“The Tanning of America: How Hip-hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy” by Steve Stoute. Gotham Press. 320 pages. $26.
By Adera Causey
Race and class blending in America today has impacted nearly every facet of our society with marketers leading the way in carrying messages across race and class lines. Steve Stoute explores this role in the development of cultural mashups in “The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture that Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy.”
Once a hip-hop music executive with a notable history of success, Stoute made an early switch to marketing, an arena in which he found even greater rewards in marketing star power as it aligned to popular brands. In this role, he doggedly pursued the title of kingmaker for a stable of brands seeking credibility in urban and youth markets. While the title of the book may indicate a universal thesis, the book itself is essentially a self-reported account of Stoute’s rise as the wheeler and dealer of cultural tastemaking.
He begins the book objectively enough with a well-executed, abbreviated presentation of hip-hop history from the beats of Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash to the gender-gap closing of Mary J Blige’s sound. He discusses the power of Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin and Death Row Records, a title initially feared by the mainstream music industry. Then he moves into the way brands began to align with the hip-hop crowd, from FUBU and MAC to the less expected Hilfiger, Timberland and Adidas — placing special emphasis on the landmark role of Run D.M.C.’s “My Adidas.”