Tribal Marketing - Karl Kani by nienke_ijtsma@hotmail.com

THE REMIXERS OF MEANING

NiENKE IJTSMA LAURENS MEISTER 1

FASHION MARKETING & RETAIL INTL. FASHION & MANAGEMENT AMSTERDAM FASHION INSTITUTE

CONTENT

ABSTRACT This report zooms in on the existence of a neo-tribe which is called “the remixers of meaning”. People within this creative micro-culture grew up within the 90ies and early 2000’s Hip Hop culture, and still express a close affiliation with Hip Hop at that time. The micro-culture however is also very innovative, expressive and controversial. We believe that “the remixers of meaning” could be a valuable group for Karl Kani’s future marketing strategy. The brand was established as a Hip Hop apparel brand in the 90’s, so it has a strong nostalgic connection with the neo-tribe. However, the image of Karl Kani is not like it used to be in the 90ies. It seems as if it is hard for them to find a right balance between their strong heritage and modernity. In the end we come up with three ideas that brings Karl Kani and “the remixers of meaning” together for a valuable new marketing approach.

Introduction........................................................................................................................... 1.1 Research Objective, Methodology& Terminology.................................................. 1.2 Limitations Of Research.............................................................................................. 2. The Brand.......................................................................................................................... 2.1 Make Karl Kani great again!........................................................................................... 2.2 Challenges To Conquer............................................................................................... 3.The Tribe & Hip Hop......................................................................................................... 3.1 The Essence Of The Tribe: The Return Of The Remix......................................... 4.Creative Expressions, Stylistic Elements & Places.................................................. 4.1 The Sound Of Music...................................................................................................... 4.2 Clothing, Hair & Accessoires...................................................................................... 4.3 Styling.............................................................................................................................. 4.4 Dancing............................................................................................................................ 4.5 Places.............................................................................................................................. 5. Beliefs, Customs & Behaviour...................................................................................... 5.1 Finding Comfort In Shame.......................................................................................... 5.2 Nostalgia For Pop-Culture.......................................................................................... 5.3 Symbols & Language: It’s Lit..................................................................................... 6.1 Final Thoughts & Further Perspectives.................................................................... References............................................................................................................................

5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 8 11 13 14 14 15 15 15 16 17 20

Appendix............................................................................................................................... 1. Interview With Karl Kani................................................................................................. 2. Tribe Analysis Check Up 1............................................................................................. 3. Instagram Anlaysis.......................................................................................................... 4. Interview Transcript Doron............................................................................................ 5. Field Note 3..................................................................................................................... 6. Caribbeanbeauty With Mascara And Braided Hair................................................. 7. Caribbeanbeauty With Socks “Suck My Dick”.......................................................... 8. Caribbeanbeauty Messes With The Teacher Who Gave Him A 5,3................... 9. Caribbeanbeauty Purposely Dressing Very Outdated.......................................... 10. Gogolupin Instagram................................................................................................... 11. Gogolupin International............................................................................................... 12. Field Note 4.................................................................................................................... 13. Gogolupin Feeling Cosy.............................................................................................. 14. Use Of Feminine Symbols......................................................................................... 15. Tribe Diameters.............................................................................................................. 16. ninety6sam.....................................................................................................................

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INTRODUCTION According to the western publics most popular encyclopaedia -namely Wikipedia- a remix is a piece of media that is altered from its original state1. The striking characteristic of a remix is, that it appropriates and changes other materials to create something new. The idea of the “remix” gained just as much popularity in the Hip Hop culture of the 90ies and the early 2000’s as the clothing brand Karl Kani did in this respective time period.

In the following research report we will communicate the findings of our research on a micro-culture that we dubbed “the remixers”. This research is conducted in order to create a marketing approach that will hopefully help Karl Kani to gain credibility amongst the millennial generation. In order for the reader to fully understand this neo-tribe, we believe that it is necessary to firstly explain the connection between this micro-culture and Hip Hop culture. Once this understanding is established, we will briefly outline the essence of the tribe. This short explanation will ensuing be completed by an extensive explanation of the creative expressions, stylistic elements and places that are relevant to the tribe before we look at the beliefs, customs and behaviour that is shaping this micro-culture. In the end we will come back to the essence of the tribe that will be elucidated with the aid of a simple model. Concluding, we want to explain the commercial relevance of our findings and we will briefly touch upon the possible directions for a marketing approach directed at the neotribe.

1 See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remix

1.1 Research Objective, Methodology & Terminology The objective of this research effort is to gain a thorough understanding of the selected neotribe in order to come up with an innovative marketing approach for Karl Kani. It was a set aim of the research to understand the “ins and outs” of this micro-culture to an extend that we understand all the codes and characteristics that shape the culture. In order to gain such a deep understanding we used an ethnographic and netnographic research approach. In practise this means that we sat down for casual conversations with tribe members as well as visiting events where we aimed to witness the micro-culture in its natural element. We believe that especially the research of the online behaviour of this tribe is important due to the fact that this is the outlet where they can easily express themselves on the daily basis. Throughout the text we will refer to the tribe using terms such as neo-tribe, tribe and micro-culture. 1.2 Limitations Of Research The biggest limitation of the research is the short amount of time that was used to conduct the findings. According to “The Argonauts of the Western Pacific” a researcher needs to spend at least one year in a specific environments to really gain an understanding of a micro-culture (Malinowski, 1922). Also for netnographic research, founder Kozinets used 33 month to investigate his consumer culture (Kozinets, 2002). This shows that this research in fact can simply be understood as an attempt of such and should be continued and expanded to gain true academic credibility. Another limitation of the research is the geographical limitation of the research. Luckily, netnographic research gave us the possibility to find indicators of the international relevance of our micro-culture.

2 Pac modeling Karl Kani1 2. The Brand Urban streetwear brand Karl Kani is officially established in LA in 1989. The similar named founder- original Karl Williams- was raised in a modest family in Brooklyn where he started designing his own clothes to satisfy the needs within the Hip Hop culture in the 90ies (Langtimm, 2015). At the time, luxury lifestyle brands like Ralph Lauren and Versace were leading the American streetwear market. Karl Kani however, became the first brand focussed towards this specific market, and showed that they understood the highly influential power of rappers within the Hip Hop music culture very well. Karl Kani worked together with legendary Hip Hop and R’n’B icons like 2 Pac, Aaliyah and Biggie Smalls. These musicians have gained a lot of credibility for the brand image of Karl Kani in the 90ies, but they could still contribute when making use of their nostalgic aspect that makes them still alive among fans (Complex UK, 2016; Conversations at al., 2016).

1 image: https://fan-place.ru/sites/default/ files/2pac/2016/232053/2pac-232053-351231. jpg

2.1 Make Karl Kani great again! After the downturn of the urban market in recent years Karl Kani accepts the challenge to adapt to a new generation of high-end streetwear consumers. Being aware of the momentum that the 90ies have in the current fashion landscape, it is Karl Kani’s set goal to claim their stake as the streetwear icon that they are. The objective is to focus on the underwear and denim market, more precisely to represent to their market what Calvin Klein and Levi’s represent to the mainstream for these respective categories. Being aware of the patience that is needed to create a brand with longevity Karl Kani is turning back to the roots by distributing small limited quantities to a selective network of independent retailers and through their own e-commerce channel. To ensure their ability to stay responsive to the current market, the brand is producing domestically again. Furthermore Karl Kani still believes in the power of musicians to connect to consumer groups. The overarching branding goal that can be detected is to re-gain brand credibility within a changed cultural Hip Hop landscape, where nostalgic value plays a different and bigger role now, than earlier in the 90ies1.

Nowadays, the most occurring characteristics of the men’s apparel are: massive, shiny vinyl prints, the limitation to solely knitwear, a clear adaption of the modern silhouette and a limited colour palette of mainly black, white and grey. It seems like the brand has an appropriate problem with the image that they want to adopt in this current timeframe, and therefore lacks in choosing a clear direction for their image. For the woman’s collection however, this seems to be less an issue. The woman’s collection is directed in a very fashion forward way, whereas it simply keeps the original Hip Hop elements from the 90ies in there. In its essence, the female collection constructs a fine balance between the association with originality and still manages to distinguish itself from association with mainstream. This is according to us much more in line with the brand values. The only problem is that the marketing campaigns for both, men and women, are totally meaningless in terms of conveying a clear message; besides that, these campaigns are also inconsistent looking at the different channels. Next to the inconsistency of the channels it is hard to find the channels in the first place. In addition, the web design of Karl Kani’s own website is very outdated compared to the expanded online possibilities nowadays. It gives no clear guidance to someone’s searching goal and it is not likely that people will get inspired by Karl Kani’s brand identity and their current online presence.

2.2 Challenges To Conquer Karl Kani’s current issue from a marketing point of view consists out of three factors according to our judgement: (1) The image of the men’s collection seems to struggle with the balance between the brand heritage and a sufficient level of modernity, (2) the current marketing strategy does not make the link with their nostalgic roots form the 90ies anymore, and fails to spread a clear message. Lastly, (3) the e-commerce channel is outdated, unattractive and inconsistent in its visual presentation2. As we discovered Karl Kani’s e-commerce channel, we found that the men’s collection lost a lot of its credibility through the years. 1 Appendix: 1 Interview with Karl Kani 2 See: https://www.karlkani.com/ 7

3. The Tribe & Hip Hop In order to understand the micro-culture of “the remixers” properly, we have to understand their affiliation with Hip Hop. Due to the fact that Karl Kani is deeply rooted in Hip Hop culture it was logical for us to identify a neo-tribe that is also related to Hip Hop. In the figure below you can see the different type of Id tribes that belong to the Hip Hop culture. The micro-culture that we are dealing with is another contemporary offspring from Hip Hop culture and that is relevant due to the fact that a lot of the aesthetic indicators within this micro-culture - which will be explained in the following pages - have the origin of their meaning in Hip Hop and our tribe makes use of that. The constant use of references from Hip Hop was very evident in our research process1. This leaves us to conclude that the individuals within that neo-tribe are consciously or subconsciously informed by Hip Hop culture because they grew up with it. Most still actively play a part in it through their creative expressions. Eventually it is most crucial to understand that the core of Hip Hop music lies in the art of sampling. Sampling as such simply means to use bits of sound recordings in new sound recordings (Schloss, 2014). In other words, sound references are used in order to create new sound recordings that put the original sound recording into a different sonic context. How this basic idea of sampling is picked up by the neo-tribe will be explained in the following paragraph. 3.1 The Essence Of The Tribe: The Return Of The Remix In the following paragraphs we will discuss the common ground around which the microculture established itself. We will also explain and elaborate how the tribe expresses itself through its different creative outlets. The neo-tribe “the remixers of meaning” has its origin in Hip Hop culture. It is noticeable that according to our research a distinctive majority of the individuals grew up with a multi-cultural background; they are often of 1 Appendix: 2 Tribe Analysis Check-up 1

mixed ethnicities2. The neo-tribe shares a strong affiliation for the creative fields of music and fashion. Most of the partakers of the tribe even find themselves working in creatives fields such as fashion, styling or djing. At the very hard- core of the observed culture lies the common desire of the individuals to redefine the meaning of pop-cultural references through creative expressions. The results of this desire can often be seen in their clothing or heard in the music they consume or create. Examples for this will be given in throughout the respective chapters of this report. Consequently, we allow ourselves to argue that the observed micro-culture is in fact postmodern in its nature. Using sonic and visual evidences throughout the following paragraphs, we will undermine this partly elusive tribe with clear and tangible examples. Examining their existence in Amsterdam, we found multiple evidences that this neo-tribe can also be observed in other cities around the world. 4. Creative Expressions, Stylistic Elements & Places In this chapter about creative expressions, stylistic elements and places we explain the tangible and visible side of the neo-tribe. 4.1 The Sound Of Music According to our interviews as well as participation of activities with the microculture 3 we can conclude that music plays an essential role for its participants. Therewith the passion for music is an important common ground. Depending on the individual music is an integral part of the creative expression of the members, who might make music or dj themselves4. Next to that, the music that is consumed in the micro-culture plays an important role. It is one of the main sources for references and music culture also informed the fashion sense of this neo- tribe. It is very likely that the appreciation of Karl Kani through the neo2 Appendix: 3 Instagram Analysis 3 Appendix: 4 Interview transcript Doron 4 Appendix: 2 Tribe Analysis Check-up 1

conversation we found out that rapper Lil B seem to be considered “very important”4. Lil B can be described as a postmodern rapper. In his art the musician constantly challenges the preconceived notions of what a rapper could be. He represents bottomless positivity but can also be rather aggressive in his lyrics. He takes both approaches to such an extreme that they essentially become a parody in itself. With his movement he tries to establish freedom from conventions and expectations (Hubbell, 2014). This particular freedom seems to resonate with the state of mind or attitude of the tribe. In general music plays an important role for the understanding of the micro- culture. To give further indications please click on the images of the musicians below to gain a understanding of the neo-tribe taste in music by listening to it. How individuals of the tribe itself express themselves through music as dj’s furthermore emphasises the micro-cultures use of various pop-cultural references. Listening to the set of dj Mairo Nawaz, a young amsterdam dj that is influential in this scene it shows that the microculture is open to various genres of music that are placed together in a contemporary context5. Another example that gives indication for the freedom of experimentation is the music of Amsterdam musician Bokoesam. His music clearly derives from Hip Hop but sets itself apart from the usual style of the genre. Instead of the usually slow and often rather dark beats, the musician chooses to rap over a beat that takes sonic references from techno. The visuals of the music video clearly plays with normal conventions of beauty. The comfort zone is constantly challenged. This can heard but also seen in his music video6. Another example of the micro-cultures expression in music is indicated in paragraph 5.1.

in the respective brand for performances or in music videos1. Next to an appreciation for classic Hip Hop icons such as Jay-z and 2 Pac, figures the micro-culture grew up with, the observed instagram-profiles have shown that also highly contemporary approaches to mainly rap music but also other forms of alternative music seem to be very appreciated. This is show in the wide arrange of music that was played at events that we participated in2. In that sense the micro-culture shares a high appreciation for true originators of specific genre forms but it is just as busy observing- or actively participating in developing these origins further into something new; challenging and pushing the envelope for what is considered ‘cool’ or ‘real’. It is crucial to understand that the tribe shares an open attitude towards new and alternative approaches to music, fashion and other fields of art, whereas norms and conventions are constantly questioned. Examples for this are given in the end of this paragraph. Music stays most interesting in this context as long as it has a raw, pure, edge that has not been polished yet to serve the mainstream. Therewith “the remixers”, alongside other alternative micro-cultures, function as a sort of filter that determines new trends for music. At a hangout with partakers of the micro-culture we could identify some music that seems to be credible amongst its members3. One of the key figures here is Yung Lean, the stockholm based rapper is drastically expanding the notion of what Hip Hop stands for. In his songs lyrics, he uses childish pop culture references like The smurfs, Mario Kart or Harry Potter. A lot of people consider this music as a joke (Perry, 2016). In comparison with normal rap songs, that would not make use of such references the music of Yung Lean does not support the usual stereotype of machoist rap culture. We found out that for “the remixers” however, it is the unconventional, refreshing way of combining references that is widely accepted and embraced. Also in a casual

4 Appendix: 4 Interview transcript Doron 5 Listen: https://soundcloud.com/momanager/ rlr-the-soundmachine-05-12-2016 6 See & Listen: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zfqDYC04-pw

1 Appendix: Interview transcript Doron 2 Appendix: Field Note 3 3 Appendix: Field Note 3 9

To hear the music of the micro-culture, please click on the images; they are linked to videos.

Listen to Yung Lean- Kyoto by clicking on the image1

Listen to Lil B- Wonton Soup by clicking on the image2

1 Image: http://www.ew.com/sites/default/files/styles/tout_image_612x380/public/i/2014/07/05/ YUNG-LEAN.jpg?itok=YaUUiz6G 2 Image: http://www.beat.com.au/sites/default/files/images/article/header/2013/april/lilb.jpg

4.2 Clothing, Hair & Accessoires The neo-tribe believes that clothing and appearance is very important for them. In paragraph 3.1 we highlighted that at the very essence of the tribe is a desire to recreate the meaning of references and to remix them. This is often expressed through the clothing and style of the micro-culture. At the first stage of our research we were wondering if similar looks of neo-tribe members were really a requirement to identify a specific tribe. These two different commercials, from H&M and Guiness show that indeed sometimes the looks within a tribe could be very similar; may be for practical reasons1 or to express shared values (subconsciously)2. In addition, we did an in-depth tribe analysis on Instagram3, which in fact showed us that the looks within the neotribe are temporary and very trend related. In the same analysis we found out that looks also can be misleading; sometimes a person seemed to be part of the tribe, while in fact that was not the case. Due to this confusion we realized that there is actually a clear distinction between two types of tribes, namely: (1) tribes that share an affiliation for a certain product or a specific activity and (2) tribes that share a similar point of view, a philosophy in regards of particular fields of interest. We believe that “the remixers of meaning” belong to the second variant of tribalism. Coming back on the in-depth tribe analysis on Instagram4, we think that the looks within “the remixers of meaning” are highly trend sensitive, or at least they are very much in line with the ‘Zeitgeist’. To be more concrete, the tribe consists out of people who wear very provocative clothes and send out provocative messages that easily provoke reactions from people who are not

familiar with such appearances. The colour palette that is used within the tribe is very bright and uncommon (at least not for men), like fuchsia pink, baby blue and canary yellow. These colours are not only used in clothes, but also in painted hair and less frequently but definitely there, in polished nails. Not very long ago it was still a trend for men to polish one nail to help creating awareness about specific issues in the world (Froelich, 2016). Within the culture of “the remixers of meaning” it is not done to blindly follow these sort of trends, so basically the meaning of men wearing nail polish has been reinterpreted. Within the tribe people try to set an image that people from the outside are not familiar with. This movement introduces new information for the outsiders to think about, which is the common ground of the tribe on a basis of the looks. For example, someone who according to us belongs to the very hard-core5 of the tribe is the man behind the Instagram-account ‘caribbeanbeauty’. He posted a lot of information about how he plays with the conventions of gender6, sex7, authority8 and limitations9. He often wears two braids with vintage headwear, regularly changes his hair in different colours, and always wears uncommon clothing combinations and a golden nose piercing. In addition to the looks of this man, another thing that belongs to the common ground is wearing local iconic brands, like Smib, TNO, Pigalle and Patta. These brands are highly frequently posted on Instagram by the members of the neo-tribe10.

5 Appendix: 15 Tribe Diameters 6 Appendix: 6 Caribbeanbeauty with mascara and braided hair. 7 Appendix: 7 Caribbeanbeauty with socks “Suck My Dick” 8 Appendix: 8 Caribbeanbeauty messes... 9 Appendix: 9 Caribbeanbeauty purposely dressing very outdated 10 Appendix; 3 Instagram Analysis

1 See: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zfqDYC04-pw 2 See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwdOCJM9tgM 3 Appendix: 3 Instagram Analysis 4 Appendix: 3 Instagram Analysis

As an example, Smib describes their brand as follows:

‘SMIB WORLDWIDE is an independent creative organisation started in Amsterdam South-East, also known as the Bijlmer. The group consists of young dudes who try to make a difference in their own hoods by creating and showing opportunity to the youth there and worldwide, mainly through music and clothing. But besides all the deep shit we just do what we like and look good while we do it.1’

like big and old-fashioned sunglasses or hats. More concretely, we find these artifacts the most recognizable: Nike Air Max, Nike Air Force One, Timberland 6 inch’ boots4, vintage Louis Vuitton bags, Helly Hansen down jackets (fig. 1) and Burberry trench coats.

4.3 Styling People within the neo-tribe share a passion for creative expressions. Styling is one of those. There are several stylists within “the remixers of meaning”, and as the name already indicates: these people can redefine meanings in their styling works. The man behind the instagram account ‘imruh’ did this with American musician and rapper Big Sean, who normally has a very cool and tough image (see left image..). A search test on ‘Google Images’ quickly showcases this image really dominantly (fig. 1). ‘imruh’ however gave a totally different meaning to the image of Big Sean (fig. 2), and placed him in a situation where he looks cute, soft and cuddly. Styling within the neo-tribe is an activity used to express ideas and creativity that people from the outside might not understand. The receivers of the unexpected messages are important for the stylists from “the remixers of meaning”. This is also remarkable in the big amount of followers that they mostly have.1

(fig. 1) Tribe member wearing vintage Helly Hansen Jacket5

Upper right: (fig. 12) Downer right: (fig. 23)

TNO (The New Originals) describes the purpose of their brand this way:

‘We make performance clothing for creatives. (...) We believe that everyone is able to maximize their creativity regardless of their background, by thinking out of the box. Thinking out of the box means to us thinking divergent and free of boundaries. (...) We stimulate thinking from new perspectives. Our mission is to bring different backgrounds closer together, to give creativity a stage. We embrace art and culture in our aesthetic and design.’ (The New Originals, 2016) To finalize the description of the common ground in the area of clothing, hair and accessories, these are the codes2 we think are the most important within the neo-tribe3: Expressive hairstyles, nail paint, mix and match style extremes (vintage/design wear, cheap/ expensive), use of golden jewelry, golden nose piercings, use of a bright colour palette for clothing and hair, wearing weird accessories 1 See: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ SMIB11034/about/?ref=page_internal 2 Codes convert the message of being part of a tribe into expressions, symbols, words etc. to convey a secret language. 3 Appendix; 3 Instagram Analysis

4 See Appendix: 10 Instagram gogolupin 5 See: https://www.instagram.com/p/BLMSdrKhqtN/?taken-by=imruh

1 Appendix; 3 Instagram Analysis 2 See: http://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/big-sean-that-grapejuice-2015-900.png 3 See: https://www.instagram.com/p/BLOEaOYgLqH/?taken-by=imruh

4.4 Dancing It is remarkable that the typical dance-style within the neo-tribe is very remarkable. These dancers within the neo-tribe dare to dance open, free and provocative. Most of the time they dance on their own, improvising movements, and an act around it. This requires a way of creativity because they entertain people without a preparation. People from the outside may be think that these dances are crazy, but it seems like that is the whole point of it. Examples of people belonging to the neotribe who exactly do this on Instagram are: ‘caribbeanbeauty’1 , ‘gogolupin’2 and 3 ‘babyfuegod’ . 4.5 Places The task to define places that are important to the micro-culture is not an easy one. Other than tribes such as skaters, who obviously connect at a skatepark, this tribe is less shaped yet in these terms. However, participation in tribe activities4 as well as the the in-depth instagram analysis allowed us to identify spots that seem to be appealing to the micro-culture. Once we defined particular individuals, that belong to the micro-culture we were also able to track down events that they were attending. As a result of the social media analysis we found out that the tribe can be found in hotspots like Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris or London5. Looking more specifically at the kind of events we found out that there is a close link between there taste of music and the events that seem to be important. An event that seems to bring the tribe together is the annual festival Appelsap. The Amsterdam based festival is happening every summer6. Starting of as a block party the festival became bigger and bigger and presents music act mainly performing Hip Hop, 1 See: https://www.instagram.com/p/ BL3QVE8A9G-/?taken-by=caribbeanbeauty 2 See: https://www.instagram.com/p/BNFUXRVgOO-/?taken-by=gogolupin 3 See: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=PVM_J0VAf3 4 Appendix: Field Note 3 5 Appendix: 10 Gogolupin International 6 See: http://appelsap.net/festival/#info

R’n’B and progressive electronic music. This mix of music makes the festival the perfect playground for our micro-culture to mingle and to be inspired. Next to this particular event we also noticed that it is common in the microculture to visit events that are hosted by other neo-tribe members or affiliates. Since our research mainly focused on the micro-culture in the Netherlands most of the places we could identify are in Amsterdam. Places include local events in clubs like Bitterzoet and the party BBQ, super social7, or the party vogue in club NYX8. In general the micro-culture appreciates special events that have a special location. Fashion and special music events are well appreciated. Due to the fact that we were able to have to casual conversations with tribe members in high- end clothing stores such as the Comme des Garcons store and Cowboys 2 Catwalk we conclude that also such places belong to this category for our micro-culture. However it is important to distinguish between Comme des Garcons and typical luxury brands such as Burberry or Oger that are rather conservative in regards to the the product they offer, whereas Comme des Garcons9 is very much about everything but convention. In general it can be concluded that special occasions in the field of fashion or music attract this micro-culture. In terms of online places it is similar to the offline places. It is not like there are certain fora that the tribe is part of. The most important online place is most definitely instagram. This is where the tribes shares and gathers inspiration. Next to that sites that are related to their interested in music or fashion are important. Such sites include music platform soundcloud, 22tracks and the young designer plattform Fucking Young. The common link between all these website is that they, no matter if in music or in fashion, represent trends that are very niche and mostly still undiscovered by the mainstream. 7 See: https://www.instagram.com/p/BNEZmVngWeG/?taken-by=caribbeanbeauty 8 See: https://www.djguide.nl/party.p/244147/ vogue?language=en 9 See: http://www.comme-des-garcons.com

5. Beliefs, Customs & Behaviour In this chapter about beliefs, customs and behaviour we try to explain the intangible side of the neo-tribe, like passions, motivations and feelings. It is comparable with a Sims personage which has been given a certain amount of different characteristics in their behaviour. 5.1 Finding Comfort In Shame In a casual conversation with someone who according to us belongs to the tribe, it came out that the preference of controversial and unconventional behaviour is in fact a way to express an intuitive volition that encourages to constantly experiment with the feeling of shame. The international Google dictionary describes the word ‘shame’ as a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour. In that sense “the remixers of meaning” try not to judge whoever however, but at the same time their actions and expressions provoke reactions from the observers. In other words: “the remixers of meaning” share the impression that there is no wrong or right. In the article ‘Shame closely tracks the threat of devaluation by others, even across cultures’ (Sznycer et al., 2016), which was published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA), one of the world’s most-cited and comprehensive multidisciplinary scientific journals, ‘shame’ is explained as a neurological steered feeling that has an impact on someone’s cognition, motivation, psychology, and behaviour in the service of: (1) preventing the individual for making choices where the prospective costs of devaluation exceed the benefits, (2) preventing negative information about the self from reaching others, and (3) minimizing the adverse effects of devaluation when it occurs. That means that people who regularly force themselves into situations of shame are doing something that goes beyond their own

rationality. To do so, it requires a lot of effort and inner power; it gives evidence of a strong desire to differentiate oneself. The same behavioural pattern can be observed in the neo-tribe. The writers of the article also showed a specific match between shame and devaluation within different cultures, which could stand in direct connection to the fact that within different cultures people ‘behave different’. In a prior paragraph it was already mentioned that it is noticeable that according to our own findings a distinctive majority of the individuals grew up with a multi-cultural background; they are often of mixed ethnicities. We also saw that most of the time the tribe is on the way to different cities in different countries, so it is usual to travel a lot, wherewith the knowledge about different cultures automatically enumerates in a broader context within the tribe. To summarize, “the remixers of meaning” believe in the idea of leaving one’s comfort zones. The commonly negatively perceived feeling of shame does not prevent them from pursuing this desire. Due to their familiarity with different cultures they are less prone to judge behaviour of others. 5.2 Nostalgia For Pop-Culture Another shared affiliation of the tribe - a feeling that is frequently expressed within the microculture - is the feeling of nostalgia. In fact the feeling of nostalgia is fundamental for them in order to discover new references that the tribe can use to play around with and to remix. Nostalgia as a term was introduced by the physician Johannes Hofer, who conceptualizes nostalgia as a medical or neurological disease which includes symptoms such as persistent thinking of home and even smothering sensations (Wildschut et al., 2006). When looking of the contemporary meaning of the term nostalgia, the cambridge dictionary 1 suggests that nostalgia is ‘a feeling of pleasure 1 See: Cambridge Dictionary http://dictionary.

and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past’. The microculture of “the remixers of meaning” shares more specifically a nostalgia for pop-culture of past decades. Most clearly expressed however is the nostalgia for 90ies and early 2000s Hip hop pop culture. It is important here to note that the references that are common are rather referring to pop-cultural phenomena then sub-cultural phenomena. The neo-tribes nostalgic affiliation with the aforementioned time period is expressed through a variety of outlets but can most clearly be seen in the outer appearance of the neo-tribe members. When we asked one tribe member why he would be wearing an old, yellow Helly Hansen down jacket, he said he had picked it up because the product arouses a nostalgic feeling for him1. Another example can be seen when looking at the instagram accounts of the individuals of the tribe where they frequently share symbols from that time such as cars or pictures of idols in that period 2. Eventually these nostalgic expressions are posted or worn because people within the micro-culture can identify themselves with it, whereas outsiders might not even understand the symbolic value of the provided content. It is furthermore important to mention, that it is doubt worthy whether the tribes affiliation with 90ies and early 2000s pop-culture is a trend or if it stays a substantial part of this micro-culture. 5.3 Symbols & Language: It’s Lit In the course of our research, especially the netnographic research gave us some useful insights on the language behaviour in the neotribe. We could observe 3 different factors that will be described in this paragraph. The most obvious insight we found in terms of the use of language was the choice of language. Even Though the accounts we observed are not from native english speakers but from dutch or french people they all used predominantly english in their social media platforms3. This finding could be simply a testimony of our current time but it might as well be linked to the fact that the microculture engages in an international context. The 1 Appendix: 12 Field Note 4 2 Appendix: 16 ninety6sam 3 Appendix: 6 Caribbeanbeauty with mascara

fact that social media posts are captioned in english suggests that the audience (followers) is international. The next interesting finding was the use of symbols, more specifically emojis that the micro-culture uses. As already mentioned in prior sections (i.e 4.1 the sound of music) the micro-culture, even though affiliated HipHop, does not shy away from using references that are not considered cool in conventional Hip-Hop and its hyper-masculine image. An interesting sign that supports these prior findings is the frequent usage of emoticons that are commonly considered feminine. Examples of that are the usage of flower, rose and heart emojis4. The choice of using pink emoticons further emphasises the flamboyant nature of the symbols. The third factor that is interesting to observe within the micro-culture is once more related to Hip Hop and it’s art form of rap. It’s about the use of slang. There are 2 words that caught our attention. The first word is “lit”. The expression “lit” or “it’s lit” describes, according to the urban dictionary a state of such intoxication that the intoxicated person is only able to smile or in other words to light up (Urban Dictionary, 2016). That this word is part of the vocabulary of our micro-culture is shown in the fact that one tribe member we observed titled a whole song like this5. Another example is the use of the word “cosy”6 which is used as a slang word for cool or fresh.

4 Appendix: 13 Use of feminine symbols 5 See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO8_ CmnD_dk 6 Appendix: 12 Gogolupin feeling cosy

6.1 Final Thoughts & Further Perspectives This model shows all the common grounds that have been mentioned in the previous paragraphs, to clearly show the glue values1 of the neo-tribe. 1The ‘glue value’ are all the values that bind (‘glue’) the neo-tribe together.

In the previous chapters and paragraphs we introduced the neo-tribe that we named “the remixers of meaning”. On one hand the report looked at the outer appearance and the stylistic elements of the micro-culture but on the other hand we tried to give a certain insight into the behaviour of “the remixers of meaning”. As mentioned in the introduction we consider the micro-culture to be partly elusive, being aware that this is not a tribe that is easy to define such

as i.e. with skaters and bmx-bikers. We think that this tribe is relevant and interesting for a new marketing approach for the brand Karl Kani, to re-gain brand credibility in the future. The constant play with symbolic meaning of brands makes this neo-tribe interesting for marketing, especially in fashion. The ability of the tribe to detect or to early adapt trends can be very powerful and influential for brands if it is done in the right way. However, this tribe also bears

particular risks. Due to the nature of the tribe to change the meaning of references and products constantly there is a certain risk involved for brands working with them. It might be that the the tribe takes the symbolic meaning of a brand into a different context that the brand does not want to be associated with. Another risk in working with this tribe is the fast pace in which trends are replaced once the mainstream has gotten the hang of it. However, the micro-cultures’ nostalgia for the time period of Karl Kani’s heyday and the love for Hip Hop makes it unlikely that this particular brand would be taken into a negative context. The in-depth Instagram tribe analysis also showed that Karl Kani is one of the brands that some people within the tribe have affiliation with already.

In order to create a marketing approach that aims to help Karl Kani in obtaining brand credibility amongst millennials, we consider different ideas:

1) An influencer campaign that focuses on micro-influencers. 2) A collaboration collection with local brands that the micro-culture values. 3) An interactive marketing campaign that gives the micro-culture the ability to change the meaning of the brand in a contemporary context.

the approach would make use of microinfluencers (8000-50.000 followers) and not celebrity influencers that have large following that easily exceeds 1 million followers. As we found out that the micro-culture is not interested in anything that is mainstream, we do not expect such a collaboration to become successful. The second approach is based on the micro-cultures’ loyalty towards local brands such as Smib (Amsterdam). By developing capsule collections or limited products with these brands, Karl Kani would show that they understand what the tribe considers “cool”. This way we hope it will be possible to make Karl Kani create local word of mouth. By doing this the brand would have the opportunity to use its marketing approach directly to generate sales, which could turn out to be very cost-effective marketing. The third proposal taps into the tribes’ desire to create creative content. By creating an online competition the campaign challenges young creatives to make use of Karl Kani and to style it in a contemporary manner. This could work has as a social media campaign. These three possible directions for marketing approaches of Karl Kani only represent a small amount of possible routes that the neotribe offers. No matter what approach will be worked out in the end, the key is to choose a path that is in line with the codes of the neotribe. For now it is very likely that a postmodern marketing approach is the right way to connect with this postmodern neo-tribe.

For the first approach we would use the ability of “the remixers of meaning” to set trends. We believe that by selecting the right microinfluencers that enjoy credibility in their local environment, chances are high for the brand to gain credibility amongst the influencers followers. It is important to understand that

REFERENCES 1. Big Sean / Sean Michael Leonard Anderson. (2016). [image] Available at: http://melon-indonesia.biz/id/artist/10267566 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2016].

2. Complex UK. (2016). The 50 Best Brands of the ‘90s9. Ralph Lauren. [online] Available at: http://uk.complex.com/style/2013/02/the-50-best-brands-of-the-90s/ralph-lauren [Accessed 26 Nov. 2016].

3. Froelich, A. (2016). If You See A Man With One Painted Fingernail, THIS Is What It Means…. [online] True Activist. Available at: http://www.trueactivist.com/if-you-see-a-man-with-onepainted-fingernail-this-is-what-it-means/ [Accessed 30 Nov. 2016].

4. Hubbell, N. (2014). What Artistic Movements Do These Rappers Exemplify?. [online] L.A. Weekly. Available at: http://www.laweekly.com/music/what-artistic-movements-do-these-rappers-exemplify-4167085 [Accessed 25 Nov. 2016].

5. Kozinets, R. (2002). The Field Behind the Screen: Using Netnography for Marketing Research in Online Communities. Journal of Marketing Research, 39(1), pp.61-72.

6. Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the western Pacific. 1st ed. London: G. Routledge & Sons.

7. Perry, K. (2016). Yung Lean: ‘I’m not really into My Little Pony’. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/08/yung-lean-sad-boys-yoshi-city-hip-hop [Accessed 25 Nov. 2016].

8. Schloss, J. (2014). Making Beats. 1st ed. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.

9. Sites.duke.edu. (2016). From Dr. Dre to J. Cole: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop – soundscapes. [online] Available at: https://sites.duke.edu/soundscapes/2015/11/22/from-dr-dre-toj-cole-the-art-of-sample-based-hip-hop/ [Accessed 24 Nov. 2016].

10. Sznycer, D., Tooby, J., Cosmides, L., Porat, R., Shalvi, S. and Halperin, E., 2016. Shame closely tracks the threat of devaluation by others, even across cultures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, p.201514699.

11. THE NEW ORIGINALS. (2016). About Us. [online] Available at: https://www.theneworiginals. eu/pages/about-us [Accessed 20 Nov. 2016].

12. Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Arndt, J. and Routledge, C. (2006). Nostalgia: Content, Triggers, Functions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(5), pp.975-993.

23 Bokoesam Followers: 70,9 k

babyfuegod Followers: 7.902

caribbeanbeauty Followers: 760

imruh Followers: 3.036

characharaboy Followers: 557

CONVERSATIONS

“heaven touched earth for - Colourful - High hat / polished hats some minutes.” - Classical way of dressing “Ergste album period #N*E*R*D #lifestyle #2001 pantaloons, - Vintage classical brands: #nostalgia.” “Reinventing the self called Versace, Louis Vuitton. 'neo-dandy'.” - Purple hair “lit.” - tattoo’s - Relaxed and chill poses “My name in these streets: GLAMOROUS DIVA.” “Think my mom was talking about this kind of pictures when she asked me if I was bi sexual hahahaha.” “POSITIVE NEWS YALL, the test results were negative!! #sweetesttaboo (STD)” “I'm gonna fuck sum shit up so you better get ya tickets! @appelsapx.” “fuck popo, burn police, fuck Ibah.” “Peep my new thang prod by Styn #BAKUHATSU.”

- Big temperament and skills to express himself - Almost shameless - Popularity and a leading ﬁgure in the group - Very feminin attitude; wearing makeup, paited hair, crossed legs, making a lot of ‘selﬁes’. - Colourful customized leather jackets - Elements from the 18th c. Macaroni Dandy - Coloured hair, rasta - Brands: OBEY, Calvin Klein - Nose piercing, nail polish, golden jewelry

- Blowing a lot “My wife has an important - Brands: OBEY, Smib, party today, but I can’t join Patta, TNO, Nike. her because I’m totally - 80ies 90ies inﬂuences fucked due to last period. I - Pink afro hair, nailpolish know that I’m too busy - Two different colour socks sometimes and I can be a - Bright colours, pink, stupid asshole but I’m happy blue, yellow, purple to have you in my life. I’m a - Tattoo’s, middle ﬁnger fool without you. I love you.”

- Haute couture. Stylist who has a very clear vision in terms of - Fabrics, structures. - Fashion editorials. individuality. He is - Runway shows of his deeply impressed by own styling. nostalgic hiphip idols, - Big cities, lot of traveling. and by the new perception he gives the - Hiphop (Wu Tang Clan). - Art gallery’s (sculptures) ones who were ‘not done’ in the early 2000’s. - Inspiring country views. - High interest in himself. - Humor, self-spot. - Big festivals and wellknown urban parties (Super Social, LAPA). - Gangs (feminin and masculine; Jodeci). - Rap; Dutch, A’dam xxx, drugs, overruling, sex. - Endorsement Barbara Mason (R&B soul singer in the 60’s and 70’s.) - Endorsement of his girl. - Nightlife and parties; Appelsap - Music; his self-made tracks and remixes (Soundcloud) - His provocative movie clips. - Rapping (also a lot with Ronnie Flex; the mixtape) - Soundcloud and Spotify references - Parties (Appelsap) - Oldschool hiphop (Snoop Dogg)

Endorsement of exentric (feminin) role models with very distinguishing looks. This guy ﬁghts for his rights, using his originality and creativity to make his points. He’s a vert active and open person. Playing with convinces adapting an alternative style and being active in several creative eras like fashion, music and art. This man is a performer.

Artist (Dutch rapper) who is very confronting in his message to the mass, using (self)spot as a main tool. He has a strong relation with the nostalgical hiphop culture from his own youth and redeﬁnes it.

“Gonna terrorize yall” “When you wanna look like gizamon #digimon #ootd #street #kani.” “yo momma and yo daddy to all trans and girlyboys! Stay real #gay #trans #heterosexual #fab”

“I live for the love” Flowerboy “My father inspires me. every single day. He has the most important value: loyalty. Also, he never tried to hide the human vice to me so I was ready for this world since the beginning (awareness). I LOVE YOU.” - Japanese inﬂuence: Wide and multi-layered silhouette - Brands: Karl Kani, Dakine, Umbro, BOY - Buzy ﬂoral prints, pastel - Heavy jewelry - Original, creative, various and genderless.

BEHAVIOUR AND LOOKS - Brands: Lacoste, Smib, Pigalle, Nike, Supreme, Patta, Timberland 6 inch - Nose piercing, tattoos, nail polish, golden / silver accessories, pink hair - Sweat / comfortable clothes vs. 18th c. Macaroni dandy

Reacting against - Destroyed reality conventions by trigger - Self created figures people’s reactions - Pictures from himself but at the same time in a surreal context. leaving their perception - Creative fashion styling up to the ones who - Dragons, Manga judge. He is varified, - Art, graffity wherewith he is could be - Hiphop (2-Pac) more agressive. - Dutch kingdom

THEMES OF INTEREST - i-D magazine, Vogue, Louis Vuitton, TNO - Styling / modelling - Baseball - Dancing - Being always on the way between the big cities

• What is a ‘not-done’? -Blending into conventions and society -“Doe maar gewoon, dan ben je al gek genoeg” -Following mainstream trends -Being dependent on someone outside of their peers -Living a normal live (it is regarded as boring) -Copying, “biting” someone else or their style -Physical aggression -Obeying to authority -Regular full-time office job -Discrimination -Categorization

PHYLOSOPHY Someone who wants to share his positivity with other people to make them happy. He wants to introduce ‘the love’ gogolupin Followers: 11.3 k and tries to get people closer to the essence of the word through his style and behaviour.

1. Interview With Karl Kani

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APPENDIX 3. Instagram Anlaysis

The interview with Karl Kani can be listened to via: http://www.forbes.com/sites/krisztinaholly/2016/07/25/karlkani/#3f3d38e64f33

2. Tribe Analysis Check Up 1

• What is a must? - Grew up on 90ies, early 2000 Hip Hop culture and are (sub)consciously influenced and guided by that - Shared interest in music, fashion and are open towards all fields of art (creative industries) - Have the desire to express themselves creatively - Differentiate oneself from the majority and openly embracing their differences - Intuitive non-educational approach to their creative field of choice (selfmade) - Authentic and (arguably) personal style of dressing - Early adaption of trends in music and fashion - Keep it real, be authentic in no matter what you do - Positivity - Constantly redefining what right and wrong/ hot or not / real or fake

“White collars #RasSamo #InTheKingdom #NoSleep #247 #workwork” “Blowing in the wind #Damso #FlowerBoys #Champagneboys” “Dolla Dolla Bill #Pastelfamily” “I'll die for my niggas.”

“Sooooo much love at Sﬁnks festival yesterday.” “Taking the guns out for a walk. #hotniggahsaturday.” “Lost my nail polish in a cheap hotel room.” “Thanks everybody 4 commin out yesterday, so much love in one room!” “Challas mondayz.” “Get dat guap niggy.”

- Looks like he’s wearing a blue toupet on the top of his head. - Headwear - Vintage clothes - Brands: Smib and Daily P - Golden jewelry - Scarf around his neck. - Praying - Wearing colourful wide and casual clothes with prints. - Cool attitude; gang. - Various headwear. - Brotherhood (congratulates all his friends on Instagram) - Brands: Thraser (skateboard magazine), Nike (Air Max) - Nose piercing, tattooed body, nail polish - Golden accessories - Pink, blonde, blue hair, dreads (not anymore) - Middle ﬁngers

- Flowers - Dandy polished themes (objects and elements) - Creative nostalgic industries: Music; Prince Art; Basquiat - Grafﬁty - Alcohol and sigarettes - Vintage fashion - Media: Music; Modern DJing Art; Keith Haring; abstract, colourful. Magazine: ‘In Kleur’ - Big urban festivals and parties (ADE). - Hiphop idols (2-pac, Djordy Latumahina) - Tokyo, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Orlando (..) - Performance - Honouring to great artists who passed away (Prince, 2 pac) - Endorsement of his girl. - Love for his family.

Positivity and having a lot of very close friends around him. (Flowerboys) He mainly loves quality time and is very into the hiphop music scene and nostalgical vintage fashion. Into media culture, using Soundcloud as platform to share his own remixes and traveling internationally for his career as a DJ. This person has a very positive attitude. Dutch rapper (Yellow Claw); He lives a luxury life (limousines, yachts, private airplane ﬂights) like a popstar. His aﬁniation with the original hiphop music goes deep and adapts it into the current time frame.

patrickmordi Followers: 2.554

tirinoyspol Followers: 5.436

bizzey Followers: 27,8 k

fsgreen Followers: 7.448

samo_ wisdomcolor Followers: 620

Young original guy who really deﬁnes and associates his style with his inspiration sources. He is also deeply engaged in the historcal hiphop music scene, he grew up with it. Young developer.

- Parties to meet his inspiration ﬁgures: Appelsap, Canvas - Social media publications (Hypebeast Highsnobity) - Fashion advertorials (modeling; Glamcult) - Squad (his friends)

- Brands: Thrasher, Smib - Very outspoken various apparel - Neutral, laidback attitude - Creative customized leather jacket (paint) - Womanizer

“Antwerp was dope.” “boys in dem designer rags now ya heard. #Glamcult” “smib sa land grey longsleeves out, hit me!! (whoever beats me with a game of skate gets discount)” Photographer: Brotherhood “Me and my best friend - Well known party Creative nature @tjilo looking creepy!” places; ADE, S. Social. - Jewelry and tattoo’s; manipulation, cities and - Hiphop idols Heavy rings with big “Sunday vibes.” “Dj'ing tonight for @jahkoy events. He is also DJ. coloured stones. (Djordy Latumahina). In de Paradiso Toronto Hiphop music means a - Photography; Clean - Loose clothes falling lot to him. Enjoying a design and composition. around his large posture. vibes.” fun, free and luxury - Dread locks (currently “Dope shit brotha!” (Keith Haring) lifestyle. added some blonde). “Tonight Supersocial, - Luxury life juggling them tunes.” - Big cities; A’dam - Asia - Various headwear.

“LOL-ing at the BBQ.” (BBQ is a place to go out)

“Toast to the soffer lords.”

“We can't let go of the 90's” “Milano was great but I'm happy to be back home in Berlin.” “Found these beauties again, in an old bag of mine. Custom present from #newbalance.”

CONVERSATIONS

BEHAVIOUR AND LOOKS - Wearing modest colours; black and white, grey, dark blue, dark green. - Tattoo’s - New Balance and Pelle Pelle - Crossed legs (picture 1) - Elements from the 18th c. Macaroni Dandy.

THEMES OF INTEREST - Well-known European cities; Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Milan, Paris. - Luxury fashion brands; Louis Vuitton, Comme des Garcons, Prada, YSL - Serious relationships with his bro’s and his girl.

PHYLOSOPHY Endorsement of active hystorical musicians; Charlie Parker (Jazz), Shane MacGowan ninety6sam (Punk / Rock), but also Followers: 11,1 k hiphop from the same time-period; Hype Williams, 2-pac, Ochie Wallie.

USERNAME

APPENDIX 4. Interview Transcript Doron

For audio visit click here

INTERVIEW TRIBE MEMBER/ TRANSCRIPT OF IMPORTANT THOUGHTS

Q What do you do in your life right now? A well, this morning I just had a meeting with a paint development company and they gave me a binding solution for paint….and I will use this for a art piece

Q What would you say, how did you first got exposed to art? A Music video, like eminem music videos when i was 6. early 2000 pop culture is my first reference to visual culture.

Q Would you say this was your first introduction as well ? A Well yeah, in a way yes, but it was more style rather than fashion. So it was not really about fashion or fashion designer, it was more about how certain things were worn. Oversized, baggy clothing.

Q What for you were then cult items A Back then pokemon for sure, and bmx bikes, football, fireworks to fuck around with neighbours

...then we also used to customize shit. Like puttings tags on the eastpaks with a marker and thats how I got into graffiti. MY city is quite renown when it comes to graffiti. There were people that were like published several

times. We also have the highways next to us and that was like the art gallery for the graffitti of our region. We also did it on our bags and we also had black books , where we would draw in pieces.

It was also very much about having nice sneakers like the air max 1.

Q What changes in your own style. Whats is the trigger for your style? Now I am at a point where I am refering back to my original references. i am from Thiel and I was exposed to certain references there. it was all about graffiti and HipHop and that style. And now I am trying to mess around with both worlds by combining them. I mean taking references from Hip Hop and combining them with with my tailoring game. To make people that love tailoring, to make them pissed. So they are like ‘why are you wearing it like this, in those color combinations and why” On the other hand I am bringing a sort of dandysim to Hip Hop style and that is considered weird from them. So I am kind of inbetween dandyism and HioHop style I suppose.

Q You also wear sometimes really tacky stuff whats the deal about that? A That has more to do with(the fact) that I was very much into tailoring for some time but then everybody started doing it and it was all about tradition and craft and i was liek fuck that shit I want to mess with those people and then at a point humour became a very essential thing in the way I wear stuff. Definely feminity plays a part in that. I think Hip Hop as a culture is very masculine, is very mucho so it is very interesting to mess with

APPENDIX 5. Field Note 3 Q How would you describe your affiliation with Hip Hop culture A...early influences was like biggy, mobb deep and onyx but i was also very interested in guys like 3 6 Mafia. But I was one of the first guys listening to wocka flocka, for sure (is very produ of that) … Lil B is very important to me.

Q Speak about Lil B why is he important Lil B is like total randomness right. he is related to Hip Hop culture because he is black and his medium of expression happens to be rap, so he is tied to that cultural demographic in a way. But in a way he expands the field of what traditionally could be considered Hip Hop. So he cries in his videos, he makes videos in animal stores, he says that he looks like jesus, he mentions Ellen Degeneres, which is like the whitest woman on earth. (interruption because of call) Lil B is very important because like the art form of gangsta rap is normally associated with a lot of aggression and a lot of negativity and macho behaviour and aggression is the only emotion that is in there adn he was verying grandma clothes and he was crying in his video saying everything was about positivty and basiclly declaring that he was god. Which is a very interesting idea because we as people are told to believe in jesus but we could never become jesus and we have to be humble. Lil b is like fuck humbleness: he really challenges this perspective. he challenges the norm of gangsta rap by adding a very large dose of humour, feminity and emotional emancipation. I think emotional emancipation is very important for our generation as men and you also see that in Hip Hop culture… it is also this very sceptical attitude. its a very postmodern attitude in a sense.

Q In what sense A In a sense that you are blindly throwing references together to undermine everything that is sort of as stable. If you think about Hip Hop its about expression, it is about good technique, its about bragging, you show that you confident and he is throwing this all over board but in a way he is still all that.

• Space: Apartment of micro-culture member Apartment is located in an Anti Squad building in the east of Amsterdam.

A lot of cliche Hip Hop fans are very stiff they have really set norms and values and i think Hip Hop is totally not that. The core of Hip Hop is sampling you take certain elements and you put them together and fuck them up. You challenge both references by combining them.

• Act: STYLING

Q So you constantly redefining what Hip Hop could be A yeah, what high culture and low culture is also. Its a receptor surface like sticky tape for flies you know, everything that flies against it -all the trash and references and media are all sticking. then u cut them apart and you rapose them. thats an analgy for what Hip Hop is.

• Feeling: passion for fashion design and creativity, strong desire to express themselves but also to showcase that do the digital audience

Q What are ”does” and “dont’s” for you A Well donts hare hard drugs. other donts are getting a fulltime job. i dont want to have a full time job ever. I want to work in my studio and make art. I have an authority problem thats also very Hip Hop in a way but i could be a very pleasing empleye but that’s an act... For now it is defnitely creative expression over money. but that might change.A super dont is also to have a fixed opinion. Things are hjust a fixed opinion in the moment. i think the whole idea of there is a universal right think is very

• Actors: 3 Micro-culture memebers and observer

• Activity: PRE- DRINKS

• Time : 2 HRS

• Goal: No real set goal

Description of the apartment -The apartment is located in the Javaplein area of Amsterdam Oost. -The Area is upcoming and in the typical process of gentrification that can be observed in every bigger city - the apartment itself is located at the very top floor. On the way to the apartment you have to go through the narrow and rundown stairway -the apartment itself is furnished with a mixture of random vintage furniture (not collector items) and some other affordable furniture. -A dining table is created through usage of pedestals that hold a simple white wooden panel. the panel is not properly painted nor polished -Throughout the apartment one can identify little accessories, a quite unique collection. -There are no things on the wall that are framed. However, there are a few pictures and fashion magazine cut outs on the wall. -The apartment is shared -eventhough the apartment reflects personality it seems like it’s purpose is quite functional (not very decorated in comparison to other dutch apartments)

APPENDIX Conversation -An attempt from my side to speak about the US election was strongly rejected by the participants, ho wever we ended up speaking about it -The conversation about the topic was quite loose and everybody could express their point of view, the conversation did not go too deep -one Observee mentioned that he is not into speaking about the negative things in the world and that he would prefer to speak about positive things - He said to be aware of the bad things in life but instead of talking too much about it one should try to engage in ones very own social circle and try to have a positive influence on that level. This POV was well received by other members of the group -The rest of the conversation was pretty much about what represents our current zeitgeist, it was about fashion, photography and music and as well as some personal issues of some of the people. -However the conversations were light hearted and not too deep -It was noticeable that different point of views were genuinely accepted and respected Other findings -The conversation turned into a little styling session. -One of the members of the group was picked and two others styled them -They used everything they could find (including usb cable) to create a outfit -Eventhough this was just for the fun of it there were heated discussion about what to do and what not to do -Eventually they made a little photoshoot -Even though they put effort in all of this it was more for the fun of it and not taken seriously. it was very much about embracing the ugly.Music -The music varies throughout the night - everyone can have a go to decide and they seem to enjoy to be exposed to different music. - most of the music that is played is Hip Hop or hiphop related, some of it really well know and some of it more underground. - the music is sometimes discussed and put into cultural context ( what the music reflects about our time etc) -whilst some songs are new and contemporary, others are old school Hip Hop and nostlgic.

6. Caribbeanbeauty With Mascara And Braided Hair.

7. Caribbeanbeauty With Socks â&#x20AC;&#x153;Suck My Dickâ&#x20AC;?

examples from music that was played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ProbPpO_8oo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43XWafBLJIM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K44j-sb1SRY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55iN4H6kRN4 https://soundcloud.com/lil-jabba/industry-1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrQWhFysPKY

APPENDIX

8. Caribbeanbeauty Messes With The Teacher Who Gave Him A 5,3 For His Final Thesis.

10. Gogolupin Instagram

9. Caribbeanbeauty Purposely Dressing Very Outdated

11. Gogolupin International

The pictures show “gogolupin” in China, Paris and Amsterdam

APPENDIX 12. Field Note 4

13. Gogolupin Feeling Cosy

• Space: Cowboys2Catwalk (Store)

• Actors: CASUAL CONVERSATION WITH MEMBER OF Micro-culture

• Activity: Shopping

• Time : 20 minutes

• Conversation Goal: Obtain an understanding of what drives the need of the memebers of micro-culture to creatively express themselves

About the interviewee -male -25 years old -Stylist, DJ, eventhosting -Stopped his hva education to fully dedicate his time to his passions

INTERESTING FINDINGS

14. Use Of Feminine Symbols

-To express himself creatively is a pure desire by the tribe member and not driven by the motivation to make money -Does not comme in the store with the aim to buy (very high-end store) but with the aim to be inspired -Expresses that education is not neccesarry if you want to express yourelf creatively you learn a long the way -Deliberately tries to break up the stereotype or the category that people might put him into -Like to juxtapose different references in his fashion to re-evaluate the meaning -Tries on Raf Simons clothing and is trying to figure out how to wear it in a cool way -makes picture of himself trying on the raf simons item to later post it on social media (expressing his admiration for the work of the designer) - Explain that he wears Helly Hansen jacket out of nostlagia and that he like to wear it with expensive stuff which would change peoples perception of the jacket. He expressed enjoyement about the fact that he can change what people think about the product.

APPENDIX 15. Tribe Diameters

16. ninety6sam

PERIPHERAL Fsgreen

SOFT CORE bokoesam

tirinoyspol

Ninety6sam

Gogolupin characharaboy

imruh

HARD CORE

Bizzey

Carriebeanbeauty babyfuegod

youndustinhofman samo_wisdomcolor

patrickmordi