Editorial: Considering The Effects Of Latino Immigration On Hip Hop Business & Marketing

I've always been interested in the impact of Latinos on hip hop, from Puerto Rican bboys to Cypress Hill to reggaeton.  I've never claimed to be the most knowledgable about these topics but, then again, I've noticed that so many hip hop bloggers who claim expertise don't seem to have much to say either.  Which should tell you something about their "expertise".

Unfortunately, my involvement in the exposure of Aztek Escobar as a fake was misinterpreted by a handful of Latino hip hop fans as an attack on Latinos.

As you'll notice in some of the comments, this short sightedness deeply offended me, yet the comments also reveal aspects of the tensions in hip hop between Latinos and African-Americans.

I'm bringing this topic up now partly because of being tipped to the research of Paula D. McClain et al regarding Racial Distancing in a Southern City: Latino Immigrants’ Views of Black Americans, that is currently available as a free, full text PDF download from The Journal of Politics.

I'm not sure when I'll get to take a closer look at this study but I do want to use the discovery to introduce the topic in a more serious manner to my ProHipHop readers.  For so many reasons, I expect tensions to continue to rise between African-Americans and the Latino community as both Latino immigrants and long-term Latino residents flex their growing power, and I believe such developments will have a profound impact on the conduct of hip hop business in the United States.

In hip hop, this tension will only grow, especially as the more ludicrous agendas come to the forefront, such as XXL's quite visible support of widely noted anti-Latino hate blogger Byron Crawford who outsources his more controversial statements to ByronCrawford.com.

If you examine XXL's site even fairly superficially, it becomes obvious that XXL and Harris Publications are quite happy to use the classic "wink and a nudge" technique in order to feed off such hate while periodically dropping Latino rappers like Pitbull a bone.

Though such antics are treated with widespread approval in the online hip hop world of hate, it's obvious that the days are numbered for this radically disingenous approach.

I wish to be quite clear that, though many people in hip hop seem to find all this quite funny, I believe that it will come back to haunt hip hop businesses who are incapable of recognizing that whether or not they serve the Latino community directly, we are all going to have to adjust to fresh shifts in the population that will affect the nation's culture in a deep and profound manner.

I look forward to looking more closely at this topic in direct relationship to hip hop marketing.  If you're interested, please drop me links, email, etc.  I'll appreciate your insights whether you agree with me or not.

On that note, I do typically remove racist comments and any related stupidity in order not to provide a platform for hate speech.  No, that's not censorship, that's called, "take your bullsh*t and get the f*ck out of my house."

Clear enough?

I was alerted to the research report in a post at The Rap Up.

Note:
I will soon be moving certain specific posts to the new Latinos category but you'll find related coverage throughout ProHipHop.

Related:
Brand Destruction Research Opens Harris Publications File