If Hip Hop is a culture of revolution, what does the revolution represent? During Hip Hop's earlier years, outstanding artistic expression was the currency that provided the cultural capital to be recognized in the hood. Unfortunately, it was not enough to raise most artists out of impoverished conditions in places like the South Bronx and South Central, LA.
Hip Hop's earlier years were about solidifying the culture based on the various elements of MCing, Djing, B-Boy and B-Girl
 |
| Russell & High End Automotive Engineering |
 |
| Prophets of Rage: Public Enemy |
Dancing, and Graffiti Art. From the mid seventies through 2014, Hip Hop has morphed from young people practicing the elements to brand-influencing and building products across various industries. The popularity of the culture moved beyond the cries of social injustice to economic justice. Hip Hop generationers aspired to have fine homes. fancy cars, exceptional jewelry...the "finer things in life." Russell Simmons, often considered and recognized as Hip Hop's first multi-millionaire and architect of cross promotional deals and brand building in Hip Hop, demonstrated Dr. Dre's immortal words, "look what Hip Hop can do." Russell Simmons structured clothing deals with Adidas for RUN DMC, crafted clothing lines with Phat Farm and Baby Phat, and now sells money with his credit brand, the "Rush Card."
Although Russell is consider the "godfather" of Hip Hop brand building, Sean "Puffy" Combs took Russell's model another step. He made the collision of Hip Hop and entrepreneurship cool. Puffy saw Russell's success and made it "ghetto fabulous." Sean, a student of mid and late 1980's Hip Hop, recognized the value of street culture and began popularizing the idea of being "ghetto fabulous," his idea of the "good life" on steroids. Sean created his own record label, "Bad Boy," fashion line, "Sean John," popularized an
 |
| Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs |
alcohol spirit, "CIROC," and acquired a media outlet, "Revolt TV."
 |
| Dr. Dre in the Studio |
 |
| Noel Lee: Monster Cable |
Hip Hop culture is at the center of each of these businessman's success. Their influence and understanding of urban youth culture sets the tone for what America and other parts of the world recognize as cool. They were able to bridge advances in engineering, technology, art, and science, entrepreneurially.
When Dr. Dre made the leap from artist to entrepreneur, he began to recognize the economic value of Hip Hop and it's ability to brand build, but he wasn't concerned about being fashionably cool. He was an artist and technologist that was interested in gadgets. Dre mentions how the development of the BEATS brand was about delivering sound to the consumer the way the artist intended. That philosophy drove the development of a relationship with BEATS and audio company, Monster Cable. Monster Cable is a company that was developed by Noel Lee, a mechanical engineer in 1979. Like Dre, Lee was a lover of sound and believed that better sound could be delivered through cable versus speaker wire. His initial product offering was audio cable, but eventually expanded to other sound producing products like headphones. Dr. Dre's credibility as a hit making producer and studio wizard brought authenticity and a cool factor to the technology that Lee's company had developed.
Through the vision of Jimmy Iovine as a marketer and Dr. Dre as a credible technologist, and the technology that Lee developed, they were able to build the B.E.A.T.S. brand. The success of BEATS headphones provided an opportunity for the company to build partnering relationships with companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Dodge, and HTC. The partnerships with each of these companies demonstrate the bridging of their technology with Hip Hop culture. HTC
 |
| Jimmy Iovine, Noel Lee & Dr. Dre |
 |
| Ralph Gilles |
 |
| Peter Chou, Dre, & Jimmy |
president, Peter Chou, made the leap into enhancing the audio technology of their cell phones by incorporating BEATS into their product. Chou invested $400 million dollars into BEATS to gain the competitive edge in the cell phone wars. Ralph Gilles, Senior Vice President Design/President SRT Dodge, also utilized the culture to reintroduce classic american muscle cars to a new generation. When he spoke at the IPOWERED: Higher Ed Remixed lecture series at the University of Illinois in 2013, he was clear that their mission at Dodge was to develop their vehicles around new technology and gadgets that recognize popular culture and allow the consumer to have a more seamless life. Because of their successes, more companies are seeking ways to integrate engineering technology and culture. In fact, Rob McConell, Principal Engineer for the 2013 Avalon,
discusses how Hip Hop is the inspiration for their product development and how, when they are in the engineering studio, Roots and Common tracks help set the tone for their design.
 |
| Rob McConnell/Toyota |
The 2013 Avalon was the first Toyota to be conceived, designed, and developed in the U.S. My expectation is that we will see more bridging of culture and engineering technologies in a variety of product offerings. Do you think this is a trend? If not, explain. If so, are there other examples that you can cite as examples of this trend?
Things You Should Know
- Companies are pursuing and marketing to younger consumers.
- Knowledge of popular culture and how to bridge culture with engineering technologies appears to be the wave of the future.
- Products now need to be seamless or synonymous with consumer lifestyles.
Questions
- What appears to be the predictable future for how companies will remain relevant to consumers?
- What companies do you see having strong potential for merging given current trends?
When it was announced that Apple had purchased BEATS for 3.2 billion dollars, it was a profound moment for Hip Hop and Dr. Dre. It was an ode to the streets and young people from urban America saying there is value in who we are and what we produce. Dr. Dre exemplified the spirit of street life in the 1990's. Fancy old school Chevrolets equipped with boomin' bass, candy paint, and switches to operate hydraulics systems were the rave that cemented and solidified Hip Hop as cool American culture. At the same time computer culture was expanding into more consumer homes and Steve Jobs at Apple had begun redefining computer geekism as something "cool"as well. The rise of Apple with the advent of the Macintosh personal computer placed them in a
pivotal position to become a leader in developing cool gadgets that consumers were willing to pay a premium price for. The Macintosh was a smaller and more user friendly than PC's. No longer were computers something for university professors and garage scientists. Computers were becoming an everyday household item and Steve Jobs was a major instigator in the cultural shift that redefined who computer geeks were. He reflected a youthful suburban image of jeans, turtlenecks, and sneakers...geek chic. He was relatable, the technology was reliable, and more and more consumers wanted his product. As Apple continued to grow, corporate politics ensued, and Steve Jobs was ultimately removed as it's president and before long, the company begin to experience a decline in it's product offerings and sales. Eventually, Apple brought Steve back to renew their sense of direction, market share, and profits. Not one to leave them hanging Steve got to work providing the vision for new technology that impacted various industries such as entertainment, business, education, and labor.
Jobs became the "go to guy" for cool gadgets a second time in his career with the development of the IPOD. The IPOD set the tone for engaging youth through cool technology that played downloadable music files, but for also establishing a new method for buying and selling music on-line with iTunes. Jobs was the man, and it seemed each season he would hold a press conference announcing to the world the next big thing in computer technology. 
