2 Building Community Through Hip-Hop

In the last few years, hip-hop has become the most popular music genre in America. Nowadays it is clear to see the lasting impacts of hip-hop in mainstream media. A positive impact of this is the promotion and validation of black culture in American society. The popularity of this genre has helped with the cultural pluralism between the black community and non-black communities. This ascension of hip-hop into its current state of popularity has taken decades, within different cities all across the United States. By taking a deeper look into Indiana history, one can see the efforts made by black musicians to establish themselves and form their own community. By promoting collaboration and networking, Indianapolis-based black musicians have utilized hip-hop to establish a diverse and inclusive community, ultimately creating a sense of belonging.

Hip-hop and rap have certain false connotations to conservative, white communities. Because rap songs are open to topics of drugs and violence, conservative individuals may simply see rap as something that incites deviant behavior. Many music venues will outright deny hosting hip-hop events because of the crowds they fear these events will draw. This stereotyping is still prevalent today in cities across the country, even though hip-hop has now become the most popular music genre. By systematically marginalizing hip-hop, a black-dominated field, Indianapolis hip-hop musicians often had to create their own spaces. Indianapolis musician Oreo Jones stated that when applying to book an event, venues often ask “on the application if the event is hip-hop,” (McGinsie) and fail to ask the same question about other genres. Jones goes on to say that “it’s a shame that the community still has a weird stigma that hip-hop can be this force of negativity, like we’re going to go and tag shit or there’s going to gang violence” (McGinsie). It’s difficult to read into these occurrences without acknowledging the blatant discrimination in the way the event industry operates nationwide. By denying hip-hop musicians a platform, it is difficult for this community to thrive. As a result, these local musicians have taken venue operations into their own hands, from underground house shows to an annual hip-hop music festival.

The do-it-yourself house show venues are crucial to any local music scene. These DIY venues give a platform for unestablished musicians to play their music to new audiences. The Indiana house show scene is a “welcoming, fun, and creative environment where artists get to share their music and [attendees] can discover new sounds” (Harrison 1). Frequent attenders to the DIY shows often start to build relationships and connections to other local music enthusiasts, creating a subculture one can easily join. These shows primarily operate somewhat underground as to avoid liabilities, and as a result cause the attendees to form a community in order to stay informed on future shows. In Indianapolis, rap shows in peoples’ houses occur often. They foster relationships between different communities over the similar passion of music. The house show scene is tightly knit and encourages the support of local artists.

In 2015, musician Oreo Jones created a music festival known as Chreece (a play on ‘Cheers’ and ‘Peace’) to celebrate the Midwest’s diverse hip-hop scene. After facing issues booking hip-hop shows, Jones created a festival to show “that all facets of hip hop can come together for one day” (McGinsie). At the festival, “handshakes and hugs are commonplace as Indy artists show love and respect to one another” (McGinsie). Chreece is also successful in showcasing all the diverse talent across the city, and giving a platform to newer voices in the scene. Events like Chreece are a great opportunity for those uninvolved in the scene to get some insight on the community. Chreece is challenging the stereotypes of hip-hop fans by promoting a inclusive, positive space. It also succeeds in bringing an “unprecedented diversity to Fountain Square,” (McGinsie) a prominently white neighborhood. Musicians and fans were able to build connections that have encouraged further artistic and professional endeavors.

One of the most important facets of hip-hop is collaboration. From finding producers to featuring fellow musicians, collaboration is a key aspect to building one’s artistic identity. Indianapolis musician Carrington Clinton, who goes by the stage Clint Breeze, crafted an album with 27 other Indianapolis musicians entitled Nappy Head. Nappy Head is a project in which Clinton and his collaborators commented on racial oppression in America, including white perspectives as well. Clinton was able to connect the hip-hop and jazz communities of Indianapolis and explore different perspectives of Black oppression. Clinton tried to “let people know how [he] felt through a large lens of different artists that [he] collaborated with” (Long 1).

Nappy Head succeeded in connecting the jazz and hip-hop scenes and encourage further collaboration in artistic pursuits. Projects such as this are successful in creating meaningful art that brings fans and musicians of different communities together.

Indianapolis hip-hop has found its influence into other arts, creating new avenues for collaboration. Painter Jonathan McAfee has created a series of paintings of Indianapolis-based rappers. He created this project because he is inspired by them and wants to “focus on less recognizable people that [he] believes will some day be iconic” (Taylor 1). By doing so he is signifying the influence of Indy hip-hop into other artistic realms. A prominent venue for both art shows as well as hip-hop performances is the now-closed General Public Collective. Known as GPC, this gallery would host biweekly hip-hop shows, exhibiting the up and coming music acts in a space filled with painting, sculpture, and photography. One particular show was put on by animator, musician, and IU alumnus Jeron Braxton. In addition to animating for big name hip-hop acts like Danny Brown and Lil Uzi Vert, Braxton makes artistic  projects with local rappers and friends. Animation allows Braxton to make more social and political commentary on race, notably on his short film Glucose, named after sugar. By naming it Glucose, Braxton alludes to the themes of the short film regarding the “dark history of colonialism, transatlantic slave trade, and oppression,” (Ko 1) which juxtaposes the sweetness of sugar. Braxton has an evident affinity with hip-hop culture, with many references in his work. He remarks that “hip-hop is definitely at the forefront of culture, whether people want to admit it or not” (Ko 1). By combining political and social commentary into his music and animation, Braxton is able to share a message while building community through collaboration. By increasing the different platforms hip-hop exists on, the local hip-hop scene becomes more accessible to newer audiences.

Through the creation of independent house show venues, Chreece Music Festival, collaborative projects such as Clint Breeze’s Nappy Head, and the expansion of hip-hop into other art forms, Indianapolis hip-hop musicians have used their other talents to expand and build an inclusive community. These musicians took the nationwide issue of discrimination and stereotyping and applied their own unique solutions. By building a strong community, black musicians have been able to share their voice inside and outside their racial groups. As the Indianapolis hip-hop scene expands, so does the diversity of the community, now including white and Latinx rappers. Despite facing stereotypes and racism in Indianapolis, black musicians have created a strong and impressive hip-hop community which has helped the city embrace cultural pluralism.

Works Cited

Harrison, Abby. “A Guide to Bloomington’s DIY House Show Scene.” WIUX, WIUX. Web.  wiux.org/read/a-guide-to-bloomingtons-diy-house-show-scene/

Ko, Devon. “Meet Jeron Braxton, the man igniting a cultural shift through 3D animation.” 3D for Designers, 3D for Designers. Web. 3dfordesigners.com/blog/jeron-braxton

Long, Kyle. “Carrington Clinton’s Clint Breeze project evolves from beats to live band.” NUVO,  NUVO. 2017. Web. nuvo.net/music/carrington-clinton-s-clint-breeze-project-evolves-from-beats-to/article_8f823d8e-148e-11e7-97b4-6744ff9a0b9d.html

McGinsie, Cavan. “Listen Up! – Oreo Jones (Chreece: A Hip-Hop Festival).” YouTube, uploaded   by Do317com, 25 Aug. 2015. youtube.com/watch?v=CySlsZaF0Fg&feature=emb_title

Taylor, Emily. “An exit interview with local painter Jonathan McAfee.” NUVO, NUVO. 2015.  Web. nuvo.net/arts/visual/an-exit-interview-with-local-painter-jonathan-mcafee/articlebe6b6fe6-8c14-5c6c-a6bb-7ffc849471e6.html