i just caught a new commercial for mcdonalds featuring an attractive young black woman eating salad. the voice over is spoken word poetry, often confused with rap or hip hop. the sound of the commerical is something straight out of blackalicious, “nia” or sarah jones. this young woman is extolling the virtues of mcdonalds’ salads and their spirtitual influence, “how they affect me within.”

it is remarkable the commodification around all hip hop culture including spoken word poetry which tends to be a little too ephermal for comercials. frankly i was quite turned off by the entire thing, this aspect of hip hop for me is the most personal, and least marketable component. it is usually featured in small coffeehouses (nyoricans in NY) or def poetry jam, performed by individuals desperate for expression, hungry to change the world around them.

here, it is selling mcdonalds salads…

the final line for me was the most disturbing…

“green is the new black”

we are no longer talking about black as fashion, we are talking about black as culture. green is not only the color of salad, but the color of money. “green is the new black”

money is our new culture.

but i’m sure you knew that already.