Group 8 Proposal: Hip Hop and Sneaker Culture. (Tyler G, Sage M, Sebastian. Mission statement (describe project, the what and the why, research

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Cornelius Johns
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1 Group 8 Proposal: Hip Hop and Sneaker Culture. (Tyler G, Sage M, Sebastian B, Sierra L) Mission statement (describe project, the what and the why, research question) Our project will focus on hip-hop culture s direct impact on the sneaker industry. We will look at how rap artists, celebrities, graffiti artists, bboys (break-dancer), hustlers, and athletes all influence sneaker sub culture. Before sneakers were culturally relevant they were primarily used for athletic purposes, basketball specifically. The rise of the hip-hop group Run DMC was crucial in the sneakers transition from garment to cultural staple. Our research question is thus: What events in hip hop history established the sub culture of sneakers and why? We will explore how these events helped sparked a 30 billion dollar industry and how sneakers linked to various cultural facets. We will explore how race and economic conditions played a crucial part in the creation of the sub culture of sneakers. We will contrast today s sneaker market with the original market to show the growth and evolution of the industry. Audiences (who do you want this exhibit to speak to primarily, secondarily) Our primary audience is young adults and sneaker aficionados that make up the key demographic of sneaker consumers. Although these consumers may be heavily invested in sneaker culture many of them are not aware of the origins of the industry. We feel it is essential to educate consumers and casual buyers on

2 the history of the sneaker and how the industry came to be. We will also focus on the hip-hop generation ( ) and other groups of people that came to heavily influence sneaker culture without even knowing it. Overall, we want to create an informative exhibit that will enable any level of consumer from the most obsessive sneaker collector to an outsider to comprehend the rise of the sneaker as a cultural and fashion icon. Preliminary Content Plans (how you will meet the criteria outlined below) We will focus on the history of hip-hop and how the genre transformed the sneaker industry from a solely athletic market to a lifestyle brand. We will explore how sneakers became a symbol of self-expression, and how influencers on different levels, from rappers to popular kids, created the sneaker sub culture. We will start our research by watching a documentary called Just for Kicks to give us a broad sense of the history of sneakers and how they became so culturally important. We will listen to music influenced by sneaker subculture and analyze the effects of those songs on sneaker subculture. We will explore how Songs like My Adidas- Run DMC, Air Force Ones- Nelly, Nikehead- Lexicon, and Halftime by Nas have come to influence sneaker subculture and how these songs exhibit the expansive and direct relationship between Hip-Hop and sneakers. We have already talked to two of our good friends who are very involved in the sneaker culture and know a lot about the industry and will be interviewing them for our omeka project: Jordan Huminski and Alex Kugelman, using true sneakerheads as

3 a direct source of information. Preliminary Production Schedule (related to course benchmarks and due dates) This week we will all watch the documentary Kicks. On Monday (9/29) we will further narrow our research topics and research question. We will do further research and on Wednesday (10/1) and will start outlining our proposal. We will split up the work further then and meet again on October 6 to see where we are all at and work further on the outline. The proposal is then due on Oct 10th. The next week (10/13) we will all do further research on our individual topics. We will meet on the 21st to start further organizing our research and figure out if we need to further research anything else. We decided that a great way to keep on track is to meet after class every Wednesday for 45 minutes to an hour. This will allow us to work consistently while having the flexibility to adapt if necessary. In the next two weeks we will gather both primary and secondary sources for our research. This will mostly consist of online research, but the library resources will be used to their fullest abilities. By the end of week 10 we should have our analysis and thesis well organized. we will also start adding items to our collection. Starting after this (week 11) we will start mounting and creating our exhibit. At our wednesday meeting we will bring items we want to add and also go over the items we already

4 have to see what fits best. this process should take us to the end of week 13. additional outside meeting will occur to make sure the exhibit runs smoothly and is organized. At that point, we will be ready for our presentations which will take place between the weeks 14 and 15. The benchmarks are mainly having a timeline of sneaker trends and when and how they entered the hip hop world and also where the trend is now. With that in mind, we will also want to have figured out in modern day sneaker culture how hip hop artists such as Kanye West and Pharell Williams are still influencing the culture. For this, we will have to look at how the culture changed from having sneaker companies try to break into the rap scene to rappers and hip hop artists trying to break into the sneaker game. Roles and Responsibilities (who will take the lead in certain areas, tasks though all should contribute to all sections and duties) Sierra will focus mostly on hip-hop history and fashion and how these two worlds connected. this research will begin with the history starting in the early 80s and leading to the present day. Tyler will research rappers and hip-hop artists direct influence on shoe lines. Hip Hop superstars have begun designing their own shoes in the same way Michael Jordan did, and this is changing the hip hop/ sneaker culture dynamic. Sage will focus on where the impact started. this again will start in the 80s but will focus on more the business side of it all i.e sponsorships and such. Sebastian will focus specifically on Michael Jordan

5 although we will be working on the project collectively. As stated above, we plan on working together most of the time. As for post research, we will each take part in designing the exhibit and writing the paper. How this will work is each member of the team will write their respective part of the paper, and then they will all be sent to one member (TBD) and they will edit them all into the single paper. as for the exhibit, it will work similarly. The group will send their exhibit notes and slide ideas to one member, and they will take the lead in designing the exhibit. At the wednesday meetings, both these aspects will be brought to the entire group and will be worked on by everyone, but post meeting one person will be in charge of the paper and the presentation. This will ensure that all the ideas in the presentation and the paper are homogeneous and have one clear train of thought.

HISTORY SNEAKERS TANYA SETIA SECTION - N

HISTORY SNEAKERS TANYA SETIA SECTION - N WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS OBJECT IN PARTICULAR? Sneakers have long been loved as a staple of casual fashion, transcending gender, age, and socioeconomic categories