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The Species of Capital and the Cultural Production of Hip-Hop

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2019, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology.
Over the last forty years, hip-hop has evolved as a cultural form describing the impact of racial marginalization experienced by African Americans. Contemporary research has focused primarily on the consumption and symbolic meaning of hip-hop rather than how hip-hop is culturally produced. This study examined the relationships between cultural, social, economic, and subcultural capital to the cultural production of hip-hop. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews with thirty hip-hop cultural producers. Results identified two groups of hip-hop cultural producers: (a) those whose capital transferred into a hip-hop cultural production career, and (b) those whose capital had not transferred into a hip-hop career. Several qualitative themes emerged describing the roles of social, cultural, economic, and subcultural capital as it relates to hip-hop cultural production. In conclusion, participants with greater capital resources through early involvement in cultural production were more likely to have their capital transfer into a career in hip-hop cultural production. These findings suggest that, despite being positioned as an artistic form that `speaks’ for all African Americans, hip-hop cultural production is characterized by structural inequality that excludes the least capitalized individuals.
Timothy Berard, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Christopher Dum, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kamesha Spates, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Babacar M'Baye, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
David Swartz, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Paul Haridakis, Ph.D. (Other)
258 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Meeker, Jr., J. K. (2019). The Species of Capital and the Cultural Production of Hip-Hop [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1556202032547372

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Meeker, Jr., James. The Species of Capital and the Cultural Production of Hip-Hop. 2019. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1556202032547372.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Meeker, Jr., James. "The Species of Capital and the Cultural Production of Hip-Hop." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1556202032547372

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)