FragmentsForThought

In my first essay, I categorized our modern definition of “hip” as a consumeristic ideal of drugs, sex, and class.  That all of these together would bring you happiness and an elevated title of "hip".  I used the example of Justin Timberlake’s music video, Suit & Tie, to illustrate this.  Now, after another essay and extensive research on the subject (as I assume we all have), I have arrived at the conclusion, that my single definition is not the case for the broad concept of hip.  If I were to isolate it to a specific time period such as the 2000s-2010s, then I feel my definitions still holds up.  However, hip has apparently become so much more than just one meaning, it is an ideal that crosses over decades and generations.  What we would call cool and hip nowadays, would be considered a foreign concept to an average joe in the 50’s! In the “hippie movement” of the 70’s, the idea of a counterculture, as Thomas Frank put it, was what was considered hip.  Rebellion for the sake of change, until it became rebellion for the sake of rebellion.  When as last, capitalism became an entity that tapped into the hip market, it became something else entirely.  Looking at this long timeline of hip, I came to the conclusion, that “hip” has multiple definitions, that change over time.  Just like those who, in their youth, proclaimed hip to their generation, so does that term for hip grow old and tired.  I was not far from my original diagnosis though, I simply made too specific a statement for such a broad notion.  It is an ever changing process, because it is only there for the time being, just waiting to be grasped.  This state of being “in-the-know”,  can only be utilized for a limited amount of time.  I mean, who knows, before I know it, my previous definition of hip will be a thing of the past.  And those after us will theorize  what hip means to them and their generation.  Because hip is not a constant, it is ever evolving.

It is finished.  After extensive editing and reorganizing… I have a strong argument and supporting details for my paper!  Time to sit back, relax and go to bed!

Wow, so much for reading sources.  Apparently, the reading evolved to the point where I am finished with my rough draft and could arguably complete the whole thing in the next couple of days.  I feel though I have successfully argued my point I wish to make on the difference of how advertisements and commercials have portrayed hip and are themselves in a since hipsters.  But, only time will tell.

I have a long list of articles (a good mix of journal editorials and online articles) to go through with my topic being how marketing/advertising and commercials have shaped what is "hip" and "cool", in society.  Namely that of American culture. So I am going to be doing a LOT of reading this week over Fall Break, but so far I really am enjoying some of the statistics and examples I have come across, in both instances.   I will be having a good amount of facts I can back up with my interpretation of the material.  So I guess this week… I will be livin' the dream!

Conversations with Indie The lights fade up, and Manning Franks (the moderator) is sitting in a black arm chair, M Franks: Welcome to "Hip Today Tonight" true believers! I'm your esteemed host Manning Franks, and tonight we have a rather interesting melting pot of voices and ideas in the form of those who claim to be too "hip" to be defined, please welcome the great minds of Michael Azerrad, Thomas Frank, Nitsuh Abebe, Kaya Oakes, and Alissa Quart. (They walk out to a respectable applause, the rest think clapping is too mainstream so they snap. They then sit down) The first four are hipsters in their own right, each contributing to what they believe to be the best course of action "indie" needs to embrace. And then there is Alissa. She just stumbled into Jenny McCarthy and decided to write about that. (Crowd laughs) Quart: Haha, actually Manning, I saw one of those political posts that that one friend continually shares and I decided to do something about it, I know we all have one of those friends. (Crowd laughs again) M Franks: All joking aside, she is an esteemed writer and poet, so she brings a fresh perceptive to the term "indie." T Frank: That depends on your definition of "indie", Manning. If it is a corporate and mass-produced consumable then yes, she would be an expert. [Journalists and publications entities like], Time, have always been more concerned with industry boosterism and the hard, profitable facts of making credible the latest packaging of youth culture..." M Franks: Haha, well then, apparently, you all came into this with loaded guns! Anyone have a response to Frank's statement? Azerrad: Actually, yes I would like to add to that. If you don't mind me beginning this roundtable discussion on "What is Indie?" and it's subsequent evolution? MFranks: Be our guest, you have first hand knowledge of "indie" in the 80's, so tell us exactly what you define as "indie"? Azerrad: I completely respect you Ms. Quart, I have even enjoyed some articles you have written, however, "a door was opened and a small trickle of people stepped through it." "The key principle of indie rock wasn't a circumscribed musical style; it was the punk ethos of DIY, or do-it-yourself. The equation was simple: If punk was rebellious and DIY was rebellious, then doing it yourself was punk." It wasn't the style of music, it was the fact it was considered rebellious. Oakes: While I wouldn't disagree with your particular definition of "indie", most people nowadays do not see indie as a form of rebellion, that was the 80's and early 90's outlook on it. "In 2008, the term "indie" is more difficult to define than in decades past. The signifiers of indie in popular culture are multifarious and often puzzling due to their blatantly corporate ties: iPods are indie, American Apparel... is indie,... Chuck Taylor sneakers are indie, [etc]." Indie is a style now. Quart: Yes and no, indie is more of a category, one that seems to have become a blurred line, no pun intended, between the mainstream and the "insiders". But I agree with Oakes on the fact that "indie" has become a very obtainable thing, Which brings me to ask, "...What constitutes rebellion, originality, and resistance in a culture of remix? What is [a] rebellious though?" Have we really become so accepting of everything that nothing is considered out of the ordinary? T. Frank: And this is arguably why we had the purest form of "indie" during Reagen's time in office. We were regulated by the powers that be, and the true proclaimers of hip were evident. I'm sure Michael could back me up on this. Azerrad: Absolutely! Some of the best LSD I had was in the 80's! (Crowd laughs) M Franks: Nitsuh, you have been quite quiet tonight, anything you wish to interject? (Nitsuh Abebe shrugs) Abebe: "Here's the thing: "indie" has always been a baggy, contingent word, and the whole loose umbrella of stuff that gets considered "indie: has usually included huge splits and tensions. Back in the 1980s, for instance, there was a major difference between hardcore punks and... wavers, as in new wave." I'm sure my colleagues would have varying opinions on each of those styles of music. But you cannot deny the fact these were both considered indie at the same time. T. Frank: Yes, because these were both forms of rebellion during that time! As I said, it wasn't about the style, it was about the impact that the music had on a society. Oakes: AND as I previously asked, what is rebellion now? If the message of our current society is to be an "indie"vidual-" M. Frank: I see what you did there... Oakes: Thank you, I'm rather proud of the pun, but I digress, society wants us to be set apart from it, and be our own person... so are we all "indie"? Abebe: This reminds me of a quote from the movie The Incredibles, where the villain Syndrome, in his mad hope to give everybody superpowers, ominously says, "If everyone is super... no one will be." It really makes you think about the constraints of our hip culture, doesn't it? If we are all indie, is indie really a thing? M. Frank: Well this is getting deep fast, I believe it might be time for a commercial break before we bring out our philosophical thinking caps! This is "Hip Today Tonight" and we will be back with our panel after these incredibly brief and hip ads, that will try to sell you something you don't need all because the girl in the video had a pretty face and hipster glasses.

The idea never changes, only the labels do.

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    I have always been a big fan of Justin Timberlake and his music, and when I mean always, I mean since 2013.  So in all honesty maybe not always!  However, I chose this song because I when I first heard it one the radio, I could not contain the euphoria I felt when jamming out to this song.  It was infectious!  And while, slightly put off by the music video itself, the song could not lose ground with my overall opinion of it.  It was fun!  Basically this was the reason I choose the music video, nothing special about it other than the fact I found that it related heavily with hip and enjoyable.  But, I then preceded to watch the music video repeatedly, and began my analytical examination of it.   And to my surprise… well, you might just have to read what I have uncovered to find out! So grab your dancing shoes and your Suit & Tie.

In 2013, former NSYNC member Justin Timberlake returned to the solo spotlight with his newest album The 20/20 Experience (Part 1 and Part 2) after a near six year absence. The crowned "Prince of Pop", released the Grammy-winning hit; "Suit & Tie", featuring rapper Jay-Z. This mid-tempo R&B song shot to the top of the charts, passing Timberlake's previous single, "SexyBack", making this one of his most celebrated songs of all-time. Following his appearance in the Oscar-winning movie, The Social Network, Timberlake acquired his friend and director, David Fincher, to direct the music video of the hit Timberlake had on his hands. Together, they created the music video that accompanied with Timbaland and JT's melodic line and hip lyrics, was known across the world as Suit & Tie. On the surface level, the song can be categorized, lyrically, as nothing out of the ordinary. A man meets a beautiful and classy girl, and wishes to "take her home". However, upon closer inspection, particularly the chorus where JT croons that, "As long as I got my suit & tie..." He sets up the notion that a well-groomed man, dressed in a suit & tie can land a girl. Such sets the tone for the rest of the music video, Timberlake's declaration of how the rest of the night is going to go. Classy, yet as the night moves on, crass. The music video begins with a 1950's black and white esthetic, with the opening shots of what appears to be Justin Timberlake's residence, where he is enjoyed the simple pleasures of the rich and famous. The camera pans over action such as, Timberlake hovering over his piano attempting to craft a song, receiving a massage with a scantly clad woman on the bed in the background, pouring himself a scotch, playing chess with a model, or watching TV with Jay-Z. This opening montage of scenes with the blaring music, repeating, "I be on my suit and tie, shit tied, shit tied," give an air of privilege, yet you never seem to resent him for it. Rather you wish to aspire to that, because in each scene, the young Justin Timberlake smiles and gives the idea that this is happiness. This is what is mean to be hip. When the intro is finally over and the verse is about to begin, Timberlake is backstage and casually leers at one of the exiting female stage dancers while taking a puff of his cigarette. With a quick smile and flicking away of the butt of the cigarette, he proceeds on stage. It can be taken in the literal sense that he glides on stage. Smoothly grabbing the mic and uttering the first words of the song, "I can't wait 'till I get you on the floor, good lookin'." The music video then proceeds to enthrall the audience with its smooth R&B groove, sharp-dressed men and simple dance moves. Treating the viewer to a few minutes where they can forget their trouble and come down on the dance floor with Justin Timberlake. As he sings, "Let me show you a few things, about love." With his debonair charm and the amount of class the entire room posses, the average viewer strives to answer the question... "How can we not?" Conversely, the shots of this high-society are cut between that of the inside look of the singer Justin as he writes what is apparently the very song we are listening too. Right until he introduces the cigar smoking, too-cool-for-school, Jay-Z, on the mic. As he raps with his signature causal style, the camera cuts to one of the most prominent images in a music video. The barley-clothed woman, seductively dancing to the music. By the time the rap portion of the music video is over (and Justin Timberlake got his cigarette fix in between), one of the women has stripped down from her business attire to a dancer's bra and leotard and the other just finishing humping a separate mic. Interestingly enough, while the song gives the illusion that it is over after the rap but while JT and his dancers are off the stage, taking photos with the crowd, the music continues. Along with the two women, JT and his background dancers, they have a few more moments to be crazy. Jumping in the air, and falling back down in slow motion. Oddly enough though, the women are still sexualized throughout the entire music video... Enough in the final "Singing in the Rain" homage.

"The Pharmacology of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: a Review"

At first glance, this snapshot would make absolutely no sense.  It could even come across as half-hearted, (well I was desperate to find something hip that wasn't artificial, but that is beside the point!).  However, when I was sitting next to my friend Mark Twain in the Promenade, I noticed that there was absolutely no one present… it was uncanny!  Then, on the other end, I saw a guy begin to walk across the strip.  He appeared as if he had recently come from a work out, drenched in sweat and a stern look on his face.  I feel like a creeper saying this, but the man walked with an air of "hip".  He walked with a purpose, yet with a mysterious stride.  An amazingly strange combination.  

    This song is in steep contrast to Bastille's Pomepii, which describes the plight of conforming and running away from the norm.  Instead, Paramore fully embraces their absurdity makes it staple of the video.  They tell us it's "fun" being alone, however, their actions, such as smashing clocks with guitars or catching feathers with each other, contradicts everything they are singing about.  This fun and playful side with a biting sarcasm is absolutely accepted by mainstream audiences.  It shows hip can be fun!

    Pompeii can basically be summed up as a "hipster's music video", lamenting about being different from the rest of the world, drawing steep comparisons to the literal destruction of the city of the same name.  However, once you can get past the "artsy" message and shots, underneath the lyrics is a story that stands the test of time.  Not fitting in, not because you can't, but because you don't want too.  And the way Bastille approaches it, it is something that can undoubtedly be considered hipster.