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BA COMMERCIAL MUSIC
2MUS602

KHALID GOLDING
UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER
THESIS

The Deification of Popular Culture:
The Cult of Personality.
20
th
January 2011
www.UpInTheEar.com
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Table of Contents
Foreword 3
Abstract 5
Introduction 6
Brand Representation 9
Semiotics 15
Structuralism 15
Semiotics 17
The Cult of Personality 23
The Three Types of Legitimate Rule 28
Conclusion 32
Bibliography 34
Acknowledgements 35


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Foreword
1


University has been one of the most enriching and rewarding life experiences, it
taught me that I could do it, even when the world and my self esteem thought I
couldnt. I met some wonderful people along the way, and I probably wouldnt of even
spoke to previously if it werent for the opportunity to study.

I had so much fun writing my dissertation, although I suffered from mild bouts of
anxiety to begin with, once I began to research and direct my dissertation from the
heart, it all began to fall into place. The great thing about research is that you realise
that there are people in the world whove had similar trains of thought, and think like
you. In my experience, studying at university allow me to place a theory to my trains
of thought.

As much as some may pass on an opportunity to attend university because of the fees
[the negative connotations attached to the loan and debt factors], but theres no price
on the rewards of an education -not only career wise, as you have a certificate to prove
you can think and the experience as proof of application, but you cant measure how
much you expand as an individual; mentally, physically and spiritually.
I entered university at a point where I really had no idea what I wanted to do with
life, at the time I was writing and producing music but had become a bit of a creative
recluse in recent years and became disillusioned with what opportunities being a UK
artiste making music of black origin presented. Most of my friends I had grown up

1
Foreword added on Tues 13
th
May 2014 to introduce my thesis.
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making music with had either spiralled further into stagnation or swallowed up by life
on the roads. As time passed I began to feel a sense of detachment as I was no longer
entertained by just hanging out, or talking about the dreams, aspirations and
ambitions and never going anywhere with it. I enrolled onto an access course to prep
me for university; a year later I ceased an opportunity and ran with it.

The original plan was to go uni, get the student loan, buy a MacBook, logic and some
studio equipment and skip out on the top up year because I was sure that I was
incapable of writing a dissertation. Looking back and laugh because once I got there,
and attended those lectures, I was inspired. Whether it was learning about theories
such as semiotics or learning about the wider subject of communication and cultural
anthropology, I learnt more about myself through looking at my surroundings and
journey through this new knowledge.
The crowning moment of university was the second semester of year two, when we
got a project about creating a blog, which was the moment I had found my calling.
Given the opportunity to write until my hearts content, allowed me to express myself
freely without restriction and till this day, a blog I started at uni is still alive and
kicking and has granted me my fair share of opportunities, www.UpInTheEar.com,
whilst the initial blog, and subsequent spin offs, become a book that is to be released
very soon, entitled Allegorically Speaking [draft available to read here].

A big thanks to my Mum, Vinette Gopaul, who never stopped telling me that I could
achieve anything I put my mind to.
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Abstract

Popular culture is powerful enough to change the paradigm, turning the zeitgeist
upon its head, all in favour of change, all in favour of business, all in favour of
ushering in a new ideology, to capture the hearts and minds of the unsuspecting
public, who know not how these prominent personalities now dictate their lifestyle
choices, on some conscious or subconscious level, they only know that it all started
from their art.
This is a culture of personality, the new world order in every western secular society.
The culture where a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he
is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural,
superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional qualities. (Weber 1947: p.329)
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Introduction

The idea of culture is a general reaction to a general and major change in the
conditions of our common life. Its basic element is its effort at total qualitative
assessment. The change in the whole form of our common life produced, as a
necessary reaction, an emphasis on attention to this whole form. Particular change
will modify a habitual discipline shift a habitual action. General change, when it has
worked itself clear, drives us back on our general designs, which we have to learn to
look at again, and as a whole. The working-out of the idea of culture is a slow reach
again for control. (Williams 1993: 295)
I wanted to explore the effects of popular culture, and the methods explored to entice
the consumer into deifying its products and brands. Through observation I realised
that popular personalities were no longer just actors, actresses, and musicians but a
culture. They had become a culture through using representation, a direct effect of
mass media marketing campaigns, product endorsements, sponsorship and branding.
I wanted to sew the thread through semiotics, and models of classification so I
researched structuralism and post structuralist theory to delve into language and
analyse how and whether these corporations use Barthes model for Language and
Myth.

Whats so appealing about popular culture?

This culture has its own hierarchy, rules, guidelines, history, initiation, dress code,
right of passage, and morals. This culture is powerful enough to change the paradigm,
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turning the zeitgeist upon its head, all in favour of change, all in favour of business, all
in favour of ushering in a new ideology to capture the hearts and minds of the
unsuspecting public, who know not how these prominent personalities now dictate
their lifestyle choices, on some conscious or subconscious level, they only know that it
all started from their art.
This is a culture of personality, the new world order in every western secular society.
The culture where a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he
is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural,
superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional qualities. (Weber 1947: p.329)

These popular personalities arent just selling us their creativity; they are fast
becoming a lifestyle to follow. They are telling us whom to vote for, and why,
recommending us products and lifestyle choices through endorsements, business
ventures, and visual association. Through literature they give us a tangible set of
guidelines, in the form of novels, autobiographies, and memoirs.
People who were once musicians have now risen further into the heavens than the
spire of any church in the centre of a third world slum. These musicians have not only
become popular icons, they have become stars, through their business ventures, and
merchandise, they have created clusters of culture around themselves, to then become
galaxies as they align themselves in a league of artists, creating a whole universe of
aspiration and ideology. It is such that this type of power is only available to a
selective few, these personalities have become so big that they have become
corporations, which have superseded government, an example is the Obama
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presidential campaign where a host of artisans and celebrities joined forces to raise
awareness for his presidential campaign. (Klein 2001: p.xxi)

The cult of personality is parallel to what Max Weber defined as charismatic
authority, often associated with totalitarianism dictatorships - I shall apply the
Charismatic Authority to explain the rise of post millennia pop stars to prominence,
such as Jay-Z, and popular cultures deification.

I shall also present structuralism as a valid tool to their rise because structuralists
believe that there is much more to language than words, they believe there are
associated, and shared meanings. I aim to find out whether these theories and key
ideas apply to these artists, because how else can these artists gain such prominence?
I also aim to prove/disprove whether these are conscious motives or rather a natural
progression for the public to praise these prominent personalities at the forefront of
popular culture, and also whether their rise to prominence is down to the oppressive
force of celebrity, a new form of capitalism reinforcing the materialist ideology, as
these artists not only give the general public something to aspire to but they also
endorse and sell us products which we believe will somehow improve our lives and
boost self esteem, giving us the impression that we are getting closer to our icons of
aspiration, creating a false sense of need in the process.


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Brand Representation

According to Klein (2001: p.3) the astronomical growth in the wealth and cultural
influence of multinational corporations over the last twenty five years can be traced
back to a single, seemingly innocuous idea developed by management theorists in the
mid 1980s: that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed
to products.
Until the 1980s, although it was understood in the corporate world that bolstering
ones brand name was important, the primary concern of every solid manufacturer was
the production of goods. This idea was the very gospel of the machine age.

An editorial that appeared in Fortune magazine in 1938, for instance, argued that the
reason the American economy had yet to recover from the depression was that
America had lost sight of the importance of making things:

The basic and irreversible function of an industrial economy is the making of
things; the more things it makes the bigger will be the income It is in the
factory and on the land and under the land that the purchasing power
originates.
2


The making of things remained, at least in principle, the heart of all industrialised
economies. But by the eighties, pushed along by the decades recession, some of the
most powerful manufacturers in the world begun to falter. A consensus emerged and

2
Government Spending is No Substitute for the Exercise of Capitalist Imagination,
Fortune, September 1938, 63 64.
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it was agreed amongst these companies that it would be much more cost effective to
run their manufacturing operations overseas, in third world countries, where the local
communities were desperate for work and will be paid virtually nothing in comparison
to the cost of employees in their home countries. (Klein 2001: p.4)

It was this new kind of corporation which began to rival the traditional all-American
manufacturers for market share; these were the Nikes and Microsofts, and later, the
Tommy Hilfigers and Intels. These pioneers made the bold claim that producing
goods was only an incidental part of their operations, and that thanks to recent
victories in trade liberalisation and labour-law reform, they were able to have their
products made for them by contractors, many of them overseas. What these
companies produced primarily were not things, they said, but images for their brands.
Their real work lay in not manufacturing but in marketing. This formula, needless to
say, has proved enormously profitable, and its success has companies competing in a
race toward weightlessness: whoever owns the least, has the fewest employees on the
payroll and produces the most powerful images, as opposed to products, wins the race.
(Klein 2001: p.4)

These new corporations developed marketing campaigns, which centred in creating
lifestyles to be associated with their brands and products. Corporations soon learned
that the most effective way to do so was to bring popular personalities celebrities, on
board to endorse products. These personalities ranged from famous musicians to
endorse synthesizers, under the guise that the consumer would become as good as the
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popular musician because the synthesizer seemed to be the secret to the artists
success, to using a sports personalities to endorse a new model of sports shoes.
This was all constructed in order to create a belief amongst consumers that these
products will change their lives for the better, making them better musicians, players,
cooks, or more attractive to the opposite sex. The companies knew that by making
insidious and overt attacks on public and individual space: on public institutions such
as schools, on youthful identities, on the concept of nationality, sexuality, and on the
possibilities of un-marketed space, they could bolster sales, creating a dependency
upon their brand and product as more and more people flocked to stores to buy into a
dream to boost their self esteem. (Klein 2001: p.5)
Kanye West (2004) summed up this cycle of dependency and representation almost
perfectly on his song All Falls Down, off of his debut College Dropout:

We buy a lot of clothes but we dont really need them. Things we buy to
cover up whats inside. They made us hate ourselves and love their wealth

Michael Jordan endorsed a Nike shoe, designed by Peter Moore and released in 1985
after a string of successes for the player in 1984; selected by the Chicago Bulls as No.
3 overall draft pick, a successful three year run with North Carolina, and a successful
co-captaincy with the 1984 Olympic team who took home a gold medal. Nike
realised Jordans star quality from the beginning, so they signed him up to endorse a
line of footwear and apparel.
The first model of the Air Jordans, released in 1985, breached NBA colour rules, for
every game Michael wore his shoes he was fined. This worked in Nikes favour as
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sales of the footwear rocketed. (Kicks On Fire, (http://www.kicksonfire.com/what-
are-air-jordans/air-jordan-1-I, no date)

Since many of todays best-known manufacturers no longer produce products and
advertise them, but rather buy products and brand them, these companies are
forever on the prowl for new creative ways to build and strengthen their brand images.
It requires an endless parade of brand extensions, continuously renewed imagery for
marketing and, most of all, fresh new spaces to disseminate the brands idea of itself.
(Klein 2001: p.5)

Individuals, brands, pr companies, and advertisers, create momentum in order to gain
a following, by conducting marketing campaigns. They utilise mass media,
technology, social networking, and Internet, to not only praise their products but also
create a need. These companies, agencies, and individuals create a lifestyle around
their products, which consumers desire, using representation techniques through
endorsements, advertising, and sponsorship events. All of which culminate in
consumers associating products with particular activity i.e. Run DMC and Adidas,
50Cent and Reebok, Cristal Champagne and Rap music, Michael Jordan and Nike.
Almost all brands capitalise from being endorsed by popular artists, either by
approaching the artist for product collaboration or in the case of Run DMC who
glorified Adidas long before they were offered sponsorship, simply become the face of
a brand unintentionally as they created a distinctive uniform, which their followers
eventually brought into resulting in them gaining sponsorship from Adidas.

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The first mass-marketing campaigns, starting in the second half of the nineteenth
century, and had more to do with advertising than with branding, as we understand it
today. Faced with a range of recently invented products the radio, phonograph, car,
light bulb and so on advertisers had more pressing tasks than creating a brand
identity for any given corporation; first, they had to change the way people lived their
lives. Ads had to inform consumers about the existence of some new invention, then
convince them that their lives would be better if they used, for example, cars instead
of wagons, telephones instead of mail and electric light instead of oil lamps. Many of
these new products bore brand names some of which still exist today but these
were almost incidental. These products were themselves news; that was advertisement
enough. (Klein 2001: p.5)

As Competitive branding has become a necessity, brands almost always need a face to
represent and convey their message, who better to be the face of your brand than
someone whom everyone adores, listens to, and wants to dress like. There is no better
way for brands to reach millions of people without spending the resources required to
reach 20 million impressionable consumers, willing to purchase anything a popular
music artist touches brandishes in visuals, or happens to mention on record.
It seems that nowadays advertising any given product is only one part of an artists
grand master plan, as are sponsorship and licensing deals, because the artists have
becomes brands unto themselves. Think of the artist as the core meaning of the
modern corporation, and of the endorsements, sponsorships, and licensing deals as
not only a vehicle used to publicise themselves and keep themselves relevant in an
age where yesterdays news feels like ten years in the past due to the amount of
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information, and the amount of content generated, but its also a way of financial
security for both parties involved. (Klein 2001: p.5)



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Semiotics

Structuralism
Structuralism is an intellectual movement that paid particular attention to the theories
of Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913). Saussure argued that the sign was composed
of a signifier (sound-image) and signified (concept). His key point, however, was
that signs do not stand in for things, or objects in the world, and that the connection
between a sign, such as cat, and the object in the world, such as a furry domestic
animal, is arbitrary. What this means is that the sign functions, or works for us,
because it is part of a system of signs. The system generates or makes meaning, and it
does this through difference. In other words, the sign cat has a meaning because in
the system we call language; it is different from the sign dog. Note that we do not
have to discuss furry domestic animals to think about the generation of meaning here.
Structuralists are interested in the way that sign-systems work. There are many sign-
systems to explore, from advertising to culinary systems (different cultural approaches
to food). However, structuralists usually go beyond the semiotic level of signs
themselves, to think about the way such systems function in the world, in relation to
other issues such as ideology or philosophy. Also, the structuralist approach can be
taken to mean a general interest in systems, or a way of perceiving cultural artefacts,
events and theories as systems. (Lane 2000: p15-16)

Keat and Urry (1975: 124-6) identify the following as the main features of
structuralism:
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1. Systems must be studied as a set of interrelated elements. Individual elements
should not be seen in isolation. For example, in a set of traffic lights, green
only means go because red means stop.
2. An attempt to discover the structure behind the directly visible is directly
knowable.
3. The suggestion that the structure behind the visible is a product of structural
properties of the mind.
4. The methods of linguistics can be applied to other social and human sciences.
5. Culture can be analysed in terms of binary oppositions for example, between
good and bad.
6. The adoption of a distinction between synchronic (static) and diachronic
(changing) analyses.
7. The attempt to identify similar structures in different aspects of social life. For
example, the standardised structure of pop music may be the same as the
standardised structure of society.

If Saussure had identified some radical ways of thinking about language and signs
(e.g. meaning is arbitrary), it was the likes of Derrida, Foucault and Lacan who
examined the philosophical attitudes to writing and issued his famous statement that
there is nothing outside the text; Foucault examined the histories between power
and knowledge; and Lacan re-read Sigmund Freud (the inventor of psychoanalysis),
theorizing the mirror stage and the importance of the symbolic. Followers of these
and other continental theorists are loosely termed poststructuralist; their ideas came
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to the fore in the 1980s with the rise of theory in university humanities
departments. (Lane 2000: p16)

Semiotics
Semiotics or semiology is the systematic study of signs. To introduce some of the
concepts and ideas associated with these approaches, we can consider the photograph
in fig 1. Certain features of this can be identified immediately. It shows two black
men sitting next to each other, one wearing a pinstripe suit with a gold chain and the
other wearing a blue suit. The black man in the blue suit is holding a glass and
appears to be pouring a drink into the other mans glass. The photograph seems to
have been taken at some kind of public function, as there appear to be people sitting
around in the background. In the language of semiotics, this is what the photograph
denotes. We can understand, or decode, such meanings in a fairly straightforward
manner, as they are relatively objective. However, the possession of other
knowledge may facilitate more detailed decoding of the photograph. Thus, the
contemporary pop fan may recognise these men as multi-millionaire rapper and
business mogul Jay-Z, and the rapper Nas. He or she might also be able to explain
Jay-Zs possession of the drink from the knowledge that Jay-Z recently signed Nas to
Def Jam Records at the time of the picture being taken. Further layers of meaning,
or connotations, of this photograph are built up on the basis of this knowledge. These
two men are two of Rap musics most prominent personalities, known to some as the
God MCs, who went head to head in a song for song battle in 2001, reconciled in
2008, and are now working together. The photograph conveys ideas or discourses
about unity, sharing and celebration. (Longshurst 2007: p. 153-154)
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Fig. 1; Jay-Z and Nas (Source: hiphop-n-more.com)

Still further levels of meaning are generated when the photograph is considered in
context with its headline and caption. The headline explains that two of these men are
indeed Jay-Z and Nas, whilst the short excerpt from the article suggests that the two
had completed a song together. It is assumed that readers will know that DJ Green
Lantern is a prominent radio presenter and Jay-Zs tour DJ, Chris Martin is the lead
man of the group Coldplay and also one of Jay-Zs closest friends, Nas is the rapper
who was sampled on Jay-Zs song Dead Presidents off his debut album Reasonable
doubt, and he often goes to concerts to perform the chorus live.
The article depends on you knowing that Jay-Z has previously recorded two versions
of the song; the first released as a single in 1995, the second made the album in 1996
whilst the third is yet to be released. The article states that there is a live performance
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of the song available for download, which features Chris Martin playing the piano,
and Nas performing the chorus. (Longhurst 2007: p.154)

The discussion of this photograph has introduced several important points:
1. That any image can be said to contain different layers or levels of meaning. In
particular there is a distinction between denotative and connotative levels.
2. That the nature of such meanings will depend on the context in which they
are contained, or the surrounding circumstances. Meaning is relational.
3. That some of the levels of meaning or codes are relatively neutral, or objective,
whereas others will be saturated with social meanings or discourses.
4. That the recognition and elucidation of these different meanings involves
analysis or decoding, which often depends on the nature of the knowledge and
experience brought to the analysis.

Barthes (1972: p.91) wrote that some candidates who run for Parliament adorn their
electoral prospectus with a portrait. This presupposes that photography has a power to
convert which must be analysed. To start with, the effigy of a candidate establishes a
personal link between him and the voters; the candidate does not only offer a
programme for judgement, he suggests a physical climate, a set of daily choices
expressed in a morphology, a way of dressing, a posture.
The candidate uses the portraits, and portraiture inside the prospectus to convey to
the voter that he/she is best suited to represent the voter. The image becomes a
replacement for words, as it becomes a symbolism of representation. Based upon how
well the candidates portraits in the prospectus represent the voters themselves, is how
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well the candidate will do at election. Therefore the way one composes ones portrait is
really important because the candidate needs to convey successfully through a set of
images that he/she can best represent the voters.

Using the language of semiotics, the photograph can be said to be act as a sign. The
sign consists of two elements: the signifier and the signified. The signifier is a sound,
printed word, or image and the signified is a mental concept. The structure is
represented in fig. 2. (Longhurst 2007: p.153-154)

Sign = signifier + signified
Fig. 2; the structure of a sign

The semiotic approach, which was developed from the study of language be de
Saussure, has been applied widely. Thus, the French theorist Roland Barthes (1915
80) argues: Take the black pebble: I can make it signify in several ways, it is a mere
signifier; but if I weigh it with a definite signified (a death sentence, for instance, in
an anonymous vote), it will become a sign (1976: p.113). Barthes shows how different
levels of meaning are associated (shown in fig. 3).


Fig. 3; Language and Myth (Source: Barthes 1976)
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This demonstrates the relationship between the denotative or connotative levels of
meaning. Barthes also writes here about the distinction between language and myth.
For him, myths shore up existing structures of power, which favour the conventional
classes of society. Myths make what is historical or changeable appear to be natural
and static. (Longhurst 2007: p.155)

What I was saying was said in slang and it was coded, and then you had these
deep metaphors if you didnt pay attention to them, they were regular words flying
by I dont think everyone understood it, or got the emotion behind what was being
said in the beginning.
- Jay-Z (2007)

Baudrillard expanded Barthes point, by further arguing that there was another level,
the hyperreal. Baudrillards argument was rooted in the notion that there are three
levels of simulation, where the first level is an obvious copy of reality and the second
level is a copy so good that it blurs the boundaries between reality and representation.
The third level is one that produces a reality of its own without being based upon any
particular part of the real world. The best example is probably virtual reality, which
is a world generated by computer languages or code. Virtual reality is thus a world
generated by mathematical models, which are abstract entities. It is this third level of
simulation, where the model comes before the constructed world, that Baudrillard
calls the hyperreal. (Lane 2000, p.30)

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By way of rationale, Baudrillards theory of the hyperreal can be applied to the realm
of social networking where everything the boundaries are blurred between reality and
representation, because rather than be themselves, a lot of users generate content
based upon their idealistic view of themselves. This is the view of themselves that they
desire to be based upon the outcome of being bombarded with information, and
representational figures on every level, steering their way through the depths of their
subconscious.
The Internet, like virtual reality is built upon mathematical, computer codes, which
users have the ability to manipulate for their own devices, thus the high level of
filtration and censorship, which leads to a hyperreal bubble of idealism. Realism, or
rather actuality, ceases to exist in a reality where everyone has the chance to glorify
and flatter him or herself unquestionably. The hyperreality of the Internet is such that
the person is no longer the outsider looking in to create a sense of their reality, but the
insider deciding what he or she wants the world to see.
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The Cult of Personality

A cult of personality arises when an individual has, and continues, to utilise all
available resources to create an idealistic and heroic public image. Cults of personality
were usually associated with totalitarian states dictatorships in the early to mid
twentieth century, although in the twenty-first century one is much more likely to
associate a cult of personality with popular culture and the deification of its
personalities.

According to Greene (2003, p.215) the 27
th
law of power states that one should play
on peoples need to believe to create a cult like following.

People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point
of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full
of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new
disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of
organised religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.
! Robert Greene (2003)

The rule itself speaks magnitudes in regards to the operation Jay-Z ran at his
independent record company Roc-A-Fella. Their emphasis was on creating a
movement not just another independent record label. Jay-Z went as far as calling
himself J-Hova, Hova, and God MC to little or no resistance from any of his
followers or contemporaries.
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Greene (2003, p. 217-219) sets out in his study of the 27
th
law that there are five
methods that will gain you the most power for the least effort, to achieve a cult like
status. These were:

1. Keep It Vague; Keep It Simple: To create a cult one must first attract
attention. You should not do this by actions, which are too clear and readable,
but through words, which are hazy and deceptive.

He [Jay-Z] was the voice of the crack generation. He gave it a very intelligent
and precise voice, and in doing so he became like what Scorsese did with Mean
Streets and Goodfellas, and Scarface. He became the articulate voice of this guy that
we looked at as the bad guy and it became very cinematic.
- Barry Michael Cooper (2007)

For someone to rise from street folklore, to dizzying heights of stardom through the
humble avenue of being a rapper, was quite an achievement. One that was even
prophesised at the start of his rap career, Jay-Z proved all critics and naysayers wrong
by becoming the American dream.

Jay was a very cultural rapper. So the things he rapped about and the songs
that he made, [which] kept his underground credibility, they didnt get played to
much.
- Kevin Liles (2007)
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2. Emphasise the Visual and the Sensual over the Intellectual: Boredom will
make people go elsewhere; scepticism will allow them to think rationally.
Amuse the bored, then, ward off the cynics.

Becoming popular is easy but staying relevant is a whole different ballgame. A lot of
artists fail to amass and maintain a cult like following because they dont seem to keep
their believers guessing. The key to maintaining a full congregation is to always ensure
you have events to captivate your existing supporters, and entice others.
In 2003 Jay-Z announced that he would be retiring from Rap on the 28
th
of
November, the release date for his album on what is traditionally known as Black
Friday, the Friday after thanksgiving.
The retirement was to culminate into a farewell concert, which would be the subject
of a documentary entitled Fade To Black, which would chart the albums recording
process and the concert itself.

Soon after his retirement Jay-Z returned to Rap with an album called kingdom
Come, this was to be his resurrection. In recent years he has released a book entitled
Decoded, where in the weeks leading up to its released, he organised a global treasure
hunt, similar to that of the Da Vinci code, where believers would trail the globe in
search of pages from the book. Bing, the Microsoft search engine, sponsored the
event.
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Links could also be made on a deeper level top the fact that a lot of the rappers
imagery, symbolism is based upon freemasonry, resulting in the rapper being subject
to Internet conspiracy theories.

3. Borrow the Forms of Organised Religion to Structure the Group: Create
rituals for your followers; organise them into a hierarchy. Talk and act like a
prophet.

The samples that he was using were people like DJ Premier, Ski, and Clark
Kent. It was very sweeping, jazzy, broad, airy, colourful, [and] lush. He gave a very
lurid depiction to what was going on in the street like nobody before him.
- Barry Michael Cooper (2007)

The culture at Roc-A-Fella had its own hierarchy, rules, guidelines, history,
initiation, dress code, right of passage, and morals. When a new artist joined the
ranks, theyd organise a chaining ceremony in their honour where Jay-Zs top
ranking advisor manager at the time, Damon Dash would present the artist with a
Roc-A-Fella chain.

From the womb to the tomb, now till my doom, drink Army [Armadale
Vodka] from one cup [and] pass it around the room.
- Jay-Z (2001)

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4. Disguise Your Source of Income: Never reveal that your wealth actually comes
from your followers pockets; make it seem to come from the truth of your
methods.

Im not really with that mainstream thing. As you see we went and made our
own company, Roc-A-Fella Records. We stepped away from the industry, we dont
depend on the industry for nothing.
- Jay-Z (1995 -archive footage- 2007)

5. Set Up an Us-Versus-Them Dynamic: Make sure your followers believe they
are part of an exclusive club, unified by a bond of common goals. Then
manufacture a notion of a devious enemy out to ruin you.

If you dont play my stuff on the radio, its going [to] be heard.
- Jay-Z (1995 -archive footage- 2007)

The charlatan achieves his great power by simply opening a possibility for
men to believe what they already want to believe . . . the credulous cannot keep at
a distance; they crowd around the wonder worker, entering his personal aura,
surrendering themselves to illusion with a heavenly solemnly, like cattle.
- Grete de Francesco

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The Three Types of Legitimate Rule
Weber developed a tripartite system, in his publication The Three Types of
Legitimate Rule, which state:

Beliefs in legitimacy go beyond philosophy and contribute to state stability and
authority. All rulers have an explanation for their superiority; an explanation that can
be commonly accepted during a crisis can [also] be questioned.
(Bendix 1977, p.294)

Here are three categories of Max Webers legitimization strategy, ideal types in
typology terms, which justify the right to rule:

Charismatic Domination is based upon the charisma of the leader, who shows they
possess the right to lead by virtue of magical powers, prophecy and heroism. Followers
respect charismatic leaders right to lead because of their unique qualities, not because
of any tradition or legal rules. Officials almost always are those who have shown
personal devotion to the ruler, and those who possess their own charisma. (Bendix
1977, p.295)

Legal Domination is a system of rules that is applied administratively to and judicially
in accordance with known principles. The persons who administer these rules are
appointed or elected by legal procedures. Superiors are subject to rules that limit their
powers, separate their private lives from official duty and require written
documentation. (Bendix 1977, p.294)

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Traditional Domination is based upon a system where authority is legitimate because
it has always existed. People in power usually enjoy it because they have inherited it.
Officials consist of either personal retainers (in a patrimonial regime, which is a
governance whereby all power flows directly from the leader effectively blending the
private and public sectors) or of loyal personal allies, such as vassals (those who enter
into mutual obligation with the monarch, usually of military support or mutual
protection, in exchange for certain guarantees
3
) or tributary lords (in a feudal regime).
Their prerogative is usually similar to those of the ruler above them, just reduced in
scale, and they are too often selected on the basis of inheritance. (Bendix 1977, p.295)
I strongly believe - through research and observation - that these theories are relative
to Hip Hop, the personalities, and the procedures some of these artists implement
when operating their creative enterprises.

Max Webers theories are also relative to structuralism by the rationale of semiology,
the use of signs and symbols to create a whole new meaning. Modern popular
recording artists are applying these theories to their music, and iconography, to create
a culture around them; culminating in the audience they capture worshipping their
charismatic sensibility, which in turn legitimizes their claim to authority. As these
artists become more upwardly mobile, they are accepted on a broad social scale,
becoming much more conventional in the sense that their rise from an
unconventional foundation becomes widely accepted.
Once their social mobility has reached the heights of reverence, these popular
personalities are not only idolized, but deified to the point where they influence

3
F. L. Ganshof, "Benefice and Vassalage in the Age of Charlemagne" Cambridge
Historical Journal 6.2 "1939, p.147!75#
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spheres outside of popular culture - on a global scale in the realms of business,
fashion and entertainment. Their influence is widespread as they use all means of
communication to sell not only themselves, but also the products they happen to
endorse. Some of these artists become the face of fashion, technology, sports,
entertainment, and food products, because they cover every possible angle of
consumption they themselves become the lifestyle, the rapper is no longer someone
revered for their wordplay and lyrical prowess as in pre millennia rap of old the
millennium rapper is the mogul, the brand, the lifestyle, the charismatic authority.

Shawn Jay-Z Carters operation at Roc-A-Fella records was very traditional. Jay-Z
was Roc-A-Fella records, as he was the sole artist who kept the ship afloat. Jay-Z
employed artists onto the Roc-A-Fella roster, although these artists were often
pushed in the direction of becoming feudal lords, running their own enterprises,
which were in alignment with the core values of Roc-A-Fella records, and Jay-Z. The
operations were in accordance with the core Roc-A-Fella business model; one main
artist who is the face of the brand, a host of tributary artists foot soldiers, who would
fly the flag and keep the company relevant whilst the face of the brand was below the
radar conjuring up a new campaign. These feudal imprints operated on a smaller
scale. Examples of these record labels are State Property and Diplomats, both
tributaries of Roc-A-Fella records.
A majority of the employees at Roc-A-Fella records were childhood friends of Shawn
Carter, often those who were of a certain stature in his criminal enterprise as these
were trusted associates, loyal personal allies.

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According to Max Webers paper entitled The Sociology of Religion, first published in
German as Religionssoziologie, from Wirtscaft and Gesellscaft 1922, prophets could
be defined as individual bearers of charisma, who by virtue of their mission, proclaim
a religious doctrine or divine commandment. Weber also went on to state that no
radical distinction would be drawn between a renewer of religion who preaches an
older revelation, actual or supposititious, and a founder of religion who claims to
bring completely new deliverances. The two types merge into one another. This is the
case with the deification of popular culture, as the general public worship a recording
artist, or commodity, due to its likeable qualities, some of those being that which the
audience wished they had themselves.
The doctrine of popular culture is acceptance, being accepted, and followers of the
culture aspire to become the personality they idolise because there is a high factor of
attainability from someone, the object of worship, who walked the path beforehand
and worked their way upwards. (Weber 1968: p.253)
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Conclusion

According to Raymond Williams (1993: 256), the difficulty about the idea of culture
is that we are continually forced to extend it, until it becomes almost identical with
our whole common life. Think about when recording artists just recorded and wrote
music, which turned into performances and touring, evolving into recording still and
moving image. This chain of events created a chain reaction of extension. Not only
did it inspire a following, a culture, and an identity because people wanted to
become these recording artists, they wanted to emulate their style, their speech, and
their demeanour it also reinforced and expanded as technology advanced.

My main concern when investigating, and researching both the deities and theories, is
whether the object of admiration utilises mass media, propaganda, technological, and
the many methods available to create an idealised and heroic public image, through
unquestioning flattery and praise. (Weber 1968: p.253-254)
I researched the theories, old and new, to discover whether there were parallels in the
application of the theories and who had employed them.
The history of the idea of culture is a record of our reactions, in thought and feeling,
to the changed conditions of our common life. Our meaning of culture is a response
to the events, which our meanings of industry and democracy most evidently define.
The conditions were created and have been modified by men. The history of the idea
of culture is a record of our meanings and our definitions, but these, in turn, are only
to be understood within the context of our actions. (Williams 1993: p.295)

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Kleins ideas enlightened me to parallels of the entertainment and manufacturing
industries, once upon a time record labels used to develop acts and artists, put out
their records and build a longstanding relationship. Nowadays it seems that the record
labels have become like the corporations of the twentieth century bloated, so theyd
rather sign a brand; an artist who they can earn from not only record sales, but
endorsements, licensing, merchandise and advertising. It was amazing because the
more I delved deeper into Klein, the more I realised I realised that popular culture is
arguably one of the biggest exports in western countries. Its also a reflection on its
future, so a plan of action needs to be put in place otherwise the youth of tomorrow
will aspire to become brands, instead of artisans, civil servants, and model citizens.
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1986)
Barthes, R. (1957) Mythologies. Translated by Jonathan Cape. (Vintage: 2000)
Belsey, C.: Poststructuralism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press: 2002)
Bendix, R.: Max Weber: An Intellectual Portrait (University of California Press: 1977)
Bennet, A., Shank. B, and Toynbee, J.: The Popular Music Studies Reader (Routledge:
2007)
A. Berger, A.: Popular Culture Genres: Theories and Texts (SAGE Publications Ltd:
1992)
Berger, J.: Ways Of Seeing (British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books:
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Classic Albums: Jay-Z: Reasonable Doubt (2007) Directed by J. Marre [DVD]. London:
Eagle Rock Entertainment Ltd, Roc A-Fella Records Inc.
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Paramount Pictures. Roc A-Fella Records Inc.
L. Ganshof, F.: Benefice and Vassalage in the Age of Charlemagne (Cambridge
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1980)
Greene, R. & Elffers, J.: The 48 Laws of Power (Profile Books Ltd: 2004)
Hawkes, T.: Structuralism and Semiotics (Clays Ltd, St Ives plc: 1977)
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J. Lane, R.: Jean Baudrillard (Routledge: 2000)
A. Lewis, L.: The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture And Popular Media (Routledge: 1992)
Longhurst, B.: Popular Music and Society (Polity Press: 2007)
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West, K. (2004) All Falls Down. New York: Roc-A-Fella Records.
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Acknowledgements
4


Thank you to all the family and friends who supported me throughout this time of
difficulty. Losing a parent in your second semester is enough to put anyone off of
completing their degree but I guess that gave me the strength to put my heart and
soul into achieving the best possible results. I embarked on my journey to university
with the motive of investing in a home studio with my first student loan payment, I
had no confidence that I could do my dissertation when I got to, well I didnt know I
ever would make it, yet here I am still In the library at 0453am on deadline day,
about to submit a document of research that has taught me so much, not only about
myself but my culture, Hip Hop.

Thank you also to the University of Westminster for blessing me with some great and
inspirational tutors; Luke Hannam, Atar Shafighian, Mykaell Riley, and Joel
Harrison to name a few.

4
Acknowledgement added on Tues 13
th
May 2014 to show appreciation.

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