International refugee crises, gentrification, and intracommunal violence are all byproducts of si... more International refugee crises, gentrification, and intracommunal violence are all byproducts of similar manifestations of de jure segregation, disenfranchisement, and global/local hegemony. Cultural representations struggle to make sense of the larger geo-political forces that create such destabilization and further displace peoples. These cultural products serve as bottom-up responses to the top-down processes of white supremacy and global capitalism. Enter drill rap: Just as global refugee crises in the Middle East often come out of vacuums of power left by decades of destabilization over resources and power by the West, much of the intracommunal violence propagated in drill are the results of decades of colonization and over-militarization. Activists speak to the narrative myths that hinder cross-cultural and mass mobilization while reiterating the importance of dismantling oppressive systems to achieve true liberation.
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct
Art and activism have always gone hand in hand. Chicago activists use various artistic mediums to... more Art and activism have always gone hand in hand. Chicago activists use various artistic mediums to push the resurgence forward. From traditional paint on canvas to informative and beautiful zines to community corner spoken word, creative narratives are employed to educate, express, and cope. With authenticity and expression at the center, this episode also unpacks drill as a type of misunderstood art in-and-of-itself. What would not conventionally be considered movement art, the subgenre discusses the ills of disenfranchised Black and Brown communities in a totally different way, often times under a prideful ownership or coping mindset, both dealing with larger structural problems and interpersonal or intracommunal affects.
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
Drill rappers and activists discuss levels of civic engagement and the effect (or lack there of) ... more Drill rappers and activists discuss levels of civic engagement and the effect (or lack there of) recent elections and local politics have had on their worlds. As activists have seen a resurgence in salient activism, they warn that the new energy need be directed toward the systemic and social conditions that resulted in a Trump Presidency rather than the man himself. Furthermore, celebrity culture and personality politics in general distract from the more complicated, more nuanced reality of political-processes and narrative change both from within and outside of the electoral system. Interviews originally recorded in March-April 2017.
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
Drill rappers, activists, and everyone in between discuss their personal feelings about the contr... more Drill rappers, activists, and everyone in between discuss their personal feelings about the controversial nickname for Chicago, "Chiraq", that compares the violence in the city with the war in Iraq. Some hate it, some deem it appropriate, some view it as a broader diagnosis of neo-imperialism on black and brown communities, foreign and domestic. Its problematic framing paints the city with a broad brush, further exposing a white narrative of Black violence devoid of systemic inequality and racism. However, perception is reality for those who experience the day-to-day violence and lack of resources the term eludes. Whatever the opinion, this episode shows that "Chiraq" is not as binary a term in its meaning as the concatenated nickname implies.
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
SoapBox Productions and Organizing
SoapBoxPO.com | IG/T/FB @SoapBoxP
Drill rap is a Chicago-based, originally underground, subgenre of gangsta rap. The gritty and agg... more Drill rap is a Chicago-based, originally underground, subgenre of gangsta rap. The gritty and aggressive subgenre deals with violence and bravado, and urban street life. The "activist resurgence" references the current movement of grassroots activism primarily led by young black, brown, and/or politically left individuals organizing primarily around race, policing, poverty, economic equality, criminal justice, and LGBTQ rights. This study seeks to understand the creation, meaning, perspectives, and potential connections between drill rap music and the activist resurgence in Chicago over the past five years. It focuses on contemporary Chicago as an intentional place for the resurgence of these two formations of cultural and political resistance during relatively the same time period. The qualitative research—semi-structured in-depth interviews with drill rappers, underground music professionals, and activists—examines how authenticity, community, and other values the subjects deem important are impacted and promoted via technology and social media. Though differences exist between the groups, the participants present a strong sense of identity in authentic, grassroots narratives, which they propel to the mainstream via uncompromised self-production of commodified stigma, inequality, and cultural pride. Hage’s (1998) inclusion/exclusion dialectic serves as a relational framework for the formations’ function as resistance with respect to time, place, and meaning. This situates drill rap and the activist resurgence in a social, cultural, and economic matrix that pushes the creators to barter authentic social capital (Bourdieu 1986) often by way of social media and mobile technology in the advanced attention economy (Tufekci 2013).
Gentrification is a complex global development that finds its place at the intersection of urban ... more Gentrification is a complex global development that finds its place at the intersection of urban geography, global capitalism, public policy and the nuanced idea of home. For generations, these forces have shaped and prodded how space is managed, commodified and valued by social elites and individual agents alike. Lees, Slater and Wyly (2010: 3) define gentrification as “a process of neighborhood regeneration by relatively affluent incomers, who [often] displace lower-income groups and invest substantially in improvements to homes, the quality of which has deteriorated.” In order for the process of gentrification to begin, there need be a space worthy of gentrifying. This piece will explain how public policy at the beginning of neoliberalism later coalesces with fictive capital within financial institutions in a advanced capitalist framework to devalue, deindustrialize and destabilize urban communities of color.
What's Beef? examines the reality behind some of the more criticized images/themes of hip-hop, sp... more What's Beef? examines the reality behind some of the more criticized images/themes of hip-hop, specifically gangsta rap. It is an investigation into the projected image of "street culturalism" (violence, disregard for authority and other gangsta rap credos) and how it is socially, politically, geographically, economically and racially constructed by much larger societal problems (i.e. inequalities in housing, lack of resources, poor education, institutionalized racism, global capitalism, the “War on Drugs”, etc.). This leftist response to the common criticisms of American rap music takes a closer look at what larger structural societal ills are present and often ignored in order to keep the focus on the misunderstood genre of rap.
International refugee crises, gentrification, and intracommunal violence are all byproducts of si... more International refugee crises, gentrification, and intracommunal violence are all byproducts of similar manifestations of de jure segregation, disenfranchisement, and global/local hegemony. Cultural representations struggle to make sense of the larger geo-political forces that create such destabilization and further displace peoples. These cultural products serve as bottom-up responses to the top-down processes of white supremacy and global capitalism. Enter drill rap: Just as global refugee crises in the Middle East often come out of vacuums of power left by decades of destabilization over resources and power by the West, much of the intracommunal violence propagated in drill are the results of decades of colonization and over-militarization. Activists speak to the narrative myths that hinder cross-cultural and mass mobilization while reiterating the importance of dismantling oppressive systems to achieve true liberation.
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct
Art and activism have always gone hand in hand. Chicago activists use various artistic mediums to... more Art and activism have always gone hand in hand. Chicago activists use various artistic mediums to push the resurgence forward. From traditional paint on canvas to informative and beautiful zines to community corner spoken word, creative narratives are employed to educate, express, and cope. With authenticity and expression at the center, this episode also unpacks drill as a type of misunderstood art in-and-of-itself. What would not conventionally be considered movement art, the subgenre discusses the ills of disenfranchised Black and Brown communities in a totally different way, often times under a prideful ownership or coping mindset, both dealing with larger structural problems and interpersonal or intracommunal affects.
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
Drill rappers and activists discuss levels of civic engagement and the effect (or lack there of) ... more Drill rappers and activists discuss levels of civic engagement and the effect (or lack there of) recent elections and local politics have had on their worlds. As activists have seen a resurgence in salient activism, they warn that the new energy need be directed toward the systemic and social conditions that resulted in a Trump Presidency rather than the man himself. Furthermore, celebrity culture and personality politics in general distract from the more complicated, more nuanced reality of political-processes and narrative change both from within and outside of the electoral system. Interviews originally recorded in March-April 2017.
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
Drill rappers, activists, and everyone in between discuss their personal feelings about the contr... more Drill rappers, activists, and everyone in between discuss their personal feelings about the controversial nickname for Chicago, "Chiraq", that compares the violence in the city with the war in Iraq. Some hate it, some deem it appropriate, some view it as a broader diagnosis of neo-imperialism on black and brown communities, foreign and domestic. Its problematic framing paints the city with a broad brush, further exposing a white narrative of Black violence devoid of systemic inequality and racism. However, perception is reality for those who experience the day-to-day violence and lack of resources the term eludes. Whatever the opinion, this episode shows that "Chiraq" is not as binary a term in its meaning as the concatenated nickname implies.
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
SoapBox Productions and Organizing
SoapBoxPO.com | IG/T/FB @SoapBoxP
Drill rap is a Chicago-based, originally underground, subgenre of gangsta rap. The gritty and agg... more Drill rap is a Chicago-based, originally underground, subgenre of gangsta rap. The gritty and aggressive subgenre deals with violence and bravado, and urban street life. The "activist resurgence" references the current movement of grassroots activism primarily led by young black, brown, and/or politically left individuals organizing primarily around race, policing, poverty, economic equality, criminal justice, and LGBTQ rights. This study seeks to understand the creation, meaning, perspectives, and potential connections between drill rap music and the activist resurgence in Chicago over the past five years. It focuses on contemporary Chicago as an intentional place for the resurgence of these two formations of cultural and political resistance during relatively the same time period. The qualitative research—semi-structured in-depth interviews with drill rappers, underground music professionals, and activists—examines how authenticity, community, and other values the subjects deem important are impacted and promoted via technology and social media. Though differences exist between the groups, the participants present a strong sense of identity in authentic, grassroots narratives, which they propel to the mainstream via uncompromised self-production of commodified stigma, inequality, and cultural pride. Hage’s (1998) inclusion/exclusion dialectic serves as a relational framework for the formations’ function as resistance with respect to time, place, and meaning. This situates drill rap and the activist resurgence in a social, cultural, and economic matrix that pushes the creators to barter authentic social capital (Bourdieu 1986) often by way of social media and mobile technology in the advanced attention economy (Tufekci 2013).
Gentrification is a complex global development that finds its place at the intersection of urban ... more Gentrification is a complex global development that finds its place at the intersection of urban geography, global capitalism, public policy and the nuanced idea of home. For generations, these forces have shaped and prodded how space is managed, commodified and valued by social elites and individual agents alike. Lees, Slater and Wyly (2010: 3) define gentrification as “a process of neighborhood regeneration by relatively affluent incomers, who [often] displace lower-income groups and invest substantially in improvements to homes, the quality of which has deteriorated.” In order for the process of gentrification to begin, there need be a space worthy of gentrifying. This piece will explain how public policy at the beginning of neoliberalism later coalesces with fictive capital within financial institutions in a advanced capitalist framework to devalue, deindustrialize and destabilize urban communities of color.
What's Beef? examines the reality behind some of the more criticized images/themes of hip-hop, sp... more What's Beef? examines the reality behind some of the more criticized images/themes of hip-hop, specifically gangsta rap. It is an investigation into the projected image of "street culturalism" (violence, disregard for authority and other gangsta rap credos) and how it is socially, politically, geographically, economically and racially constructed by much larger societal problems (i.e. inequalities in housing, lack of resources, poor education, institutionalized racism, global capitalism, the “War on Drugs”, etc.). This leftist response to the common criticisms of American rap music takes a closer look at what larger structural societal ills are present and often ignored in order to keep the focus on the misunderstood genre of rap.
Uploads
Videos by Caullen Hudson
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
SoapBox Productions and Organizing
SoapBoxPO.com | IG/T/FB @SoapBoxP
Papers by Caullen Hudson
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
Chicago Drill 'n Activism
Chi-DNA.com | T: @ChiDrillandAct | #ChiDNA
SoapBox Productions and Organizing
SoapBoxPO.com | IG/T/FB @SoapBoxP