Literature Application – Jun Hyung Park
Subcultures are the subdivisions of a culture organized around shared interests and practices (Hare and Baker 2017: 1). Subcultural capital and style are couple of the key concepts relating to subcultures (Hare and Baker 2017: 2). I will argue that Jay Park is a dominant figure in the Korean hip-hop subculture, by relating the two key concepts to him directly.
Subcultural capital refers to how members of a subculture accumulate status by using knowledge to participate in the hip-hop genre (Hare and Baker 2017: 2). By this definition, Jay Park’s subcultural capital is quite significant. His knowledge and experience in hip-hop ranges from being part of a breakdancing crew as a teenager, to releasing multiple albums featuring the most prominent artists from Korea and the US. Most importantly, he has deep insider knowledge of the Korean hip-hop industry as a founder of AOMG, one of Korea’s most successful hip-hop labels. His celebrity status within the Korean hip-hop community is testament to the vast subcultural capital he accumulated over his career.
Style is a specific type of subcultural capital which is how a member of a subculture signifies their membership through symbols and objects. That is, members of a subculture “wear particular fashion styles to reflect distinct cultural identities” (Hare and Baker 2017: 2). According to Hare and Baker’s research, styles of hip-hop artists and fans closely align with current Korean hip-hop fashion trends. This includes brands such as Supreme, Nike, and Adidas, and certain types of clothing such as hoodies, sneakers, and snapbacks (Hare and Baker 2017: 5). Jay Park is often seen wearing these items, which makes him both a promoter and a member of the subculture. In a way, Jay Park uses fashion to “claim the cultural terrain” in the modern hip-hop scene, where certain fashion items double as status symbols, and are “surrounded with a web of social significance” (Hare and Baker 2017: 2).
Written by: Jun Hyung Park
Bibliography
Hare, Sarah, and Andrea Baker. “Keepin’ It Real: Authenticity, Commercialization, and the Media in Korean Hip Hop.” SAGE Open 7, no. 2 (2017): 1-12.