MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

This paper traces the connection between two seemingly disparate cultures: hip hop and skateboarding, the fusion of which has recently been termed “skurban” style. Hip hop developed as a set of practices responding to a set of socioeconomic circumstances that left the primarily Black and Hispanic population of the South Bronx marginally visible and socially and culturally lacking power. Rapid deindustrialization, slumlording, the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway, and general social and financial neglect left the area without much recourse, but in this space hip hop evolved as an escape from and a response to these very conditions. Skateboarding, on the other hand, developed in idyllic southern California as a pastime for young surfers on days when ocean waves were flat, earning a reputation for rebelliousness only in the 70s as skaters took to abandoned pools and yards to perform tricks. Both hip hop and skate culture have been subject to increasing commercialization in the last few decades, causing both subcultures to develop a distinct ‘mainstream’ in opposition to a rebellious and non-compliant ‘underground.’ This paper explores both the highly commercial and the underground manifestations of the hip hop / skate culture fusion, arguing that both market-driven and socio-political forces are at work in the dissemination of this particular subculture. Examples to be discussed include the use of hip hop in skate videos, popular artist’s adoption of skater garb in music videos, musical/lyrical odes to skate culture, and skate merchandise targeted to hip hop listeners or produced in collaboration with hip hop artists.