Hip-Hop Music And Social Identity

8 Mile is a semi-biographical movie directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Eminem which released in 2002.This film tells a story about a young man named Jimmy Smith from Detroit.He is a blue-collar worker,as well as a white rapper which is unusual in hip-hop field.He has much stress from work,family and emotion,so he uses his hip-hop music to express his rage and discontent.He tries to step over barriers of race and mentality to express himself courageously.Hip-hop music and hip-hop culture can be seen as subculture rooted from slums and dominated by young African-Americans.Such issues as class,race and gender are often discussed when it comes to hip-hop.Movie 8 Mile combines music with these topics.Analyzing the protagonist Jimmy Smith's behavior and presence in the movie 8 Mile,from the perspectives of class,race and gender in identity theories,this thesis aims to argue that music can be regarded as a metaphor of one's identity.Chapter One is going to talk about hip-hop music and society from the perspective of class.In the movie,protagonist Jimmy Smith and his friends are almost from the slums in Detroit and live in bad condition.They rap their lives.Chapter Two is going to discuss identity construction from hip-hop music and race.Jimmy Smith is a white man,and this is the most obvious conflict in hip-hop field and in the movie.Chapter Three is going to research from the angle of sexuality by analyzing female images in this movie and gender issues in hip-hop music.