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Written by Urban D.
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The Urban Mindset
"Connecting with the new pop-culture" by Tommy Kyllonen aka Urban D.
Redefining the term URBAN.
A. In the past this term generally referred to inner-city areas where statistics of poverty, crime, and minorities were higher. This has changed in many cities with redevelopment and gentrification. Many urban areas have now become hip, yuppie, and very expensive with condos and lofts where the hood used to be. In many cities the hood has now moved to the first ring of the suburbs outside of the actual city limits.
"In the past decade things have gotten a lot better in many of the nation's inner-cities. Studies show remarkable declines in the concentration of poverty in urban slums." Dennis Cauchon - USA Today 5/31/03
B. Urban is now more of a mindset than it is a location. Hip-Hop, MTV, and the internet have pipelined this lifestyle to the suburbs and beyond.
"Hip-Hop - its slang, style and influence - is everywhere. Hip-Hop hasn't just reached the mainstream, it owns it. It continues to dominate the music charts - in Oct. 2003, it filled the entire top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, a first for any music genre in the 45 year history of the chart." - Kristi Turnquist (newshousenews.com)
Hip-Hop has transformed pop culture and vice-versa" - newshousenews.com
I. Hip-Hop Demographics
A. Corporate America now heavily uses Hip-Hop to market their products to the 18-35 year old demographic.
"At a time when popularity in the SUV is waning, the new Jeep Commander will be rolled out with an urban, hip-hop marketing campaign. Chrysler is working with Missy Elliot. Hip-Hop stars such as Snoop and 50 Cent have helped propel the images of vehicles such as Chrysler 300 and competitors like the Cadillac Escalade." - Aug. 1st, 2005 Sarah Webster - Detroit Free Press
B. The Hip-Hop demographic reaches even beyond 35 years old!
"In 2003 24% of Vibe's 1,856,000 readers were over the age of 35." - Vibe.com
C. This culture developed in the South Bronx in the 1970s and quickly dominated urban landscapes in the 1980s. In the 1990s it broke through into the mainstream even more, and today Hip-Hop defines mainstream Pop Culture.
"Hip-Hop is celebrating its 30th Birthday, and it's already the soundtrack of 2 Generations and counting." In a few years - can it really be? Rap will be old enough to have its own Mick Jaggers and B.B. Kings." - Jim Beckerman - NorthJersey.com
II. Church Implications
A. When it comes to using Hip-Hop as a tool to reach people, most church leaders assume it's just for the youth group ...why is that?
"The average size of congregations continues to shrink, so that proportionally, many more are no longer financially viable. On both sides of the Atlantic the 'under thirty five generations' are turning away from church at an alarming rate." - Biblesociety.org
B. In most metropolitan areas if you don't engage this culture you're actually excluding the majority of people in these emerging generations. This is something we need to wrestle with as the church.
C. This crowd is looking for community and a place to belong and identify with. With over 80 Million members Myspace.com is an indicator that younger generations are still looking for community and identity.
+ Jesus' last words to his disciples in Matt. 28:19, and in Acts 1:8 both dealt with their mission of spreading his gospel. This is the very essence of what the church is supposed to be about!
D. This culture and this age group consider themselves to be very spiritual and they are seeking, but their search looks much different.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 09 August 2007 )
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