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Youth culture may well degenerate
into simply another way for capitalists to sell back to people a picture of the life
that has been stolen from them. Yet it would be foolish to dismiss youth culture
simply because it has not yet produced an organised political movement.
George
Lipsitz, U.S. professor and author of Microphone Fiends, Youth Music and Culture
(Routledge, 1994)
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From
the nose-ringed neo-hippie in Belgium to the dreadlocked, baggy-jeaned breakdancer
in Tokyo, one element unites the disparate bands of youth: music. A style guide,
social companion and spiritual force, music offers directions in the quest for autonomy
and a medium to express the highs and lows of the journey.
This dossier will trace two genres carving the deepest inroads in the globalisation
of popular music: hip-hop (p.
23-25)
and electronic dance music (p.28-30). While there
is no denying the commercial muscle of recording giants in pushing these genres worldwide
(p.26-27), young people
aren’t just swallowing these “goods” but fashioning sub-cultures in adapting the
music as their own. From a political platform for indigenous rights in New Zealand
(p.
32-33)
to a foundry for moulding a sense of identity among black youth in Colombia (p. 38-39), hip-hop thrives
on the transformative powers of its bricoleurs. In South Africa, the genre has been
hardwired to amplify the messages of the post-apartheid generation (p. 36-37) while Algerian rappers
no longer see hip-hop as just a wishing-well for a better economic life, but a stepping
stone to political debate.
However, these positive chords of independent think-
ing and multiculturalism ring hollow when the rebellious gestures surrounding the
music mask a capitulation to hyper-consumerism and the refusal or inability to fight
racism (p.
31-32).
In the UK for example, the rage for Asian sounds and fashion appears to be little
more than an example of niche marketing (p. 47). Yet in India, the same eclectic mixes
of traditional music are leading the sons and daughters of an anglicised elite to
discover their roots via their expatriate relations.
Herein lies the key to deciphering globalised music and youth cultures: identify
the particular politics shaping each local scene (p. 40-41). The Australian bush,
for example, seems to offer ideal conditions for realising the “futurist” dream of
techno’s punk-like resistance (p.
42-43),
yet the impact of tourist dollars may spoil the scene. In Belgrade, electronic music
is a rallying call for isolated bands of youth rebels, holed up in the cracks and
abandoned spaces of the regime (p.
43-44).
The very sound of a revolution provokes reaction. And music is no exception, as parents
and police panic over the now traditional mantra of “sex, drugs & rock ’n’ roll”.
Instead of sounding the alarm, we chose to defuse it by considering the alternatives.
As thousands of Western neo-hippies descend upon Goa for trance music parties, parents
and state focus exclusively on the spectre of cultural imperialism without recognising
ways in which their communities benefit from the scene (p.51-52). By reading between
the lines of media sensationalism and stereotyping, the violence associated with
hip-hop can be cast in a different light (p.53-54). Finally, young Internet pirates, branded
as criminals by the recording industry, are in fact showing the way to new forms
of international solidarity (p.55-56).
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