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| according to Lee Hawkins LeBron James is a NEWBO |
Steve Stoute calls it the “Tanning” of society when he
describes how hip hop has created the effective bridging of urban cultural
ideals with what was deemed as previously being conservative fractions of
society. I recently watched known African American CNBC anchorman Lee Hawkins take
us through his detailed series which showcases young black multi-millionaires,
which he calls the NEWBOs, or the New Black Overclass. NEWBOs have a common
characteristic; they have either made their fortune through music, sports or
entertainment. Another way these NEWBOs amass great wealth is through personal
branding, which is then followed up with endorsements and cross marketing deals.
I think it’s a great period in our civilization; athletes such as Floyd Money
Mayweather are on the verge of attaining billionaire status through their God
given talents. I however have a concern regarding the NEWBOs; the majority
of them, meaning 50% and more, rely on endorsements as a way of amassing
their fortune. The black community seems to be an advertisers dream. Hip hop
has become a culture of destructive consumerism. Please allow me to give an
illustration?
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| Diddy's deal with Diageo to be the face of Ceroc has made him very rich |
In 2009, Dr. Dre’s record executive Jimmy Iovine teamed up
with Monster, a sound hardware components manufacturer, to bring us a line of headphones which retail at about USD 300. The problem here isn’t that these headphones retail at such a high price, and indeed the price is too high,
instead I deem the problem here to be that a respected hip hop figure like Dre
was the face of these headphones. The existence of these NEWBOs in the hip hop
community has created destructive consumerism. Corporates view influential hip
hop figures as an easy access point to millions of young black people, most of
which are from relatively disenfranchised backgrounds.
With all due respect the NEWBOs do make me proud and I can’t
sideline their hard work in attaining such a status. But here’s what I would also
like to see; in the NEWBO top 10, how about we have a black person who invented
an iPad or one who conceptualized and coded a Twitter? In other words, how about we have someone who owns and represents the
perceived ideals of the products that they sell? A Nike endorsement means that Nike
sees their values and ideals being represented through you, which is why they’ll
cancel the deal if you misrepresent them. The hip hop community needs to be mature in its approach
and realize that this culture has the power to influence cross cultural ideals.If we took ownership of our branded 'culture', would corporates call the shots on us?
