performed a task that was originally done by hand. Cotton fibers were separated from their seeds when placed through this apparatus. Like most inventions, the cotton gin made life much easier for those who picked cotton. Cotton fields are found in the South of our country. As a result of this invention, cotton production obviously sky rocketed. Over a twenty year time period, cotton bale production more than tripled. However, cotton production was not the only thing that increased after the invention of the cotton gin.

This was an invention that predominately affected the South because this is where all the cotton was. There was more than cotton in the South; there were also slaves at this time. Within a half century of the time this was invented, the number of slave more than quadrupled. The amount of slave states nearly tripled. Plantations soon became the biggest part of Southern agriculture because cotton has such great significance in all communities. This machine lessened the amount of physical labor necessary from the slaves. But the fact that cotton production boomed forced the need for more slaves. The amount of profit coming from this new machine was ridiculous. Plantation owners were making millions of dollars more than they previously were. So why would they get rid of slavery. If anything they would want more slaves because the money was extraordinary at this point. This is what happened, an increase in slavery. As the need of slaves increased, slave families were destroyed. Slave families could no longer live together, or near each other. When there was a need for slaves at a plantation, any slave from any family was pulled and placed in the cotton plantation. The cotton plantations were simply too powerful with tons of money.

Powerful industries were not only beneficial to the people. Yes, businesses were making much more money, but problems began to arise. The increase of slaves caused for more slave territories. Slavery was becoming noticeably widespread when the South began to take African Americans from the North. People of the North were obviously against slavery and the African Americans in the North were free. The North originally bought cotton from the South and made finished goods with the cotton. But slavery got out of control and it had to stop.

Many people see the invention of the cotton gin as a cause to the Civil War. Slavery expanded too much and Slave states multiplied too much to the point where someone had to do something about the situation. In addition there was a war among the North and South. Without the cotton gin, slavery could have still grown and the Civil War may have still happened. But the cotton gin definitely created growth in slavery. This, in the end, caused the Civil War.

It is well known that our nation’s slaves were historically African American. This is why the cotton gin is related to their culture. When Eli Whitney created the cotton gin, he did not propose the idea that the machine is for African American use. The only intention for the cotton gin was to make the process of separating cotton easier. However, during the time of this invention, African Americans happened to be those who labored over cotton. It was a time of slavery and blacks were slaves. Prior to the cotton gin, there definitely was slavery, but to a lesser degree. The cotton gin can be considered controversial because it, in a way, promoted slavery. Again, this was not Whitney’s intention, but the invention factually contributed to the historic problem of slavery. Some say that slavery was declining in the late 1700s. Next they will say that the cotton gin ruined this decline and forced a boom in the slave industry. It is hard to say slavery was ending around the time of this invention. Either way, the cotton gin is a cultural artifact that creates a stereotype that the machine is related to African Americans. When the public thinks of the cotton gin, they also think of African Americans.