Pop Essence
on the origins of youth cultureThe Cool Factory
hip-hop, metal, mod, punk, goth, funk, techno, rave, reggae, ska, swing, jazz...
All cultural movements consisting of a style, music, wardrobe, and language. These "fashions" are the deep roots of cool, the foundations of modern youth culture. We hear them coming from miles away - a distant sound on the horizon that informs us that someone somewhere is doing something different, something radically new. As young people we all know how it feels to seek out and every so often actually find the next big thing.
Then, before you know it, we're watching it on a Gap commercial. Or hearing a DJ scratching out the words "Enjoy Coca-Cola". But before Empty-V honed in on it, before agency creatives would repackage it, where did these movements come from, and what meaning did they possess? Where do we believe the latest style comes from? When we search for cool, what exactly are we looking for?
Our journey begins on the surface. Punk, mod, hip hop, metal, etc: these are the scenes that beckoned us since childhood. They delivered looks and sounds we naturally felt like emulating, and participating in. Perhaps a select few knew even then that these popular trends had much deeper roots. They stemmed from cultural movements with actual ideas, philosophies, and social values. The rest of us were simply lured by the music, unconsciously indulging in the sensual representations of these ideals as expressed through song, art, and fashion. Even in our ignorance, though, there was a slight notion that explorations into these areas might lead us to connections with other people and the vaguest possibility of communion.
Observe how each of the mentioned youth movements originally represented a different marginalized populace:
- punk & new wave - international underclass echoing french deconstructionists and anarchist doctrines.
- mod - with roots in english working class socialist movements.
- hip hop & funk - voices of expression & uprising from urban black america.
- metal - the gothic fantasy world shared by emasculated suburban adolescents.
Such scenes may appear superficial, but there is real energy at the nucleus. If you've ever charged through the center of a mosh pit then you know this to be the truth. Or if you've raved until dawn. Been present during a street riot. Marched in massive protest. Watched the Gay Parade. Smoked a splif in Trench Town. Witnessed a rap concert degenerate into a series of mob brawls. Viewed the Maysles Brothers' documentary about Altamont.
Certainly some of the above examples are the extreme results of destructive impulses. But what is the target of such destruction? Frequently, it is simply the youthful impulse to tear apart "what is" (the state, the establishment, parental controls, any rule or obstacle whatsoever). And while a tiny minority may actually be expressing an almost sociopathic disregard for everything, the vast majority are taking part in a nebulous effort to "reconstruct" their environment. And when refocused, this energy becomes a critical societal factor, the fuel behind actual social and political movements. This core energy we have dubbed "Pop Essence".
RECYCLED CULTURE
Remember how you felt the first time you heard rapping on a Pringle's commercial, or Black Sabbath in a Toyota ad? This represents the crowning phase in our cultural efforts to homogenize and therefore neutralize any and all subversive context within those songs, and ultimately within those movements. If over 15 years the Sex Pistols can be replaced with Blink 182 than the anarchistic energies behind punk have been effectively contained. I won't even comment on the tool that hip hop has become.
It is incredibly crafty the way in which marketing and advertising industries under corporate interests are so consistently able to scout, infiltrate, and co-opt any cultural movement, swiftly robbing it of it's original significance. Each wave of subversive youth culture is successively capitalized upon and processed into new market commodities (via MTV, VIBE, and Rolling Stone). A recent example of this is a rap group manufactured by the Republican Party for the purpose of forwarding the conservative agenda. They are called the Hard Republicans, and their token black member's stage name is "Negro Sam". It reads like social satire, but it's absolutely true. When rap first appeared it was a republican's worst nightmare and now, after a short duration, it has become a handy right-wing PR tool.
THE END OF STYLE
Style, like pop and the media, will eat itself. It is already happening. Real cultural leaders and seekers of knowledge have begun to shun superficial symbols of rebellion, instead embracing the philosophies existing beneath them. Example: it's reported that there's currently a youth movement, about 20,000 strong, in France and Germany - In an effort to resist cultural colonialization they deny themselves the indulgences of style, fashion, and even modern music. Instead they choose to dress in bland, nondescript attire and get together on occasion to discuss art history. They call themselves, ingeniously, "The Banals". Ironically, the only source I could find referring to them was a website called TrendWatch which scouts and identifies emerging cultural trends for the use of marketing and advertising purposes.
THE IDEAS BEHIND THE IDEAS
So what are some of the important philosophies supposedly behind these cultural movements? We can immediately refer to a wide catalogue of influences throughout the seemingly disparate schools of anarchy, socialism, black power, afrocentrism, liberation theology, decolonization, revolutionary doctrine, indigenous struggle and labor reform. Basically a radical standpoint that stands as the antithesis to the interests of capitalism and commercialism.
But politics is not our primary focus at Nonchalance. We are, however, quite concerned with culture. IN OUR SOCIETY WE CAN DO MUCH BETTER. We can all agree on that. If then, we put to use these styles as tools in our communications, then it is our duty to better understand what they signify. From where and from who they came. This way, ultimately, such styles will be used toward a utilitarian end. Which is to say; Good, not Evil. Our task is to harness the Pop Essence without diluting the underlying energy. There is a powerful nucleus at the heart of the most common cultural products. The Science of Nonchalance is dedicated toward identifying and magnifying this inert power through creative research and production. For, there's a sleeping giant in our midst.
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further studies: crowd control
