The new viral article that has been constantly been posted on twitter and peoples blogs is The Rise of The Black Hipster by Dayo Olopade. He subtitles the article, What happens when the hybrid hipster culture hits black America? I shouldn't be the one pointing the finger, because I am not an investigative journalist, but I think the writer failed to dig deeper and get into the psyche of these "new black hipsters" by learning about their perceptions of current black culture and their sense of racial identity. The way a person defines and identifies hipsters definitely differs, some people believe it is solely fashion and superficial, while other think one must fall into certain criteria regarding music, art, style (not fashion). In addition, it is a common idea that the African American community is last to catch on many mainstream trends because they choose to stick to the standards of the African American community. This is the reason why hipsters (or blipsters) are a minority in the black community. Luckily, I think most black people who are considered hipsters are genuine. This is because the hipster lifestyle is still not acceptable behavior by most black community for several reasons. Also, It takes a lot of extra effort to be interested in the music and fashion that is not pushed by black culture. But then again, some “blipster behavior” like skateboarding and skinny jeans may be a fad, but hopefully it will show young African Americans that options exists in life besides the drug/sex/violent lifestyle perpetuated in most rap and R&B music. However, I don’t not believe the blipster lifestyle is exclusive to the rock world. The very fact that it was brought to the forefront by innovative hip-hop artists like Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams shows this truth. When people look at the independent nature of the pioneers of hip-hop like Afrika Bambaataa, De La Soul, Run DMC, and OutKast, one can see the same ingenuity as alternative, indie, electro and hardcore musicians. Simply liking a certain type of music will not make you a hipster, therefore it’s possible to have the lifestyle of a hipster when you are influenced by any time of music. I was most offended by the fact that the female author of this article failed to even attempt to get a female perspective of this issue. Olopade simply says, "we'll stick with men". Even though it may be easier to identify a male "blipster" based on a male-dominated stereotype. The females role is very important in a era where black women are primarily viewed as video vixens by the media. I have previously written that black women have struggled in an attempted to straddle the African American and the eurocentric sense of beauty and femininity. Hipsters of all races have changed these standards and have created an almost asexuality among females and men. I fail to get the understanding that the author understands why black youth chose to diverge from the mainstream.
This articles comes off as a piece on the newest fad, when in actuality it's lifestyle that people have been a part of long before Kanye began using autotune. Hipsters are not a new subculture that hit black America, they have always existed. People are not like scarves or certain types of pants. I believe it somewhat demeaning to African American adults who may be considered hipsters by outsiders, because they have decided to live an alternative lifestyle for several years and their life is not comparable to a surge of black teens buying skateboards after Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell.
Personally I prefer last summer's overly critical article, Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization from Adbusters. It explains more of a way of life than just a fad. It argues that this generation is a "lost generation" who are overly self-aware. Instead of treating hipsters as a new creature, it looks at the new breed created in the new millennium that lacks the true free spiritedness of its predecessors. The most poignant comment was that "symbols and icons of working or revolutionary classes that have been appropriated by hipsterdom and drained of meaning". This was striking, because this brought in class issues and gave an origin and explanation for many of the items people use to identify a hipster. It is arguable that hipsters must be well off and yearn for cheap beer in a suppressed attempt to like the less privileged. We will never know why some thing are considered cool, but I we should settle and say people like when things are cheaper and when things are not the same as the norm.
Personally, I am not a fan of the label 'hipster'. I think it is primarily used in contempt by people who are not interested in the same things as the so-called hipsters. In this sense, people use the word to bring distance to themselves and not very perceptive. The word is also used to emphasize the superficialness in others actions, however I prefer the old standby term ‘poseur’. In a negative or a positive light, I always considered a person who is called a ‘hipster’, a person who is at least knowledgeable about the music they like, not only the music that television or radio pushes on the masses. In addition, I consider them people who will set the trends for everyone else, but they begin this soon to be trend at a time when it may be considered weird.
The article, The Rise of the Black Hipster ends with, “blipsters are proof that everything old is new again”. However, I believe “blipsters” are people who believe in new creation without fear. Even though old fads like acid wash are making a comeback, free thinkers are experimental and create things that have never been seen by the masses. There is nothing wrong with being influenced by the past or people you consider cool, but a problem only exists if you continue to do things that make you feel uncomfortable only to feel accepted. Everyone craves to be accepted, but you will only feel truly welcomed if you are always yourself, because you will not commit actions under the fear that you may make a mistake and you and do something that is not to the liking of others. In addition, if you mindlessly follow trends, you will completely lose everything that makes you special and unique. This will cause you to find yourself surrounded by people that you are not alike and you will feel very alone.
read Rise of the Black Hipster HERE
read Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization HERE
by Chamelknee Street
This articles comes off as a piece on the newest fad, when in actuality it's lifestyle that people have been a part of long before Kanye began using autotune. Hipsters are not a new subculture that hit black America, they have always existed. People are not like scarves or certain types of pants. I believe it somewhat demeaning to African American adults who may be considered hipsters by outsiders, because they have decided to live an alternative lifestyle for several years and their life is not comparable to a surge of black teens buying skateboards after Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell.
Personally I prefer last summer's overly critical article, Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization from Adbusters. It explains more of a way of life than just a fad. It argues that this generation is a "lost generation" who are overly self-aware. Instead of treating hipsters as a new creature, it looks at the new breed created in the new millennium that lacks the true free spiritedness of its predecessors. The most poignant comment was that "symbols and icons of working or revolutionary classes that have been appropriated by hipsterdom and drained of meaning". This was striking, because this brought in class issues and gave an origin and explanation for many of the items people use to identify a hipster. It is arguable that hipsters must be well off and yearn for cheap beer in a suppressed attempt to like the less privileged. We will never know why some thing are considered cool, but I we should settle and say people like when things are cheaper and when things are not the same as the norm.
Personally, I am not a fan of the label 'hipster'. I think it is primarily used in contempt by people who are not interested in the same things as the so-called hipsters. In this sense, people use the word to bring distance to themselves and not very perceptive. The word is also used to emphasize the superficialness in others actions, however I prefer the old standby term ‘poseur’. In a negative or a positive light, I always considered a person who is called a ‘hipster’, a person who is at least knowledgeable about the music they like, not only the music that television or radio pushes on the masses. In addition, I consider them people who will set the trends for everyone else, but they begin this soon to be trend at a time when it may be considered weird.
The article, The Rise of the Black Hipster ends with, “blipsters are proof that everything old is new again”. However, I believe “blipsters” are people who believe in new creation without fear. Even though old fads like acid wash are making a comeback, free thinkers are experimental and create things that have never been seen by the masses. There is nothing wrong with being influenced by the past or people you consider cool, but a problem only exists if you continue to do things that make you feel uncomfortable only to feel accepted. Everyone craves to be accepted, but you will only feel truly welcomed if you are always yourself, because you will not commit actions under the fear that you may make a mistake and you and do something that is not to the liking of others. In addition, if you mindlessly follow trends, you will completely lose everything that makes you special and unique. This will cause you to find yourself surrounded by people that you are not alike and you will feel very alone.
read Rise of the Black Hipster HERE
read Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization HERE
by Chamelknee Street
Very interesting. I agree w/ a lot of what you said.
ReplyDeleteVery cool post. Enjoyed reading this one!
ReplyDelete