Jay-Z, Cristal and Sobriety

[jmm]

These both struck me as interesting takes on the same topic

Jay-Z, Cristal and Sobriety


By Jabari Asim
Sunday, July 9, 2006; 6:42 PM

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Jay-Z got his rhymes in a twist when the maker of Cristal appeared to diss the rapper and his fellow revelers in hip-hop high life. In an interview with the Economist magazine, Frederic Rouzaud, managing director of Champagne Louis Roederer, implied that the blingosphere's appetite for the Cristal brand was less than desirable. He said with apparent resignation, "we can't forbid people from buying it."

No, but you can discourage them from doing so, and that's exactly what Jay-Z aims to do. He has suggested that a consumer boycott is in order.

Boycott. Now that's a word you don't hear so often these days. Hard for me to encounter it without thinking of Rosa Parks and brave Alabamans walking and carpooling their way to justice. But I suppose it applies just as well to millionaires whose sensibilities have been offended. A bottle of Cristal, it should be noted, can go for $300 or more. That's a lot of bus fare.

.....

Seriously, though, I'm not mad at Jay-Z for expressing his displeasure. Just as with women and others who have taken offense at his sexist, misogynist lyrics, he has a right to be peeved by what he sees as disrespectful treatment. But there are far bigger alcohol-related problems among the urban population that helps keep his tunes at the top of the charts, and he would probably be quick to agree.

For instance, while Cristal seems hesitant to embrace young black consumers, the makers of malt liquor are more than eager to establish a relationship. They are among the alcohol manufacturers who target African-American youth, according to a new study by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University. The analysis, an update of an earlier study, found that alcohol ads on radio and television and in magazines in 2003 and 2004 reached more African-American youth ages 12 to 20 than youth in general on a per capita basis.

The study says that the ads appeared on all of the 15 television programs most popular among African-American youth. That group was also targeted for 30 percent more magazine alcohol advertising than were youth in general during the period covered by the study. Alcohol is the drug most commonly used by both African-American youth and adults, a fact that cannot be blamed entirely on predatory advertisers. We also have to acknowledge the influence of the music that made Jay-Z famous. In a study of 1,000 popular songs from 1996 and 1997, for example, 47 percent of rap tunes mentioned alcohol, far more than songs from any other genre. Add those influences to the myriad billboards dotting urban communities and the adults staggering beneath them and you wind up with a significant problem. The CAMY study notes that the age-adjusted death rate from alcohol-induced causes for blacks is 10 percent higher than that for the general population.

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The Hip-Hop Community Got its Wake-Up Call on Endorsing Those Who Dis Them
Date: Friday, July 07, 2006
By: Judge Greg Mathis, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com

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Hip-hop music and culture has, both formally and informally, pushed a variety of products over the years. Cadillac, Adidas -- you name it, and an artist has mentioned it in a song. And those lucky corporations profit greatly. After all, hip-hop is consumed all over the world, and many -- including young, white suburbanites -- learn everything there is to know about urban culture by listening to the music and watching the videos. If Sean “P. Diddy” Combs says “Pass the Courvoisier,” chances are millions will do just that.

Until now, mainstream rappers haven’t paid much attention to the impact their words have. Sure, Common and others are mindful of the images they project, but they are the exception. With Jay-Z calling for a boycott of Cristal, it seems hip-hop is poised to move away from the brash materialism that has become its calling card.

In the 1980s, rap music moved from the fringes to the mainstream. As the popularity of groups such as Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions grew, the music ceased to be just about parties and good times and became highly politicized. With the rise of political rap came the introduction of gangsta rap, which depicted the performers' inner-city reality of violence and drugs. Gangsta rap gave way to the West Coast vs. East Coast drama that dominated the music through much of the 1990s.

Fast forward to present day, and rap music has many sub-genres: political, gangsta, party and everything in-between. Despite the variety in the music, it seems these multi-billion dollar corporations -- the record labels, the beer and shoe companies, etc. -- only take an interest in the music that negatively reflects upon urban culture. So, when the big corporations go looking for pitchmen, they tend to stick with the rappers that have “street cred” -- rappers who, for all their immense talent, are spreading images that are detrimental to the very communities they come from.

Jay-Z has street cred. And he has talent. With his Cristal boycott, he is ushering in a new era in hip-hop culture: that of conscious consumerism. Let’s hope more rappers take his lead. They can begin by researching the corporate philosophies of the companies they sing about before they expose the brand to millions of listeners. By knowing just what they’re pitching, these artists will be setting a positive example for their many young fans.

[bliss_eternal]

1. My opinion, (for what it's worth...) ;)

:P

Given that your average consumer can not afford Cristal, this seems rather a ridiculous boycott. For me, it's like Oprah calling for a boycott of a French store's designer label because they refused her after hours service--and calling it racism. :eyes:

Do these people have any clue at all what bigotry looks like for the rest of us? What it looks like for those of us that don't shop at high-end designer stores, those of us that don't have our homes showcased on MTV Cribs--featuring refrigerators full of Cristal? Seriously. Maybe they should be given a special screening of CNN tapes of the Katrina catastrophe, and a big steaming mug of shut the fuck up to drink while viewing it.

Message to Jay-z (and those like him on this issue): You all have enough money--perhaps you could buy a clue...

Where were people like Jay-z when the election was stolen in 2000? I have a good idea, but will save it. :eyes:

I support boycotts that I feel MEAN something to the population at large, and are contributing in some way to (hopefully) attempting to make the world a better place.

Why the hell would I get behind the boycott of a product that is primarily utilized as a prop in rap videos? It's either being drank out of some gold goblet, as if to say pimps and hustlers are black aristocracy, (:puke:) or poured over a scantily clad, gyrating young woman. I could care less if they ever use Cristal again.

[bliss_eternal]

2. The fist article resonates more with me than the second.

Frankly, Judge Greg Mathis is out of his mind if he thinks Jay-z's call for a Cristal boycott is indicative of anything other than his own inherent cluelessness. :eyes: Seriously, is this guy on something?

Ushering in a new era of hip hop culture my fanny. The only consciousness in their consumerism is the fact that they realize what the young urban community is willing to spend their money on--music and clothing. They have all capitalized on that with hip hop clothing and even jewelry lines. I have yet to see them create something that is actually doing something to uplift and educate.

Joni Mitchell expressed it so much better than I in an interview. She stated that there is something very wrong when a group of people that lacked role models become role models. Dare I say that there were indirect role models available for Jay-z and the rest of the hip hop community, they however chose to plug into materialism and misogyny. :shrug:

There are hip hop artists that have never had women in various stages of undress in their videos, nor have they ever spoke of violence or crimes against humanity in their music. Those artists however are not the ones that are seen at the forefront of what is considered mainstream hip hop. I am of course not speaking of them. Just their counterparts that give a large segment of the community a bad name based on their example, or maybe I should say lack of example.

[Brewman_Jax]

3. Another prospective

As columnist Leonard Pitts http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/15003032.htm so observes, money doesn't buy respect. True, most people will never have a $200 bottle of Cristal in their refrigerators, but one doesn't expect the product's manufacturer to dismiss a section of their consumer base out of hand.

Pitts is the stereotypical old man for whom "that music" is bane to him and good music is jazz, blues, old R&B, and pop music before disco, so, I generally take his opinions on hip-hop and rap with a large grain of salt. In his ranting about the consumerism of hip-hop and rap (like their white counterparts in top 40 pop and rock 'n' roll are somehow model citizens? :eyes:) he mostly overlooks the obvious--a rich black man is STILL a black man. The manufacturers, and society in general, don't mind using black peoples' skills, talents, and money, as long as black people are not in sight. As "Colonel" Sam Phillips said before he discovered Elvis, I need a white man that can sing black music.

Will the boycott be of any use? Probably not, but it's telling when even celebrity (and Jay-Z is one of the better rappers, IMO) and status can't trump blackness and the racial caste system. Like the joke goes: What do you call a black man with a Ph.D., a 3-piece suit, and a Lexus? A n.... Sadly, it hasn't changed. :(

[bliss_eternal]

4. Good points, Argyle...

...and I also agree Jay-z is one of the better rappers. Overall, this is an issue that I probably should not comment on, as the lifestyle exemplified by their videos (and to some degree even some of the lyrics) disgusts me,and my opinion really has little to do with the point of this thread.

But the primary point of manufacturers not appreciating their 'black' consumers is a worthy topic, and I do apologize for ranting about issues that have little to do with their boycott.

I wonder if it's a black man they are opposing or is it the "hip hop/rap" black man that they may be rejecting? Would they be happy if someone like Colin Powell, Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby were seen drinking their product? What about Oprah? :shrug:

Of course, I don't know the answer to this. Of course it's not ok to discriminate on any level. But knowing how some do discriminate and how they sometimes think some within a racial group are "better than" others in the same group on some level, I wonder about stuff like this.

Many, many retailers have embraced rap artists wearing their products, so I'm a bit surprised that one would be not as enthusiastic about the publicity they provide...but I guess to each his own. :shrug:

[jmm]

5. That's kind of what I thought when

I first heard of the boycott. I guess it's better than nothing but I'd much rather see him boycott against a glass ceiling than to simply try to get above the ceiling he's made a career of glamorizing.

[bliss_eternal]

6. Wow-- very well said...

...I LOVE the way you put that! :hi:

Quote:
I'd much rather see him boycott against a glass ceiling than to simply try to get above the ceiling he's made a career of glamorizing.