Jeffries, M.P. (2011) Thug Life: race, gender and the meaning of hip-hop. ISBN 10: 0226395855 : Book Review

Jeffries, M.P. (2011) Thug Life: race, gender and the meaning of hip-hop. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (2011), 274 pages, ISBN 10: 0226395855

In Thug Life, Michael P. Jeffries investigates what is implied when an oppositional subculture becomes essential for the mainstream. He does so by making sense of the ramifications of hip-hop’s development from the roads (streets) to the corporate boardroom. He asks the central question, what is the impact of this cultural and commercial shift for the resistant nature of hip-hop music? While the book was first published a decade ago, it provides a very timely narrative on current scholarship in cultural sociology, popular culture, and cultural values, through a black lens.

The book sits at the nexus between two interconnected and interrelated advancements in hip-hop culture: first, the rise of the thug (gangster) imagery and concomitant spread of idealistic cool black masculinity. Secondly, the mainstreaming and commodification of hip-hop music and culture by the corporate entertainment industry, with consumption of rap and hip-hop by white audiences and fans.

The development of ‘Black Coolness’ (vs. Black Posture), which sits at the heart of Thug Life, is documented well by Jeffries. He notes the romanticised position of ‘black coolness’ in American society in the 10–15 years leading up to the mid-1990s and its later popularism among young white men who have evolved into the hip-hop listening audience members.

Thug Life is timely for the Black Lives Matter movement but offers much more. It is essential reading for anyone looking to navigate and understand the complex terrain of black culture. Drawing on rich ethnography, interviews, song lyrics, and music visuals, Jeffries is able to explore the intersection of black and white hip-hop audience members and wider aspects of race, gender, and class. Jeffries provides an insightful and essential contribution by creating a space that gives voice to young black men on issues connected to race, gender, and hip-hop. Jeffries’ unique contribution is in deconstructing notions of ‘Black Male Coolness’ and his critique of Richard Majors and Janet Billson’s (1992) controversial work on the ‘Cool Posture Theory’ of black masculinity (see a more recent articulation by Bilsons, 2018). Majors and Billson’s hypothesis that cool behaviours emerge early and at “low frequency” in low-income black males than in other groups, with an associated pressure to physically and emotionally dominate and control, is quickly dismissed. Jeffries robust rebuttal has given way to other, more recent contributions in the Black Literature e.g. Unnever and Chouhy, (2020). As he argues, Cool Pose offers a restricted view of black masculinity; hypothetical, and with no attempt to decipher the emotional lives of black communities on the ground.

In the second half of the book, Jeffries presents an important defence that in hip-hop, the thug (gangster) instead plays out as an “intricate cool” image, which is inherently relaxed rather than confrontational: (i) through associations of solidarity rather than individualised power; (ii) entertainers’ use of black authenticity as a means to establish their social universe but in a way that is not oppositional to mainstream ideas of success or status; (iii) use of narratives communicating vulnerability and a desire for adoration, which are contradictory to cool posture poising.

Jeffries work is perhaps less effective at representing popular hip-hop’s political potential. While he frames hip-hop as a New Social Movement (NSMs) to argue that, the audience for hip-hop comprises of collective identity with a specific critical perspective, this could be further developed. Jeffries contends that hip-hop with its emphasis on shared social, cultural identities might offer a space for youth social change. Yet, it is by no means clear that there is sufficient genuine social and cultural interests that unite the audience, with black followers articulating elsewhere that hip-hop music and culture are intricately bound with lived experiences of blackness. Jeffries does, however, make an important distinction here between a white perspective of hip-hop as an aesthetic and cosmetic accessory, and the black follower’s identification with black history, culture, and ingrained struggles as an individual of colour in America.

While Jeffries’ contribution is ultimately a male one, which excludes female perspectives as “non-active members” of hip-hop, his work nevertheless is invaluable to wider offerings to race, sociology, and hip-hop studies. Thug Life adds depth to our understanding of hip-hop as a subculture and its value among racially diverse audiences, and the way this has evolved into mainstream culture. His work also provides a sophisticated, and substantive account of a growing social movement that otherwise might present as a complex terrain. While Jeffries’ work is a decade old, his work continues to provide an essential introduction to black research and black culture.

References

Bilson, J. M. (2018) Pathways to Manhood: Young black males struggle for identity. New York: Routledge

Majors, R. and Bilson, J.M. (1992) Cool Pose: The dilemmas of Black Manhood in America. New York: Lexington

Unnever, J.D. and Chouhy, C. (2020) Race, Racism and the CoolPose4: Exploring Black and White male masculinity, in Social Problems pp1–23, DOI: 10.1093/socpro/spaa010