The Construction of “Street Credibility” in Atlanta's Hip-Hop Music Scene: Analyzing the Role of Cultural Gatekeepers

Abstract

This article aims to examine the role that on-the ground cultural gatekeepers play in the commodification of rap artists in Atlanta prior to the artists' global distribution. These gatekeepers—including strip club DJs, street teams, local radio hosts/program directors, and media managers—act as intermediaries between the corporations that produce and distribute the rap artists and a wider consumer market. Despite changes in the cultural industries and the availability of new technologies that allow an artist to gain wider distribution more immediately, cultural gatekeepers—particularly in Southern rap music—continue to facilitate a rapper's brand-building and credibility-making efforts within a specific geographic region. This is why conglomerates such as Universal, Warner Music Group, and Sony, which own most of the major recording labels, continue to invest resources in winning the approval of these local intermediaries. This study looks at how these dynamics influence the cultural production process and why they are important in understanding cultural industries, branding in hip-hop music, and the relationships between rappers and local consumers.

Keywords:

• Cultural production
• Hip-hop
• Intermediaries
• Gatekeepers
• Cultural industries

Notes

1. The interviews in this study were conducted as part of the author's dissertation research during the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009.

2. Alhough I did not conduct similar research in other regions, several books, including Quinn's Ain't Nothin’ But a G-Thang, Ronin Ro's Have Gun Will Travel, and Bad Boy: The Influence of Sean “Puffy” Combs on the Music Industry highlight rap distribution models in Los Angeles and New York.

3. Crunk is a form of Southern rap that uses heavy bass and electric music, along with elements of heavy metal. Crunk, popularized by Atlanta producer Lil’ Jon reached its peak in the mid-2000s. Snap music, drawn from crunk, is slower and is symbolized by finger snapping and choreographed moves to specific songs.

4. Rapper Soulja Boy was signed to a record deal as a result of raps he posted on the web (YouTube) while Nicki Minaj was “discovered” on MySpace.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Murali Balaji

Murali Balaji is the director of the mass communications program at Lincoln University