ILL COMMUNICATION
The term Ill Communication references the 1994 album by the American alternative hip-hop group Beastie Boys. Released during my adolescence, the album marked a formative encounter with the lyrically rich and culturally charged world of gangsta rap. At the time, it served as a personal gateway into the genre’s vibrancy and social commentary. Today, however, the title takes on a more ironic resonance—highlighting themes of cognitive dissonance, moral relativism, and a growing disconnect from the evolving language and conventions of contemporary Hip-hop, Grime, and urban British culture.
Hip-hop, with its distinctive language and motifs, offers a structural and systemic lens through which to examine contemporary society. This work draws on that framework to interrogate broader social issues, positioning itself within the existentialist tradition. It explores the tension between authenticity and inauthenticity, while grounding its theoretical base in Louis Althusser’s concept of the Ideological State Apparatus. Althusser’s critique of cultural reproduction provides a foundation for recontextualising how global hip-hop culture influences and reshapes local expressions and identities.
The research aims to contribute to ongoing discussions around cultural reproduction, appropriation, linguistics, and acculturation. It also critically examines cultural relativism and the ethics of tolerance, offering a space for reflexivity in how we understand selfhood and social constructionism.
At its core, the research seeks to develop a conceptual framework that opens pathways into creative exploration and expression. One such framework is Keepin’ it Real, which examines the phenomenological experience of otherness and the socio-cultural dynamics that shape both speech and self-perception. It considers how a speaker’s identity is constructed and interpreted through the gaze of the other, and how meaning is negotiated in these encounters.
Screen shots taken from mobile virtual realty head set.
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