Step in the Arena: How Social Class Shapes the Performative Context

• In Event: 365 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 15. Working Cultures

Abstract

This paper examines how social class shapes the performative context of rap music concerts. Based on six year of ethnography in Chicago’s underground rap scene, I demonstrate how social class divisions within rap subgenres impacts where rap concerts take place and what happens in the spaces where they do. Venues principally dedicated to “conscious” rap tend to be located in central neighborhoods with lower crime rates that are closer to public transportation. Venues that regularly host gangsta rap concerts tend to be located in peripheral neighborhoods with higher crime rates that are further from public transportation. Conscious rap concerts are also more likely to be held in spaces specifically designed for live music, which are more closely aligned with a “pure” performance frame. In pure performances, such as a plays held in theaters, there are clear demarcations between audience and artist, bounded by physical and symbolic conventions such as raised stages, backstage areas, formal seating, and curtains that signal the start and end of the show. In Chicago, the further the venue strays from the pure performance frame, the more likely there were to be disruptions to the conventions of live music performance, including technical difficulties, heckling, conflicts between performer and venue staff, and violence. Based on videotaped data gleaned from more than 500 performances in over 50 Chicago music venues, I demonstrate how these class-based differences shape the dynamics of the city’s underground rap scene.

Author

• Geoff Harkness, Grinnell College