Reading Blog #2: Hegemony

Money makes the world go around, huh? Well, I picked a $100 vs $1. People with larger bucks seem to feel more powerful than people with $1 or $5. They feel they are the most dominant in this social class society. Thats how people become unequal and mistreated. Money is the root of all evil but yet everyone wants a piece of it. It's a bit scary how money can change a person so quickly. I bet if the world didn't consists of dollar signs, everyone would be equal and considered as one instead of being divided by "class".

The Hamptons Vs Trailer Parks is a good example of Hegemony. I personally would love to stay in a gorgeous house like this one day, but who knows if I'll the the funds to pay for it. People that have 5 million dollars houses, drive 300,000 cars, own 20,00+ of jewerly automically feel superior to others. I have witnessed it on many occasions like on t.v. sitcoms and in real life situations. I'm not the type to judge someone but people that stay in trailer parks seem to have less than others. Its just a stereotype that's been put on groups of this kind many years ago. I understand that some individuals are less fortunate than others but thats no way to treat a human being. It always seem to me that people who look down on others are always the ones going bankrupt or the houses are in foreclosure or  owe the IRS millions of dollars.

I think hegemony can go all the way down to the food chains. I'm from Detroit, MI and we have chains of Happy's Pizza. I dont know if it's in other a states but it started in MI. If I was to choose a pizza to have for dinner, I'll going with Pizza Hut. I think Pizza Hut has better food than Happy's. It tatses fresh, the perfect seasonings and the crust have just enough butter on it. Happy's Pizza is flat, has very little sauce and it's just something about it that looks pretty disgusting. So in this example, Pizza Hut is better and more dominant. If you was to go the the suburbs there's no Happy's Pizza in sight, no even one. So that alone tells you what that means: It's found on the urban parts of the city only.

Research Blog

#1
Honestly, there is no real reason why I choosen the sites above. I was just looking at different subcultures that I might be looking forward to write about.As far as ideas goes, I haven't really thought about the one I'm going to research. This entire process shall take some time and thought. I say this because it's so many different subcultures out there and I don't want to pick the first one that I come across without exploring other subcultures. I feel anxious about the culture I'm going to write about because I never completed such a task. Finding subcultures, blogging, and exploring the internet for such things is all new to me.
If I had to chose a culture from the list above, my subculture would be http://hiphop.blogs.com. Its apart of my everyday life and why not talk/write about something I simply love which is music. I'm more so an R&b guru so exploring the hip hip world would be very exciting. Granted, I listen to hip hop, I don't really know the true foundation and it's struggle. I always seen VH1, BET, MTV shows about how hip hop was created and quote un quote the people who "started" hip hop, but I never really investigated the topic for myself. This shall very interesting if I reseacrh this little subculture called "Hip Hop".
http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=5182862524



#2
http://www.smuncensored.com/
http://people.famouswhy.com/marilyn_monroe/directory.html

http://hiphop.blogs.com/
http://prochoiceabortionblog.blogspot.com/



So after view mutiples site, I have decided to research the subculture HIP HOP!

#3
After going to my research site http://hiphop.blogs.com/.... I just stared at it for a moment. I didn't click on the tabs or used the search box, I simply stared at the screen. I did take notice of the tabs the was avaiable upon viewing. I noticed that to the right side of the home page, it list other blogs sites which was something I really liked. Most sites want you to stick to their sites only. Just reviewing the home page, I'm a bit excited to read all the interesting articles that are posted. I think the only downfall with the site is that it's not updated very quickly. The same pics have been posted on the site since I looked at it a week ago. Other than that, I'm not complaining....HAPPY HUNTING~


#4
So after going to my website, I came to the conclusion that Hip Hop is deeper than rap music. Its a culture people live and breath. They just expressed it with a microphone. But all hip hop is not showcased in a postive light because some people abuse the history to make a record sale. I cant remember the last time I heard a rap song and the words "Bitches" and "Hoes" was absent. Hip Hop has a new meaning than it did centuries ago when it first started. That's what I really want to explore with this research blog: How Hip Hop evolve over time and what is the new meaning?

Growing up, Hip Hop was a story about a struggle within Urban communites, and took the nation by storm. It was a different type on sound that nobody even heard of. Everyone then tired to see if they had the gift to deliver such stories. Some people did and some people didnt, simple as that. It's a song by Common called "I Use to Love Her" and everyone thought he was talking about a female but when really he was expressing his love for hip hop and how he fell out of love with her. Alot of people felt disconnected with the song because from thier view Hip Hop isn't coming you fall out of love with!


#5
Once you type in the site there is only one picture on the scene and its of P.Diddy holding a old school lunch pale with the best fighter of all time Muhammad Ali on it. The picture is titles : Why talking about lunch on Twitter is good for your career. However, there are alot of written text and articles you can read up on. The way the site is broken down into is within articles. There is one article for each page and each page has a different topic thats being discussed. I think the people that visit the site are either hip hop fans or people like myself that is interested in the history and the true meaning.


#6
I think the people who created this site are representing themselves to the vistors as a story. The people we visit this site are looking at the history and reading heated topics within the Hip Hop industry. The site doesn't represent themselves in a negative image, but some on the articles might have a negative impact. That's just a article post, but it doesn't mean it's a reflection on the website. People who randomly visited the website, might finding the site a bit appealing. The pages and pages of articles might keep their attention and have their minds wondering, so the site may be appealing to them in that aspect!


#7
The content of my research blog was quite confusing at first. I thought it was only one article on the entire site and I just about to change the site. Until I started taking the site apart, thats when I relaized there was more to it than just the one post. From my views the site is not organized but thats what I love about it. There is so much information to view and click on, it;s kind of mind bogging. I haven't seen people comment on articles but that doesn't mean nobody seen them. But if reader were to respond, the freedom of speech would be honored considering Hip Hop itself is the ablity to say what you feel: postive or negative.

#13 Locate one peer reviewed journal article that you will be using in your final essay. Please post the complete and accurate citation as your post and provide a brief summary of article (but do NOT merely cut and paste the abstract--you must summarize this article in your own words). How might this article be applied to your research?

Hess, Mickey. "Is Hip Hop Dead? The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Most." (2007). Web.

The phrase I'm going to use is: Wealth and Fame should not change a person”.
In the article, the author basiclly disccussed the hip hop community and it's

authenticity. He gotten the title from a rapper named Nas that named his abulm: Hip Hop is dead. He talk's about how new rappers disrespceting what the "old skool rappers" created for hip hop.  In so many other words he feels new artists dont appreiacte the cultureand thats is why the question surfaces. I choose the article because I feel the same way. It seem like nothing good comes from hip hop anymore. All the negative images, sexual lyrics, beef within artists just gives the cutlure a bad image. I chose the  phrase "wealth and fame should not change a person" because it is true in a sense but its happens. The hip hop community has went from listening to the value of lyrics then to talking about your million dollar jewerly collection, or that fast cars you drive. It's all nonsense and pointless music.
authenticity. He gotten the title from a rapper named Nas that named his abulm: Hip Hop is dead. He talk's about how new rappers disrespceting what the "old skool rappers" created for hip hop.  In so many other words he feels new artists dont appreiacte the cultureand thats is why the question surfaces. I choose the article because I feel the same way. It seem like nothing good comes from hip hop anymore. All the negative images, sexual lyrics, beef within artists just gives the cutlure a bad image. I chose the  phrase "wealth and fame should not change a person" because it is true in a sense but its happens. The hip hop community has went from listening to the value of lyrics then to talking about your million dollar jewerly collection, or that fast cars you drive. It's all nonsense and pointless music.

Commodity fetishism

I picked a Iphone 4 for the topic Commodity Fetishism because it represnts something that almost everyone wants or has. It's in popular demand since the 1st generation hit the stores in 2007. I personally had an Iphone until I broke two months ago. It was very addictive considering all the cool apps I had, so then it became my fetish. It's a phone and Ipod all in one, what more could I had asked for. My only concern was the devices inside the phone that made it operate. At any given moment the screen would cut off, the phone would freeze up and it was quickly prone to the mist of water which caused water damaged. So, I believe cheap labor went into making the device and yet everyone wants one and it willing to pay $499 for it.

Binary Opposition

According to the text Binary Opposition is something between production and comsumption. So I choose a picture of babies. Having children to some people seem to be a good thing. The women seek off to find mates such as strong masculine fathers that wants to be a loving and caring father. Then males produce something they can't consume for the women. The woman then consumes and reproduce. One thing that had me stuck in the text was, consumption was associated with a feminine weakness. I really didnt under stand that.