The Intersection of Pop Culture and Economics: Lil' Wayne & AT&T

Often times we look at the economic function of pop culture, but fail to look at the cultural economy, which refers to the ways in which we circulate meanings. The latter is more of a symbolic function. It’s often difficult to separate the cultural from the economic as they have become increasingly intertwined in our postmodern society. For example, we tend to judge the success of a movie based on the revenue it garnered during a particular week or several week period. As such we avoid discussing aesthetics (associated meanings); rather, it’s all about the money. In a capitalist economy, we shouldn’t be surprised by such a close connection between the two: culture and finance. Having said that, aesthetics seems to take a back seat to the economics of pop culture. Perhaps in our contemporary culture it’s too difficult to judge something as good or bad; such concepts seem to have lost their meaning, especially when audiences are so fractured - good for whom and bad for whom? And so when it comes to pop music the connections between culture and commerce run deep. Last week I wrote about Bruce Springsteen’s massive effort to promote his new album. Tonight AT&T and Lil’ Wayne are teaming up to stream live material from his new album. Traditional means of promotion no longer exist (spectacle is the only way to get noticed), and when one company so dominates the radio airwaves, it’s difficult unless approved by the programming committee, for artists to break through the barriers. So pop music becomes integrated into other forms; what we might refer to in pop culture studies as “intertextuality”: a pop song becomes the "bed" in a product commercial.

At first, I thought AT&T and Lil’ Wayne made strange bedfellows, until I remembered that until 2001, AT&T was one of the largest distributors of pornography in the country (In 2001, under pressure, they sold that business to Comcast). Lil’ Wayne is incredibly popular: he’s everywhere it seems. But Lil’ Wayne’s music is coarse by any standards, and he continues a legacy of misogyny. I admit this is my two-generation removed assessment, and so I recognize it doesn’t hold much meaning or significance. I know that many listeners don’t pay attention to the lyrics, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t available for those who want to take a closer look. The song Lillipop, is a good example: rife with language that debases women. If most people don’t listen to the lyrics, does that mean there is no meaning? Perhaps not. I have argued for a while that meaning has given way to something else – experience. And, experience can be meaningful or not. So the question isn’t: is Lil’ Wayne’s music good or bad, but how do you experience that music? We’ve also learned that it isn’t the lyrics themselves that convey meaning, in the case of AT&T, a certain validation comes along with the live webcast of Lil’ Wayne’s new work (what we call "text in context"). One could argue that AT&T’s target audience is one that purchases a lot of wireless service, and so the connection is fitting. But in sponsoring the live streaming performance, the corporation is, again, displaying a certain hegemony over a culture that is rife with contradiction.