Rick Ross in a Reebok commercial. The company cut ties with the rapper over his offensive lyrics.Advertisers, theoretically, love hip-hop. They love it until it gets loud and messy, challenges taste and morals, causes offense. And then advertisers pull away.
Three examples of this response have emerged in the last few weeks: Reebok severing ties with Rick Ross and PepsiCo with Lil Wayne, both over lyrics; and PepsiCo, again, ending its relationship with Tyler, the Creator, who had been directing a series of commercials for Mountain Dew.
In a conversation, the critic Jon Caramanica and the host Ben Ratliff discuss commercial interests versus art, generational divides, what hip-hop should do and be, and to whom is it beholden. A thread in these conflicts have been the indirect dialogues between older black leaders â€" including the Rev. Al Sharpton and the author and academic Boyce Watkins â€" and rappers like Wayne and Tyler.
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Jon Caramanica on Lil Wayne and other rappers running afoul of propriety.
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
Tracks by artists discussed this week. (Spotify users can also find it here.)
