When you hear "death" over designer, you may automatically think of the literal meaning of death. Though it could actually mean that, I want to place emphasis on the death and demise of an individual's mind, and more or less, their free thinking.
Rick Ross, currently one of the prevalent mainstream artist in production right now has a song which has lyrics saying, “I'm tha magnificient with tha sensational style, down to all of my automobiles with no miles, yellow corvettes, black rally stripe” and “when I decorate a home, marble flooring like Da nile” incuding a chorus that chants, “Swimmin' in women, champagne sippin',Gold emblem with 2 M's in it in, this living' is so magnificent ,stop dreaming' it, i'm living' life.” It’s difficult not to perceive, the image mainstream rap tries to push across is that, individuals need to spend more in order to compete to live this supposedly glamorous lifestyle which is composed solely of materialistic happiness. Most mainstream artists glorify and encourage spending money on materialistic items, and the media enjoys promoting the "big life" that these artists, in their lyrics indulge in. Thus in doing this, the media also does promote a lifestyle most will never come close to obtaining w/ shows like "cribs," and "my super sweet 16,” and “basketball wives.”
Music videos by Hip Hop artists such as Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, 2 Chains, Fabolous, and Birdman over and over again show these artists/rappers perpetrating with cars, houses, jewelry, and even clothes which may not even belong to them – and more times than not, this is often the case. In this new day and age, the majority of Rap’s music video’s aren’t judged and critiqued by their aesthetics, storytelling, creativity, and originality; but they are now judged by the viewers, people like you and I, mostly by “how hard the rapper stunts.” Rapper Birdman has often been asked what the definition of stunting was, and his reply always consists of, “High class flashing of your jewelry, money riches, etc. A person who stunts would be a "stunna" usually showing off diamonds, gold, platinum, women, cars and stacks of cash. LARGE BILLS!” One of Kurt Cobain’s most famous quotes is, “Pretending to be someone you’re not is a waste of the person you are.” Yet after watching these videos individuals try to imitate this dazzling and alluring lifestyle, and hold these artists as role models in their lives. Sometimes in an attempt to keep up with a lifestyle we have no business trying to copy, individuals try to craft an impression of themselves using the image of someone their not & materialistic objects assist them to try and achieve this model. This is a common issue within the black community. In an attempt to emulate this seemingly lavish lifestyle, individuals run into the problem of living above their means. According to article in huffingtonpost.com, “The Black median income is lower than that of whites yet, us African Americans, we have a "buying power" expected to hit 1.1 trillion.”
When the title death over designer is mentioned, one element that shouldn’t be overlooked is the slavery component. Blacks were seen as inferior, dirty, savages so once free they started over compensating as a way to separate themselves as much possible from that myth which ended up being useless, and essentially a ‘catch 22’ because with their overspending and glorification of a type of materialistic life which lacks substance; they are still viewed by some as inferior and substandard,
Finally, no one educates or promotes the saving or investment of money. That message would not be ‘flashy’ enough. Saving is another forgotten concept. People 'break bread' to emulate stars but 1) most of these "role models" either don't have a degree or dropped out of high school (I.e drake, 2 chains) and 2) most of these stars go broke after the limelight burns out (i.e mc hammer, nelly and his money issues, etc). Additionally, with the newly infamous "YOLO” phrase, it is now viewed acceptable and conventional to overspend and over reach in the name, ‘im only living once.’ But before you spend a large amount of your paycheck on a materialistic item in the name of, you only live once; remember you only die once also.
Then what have you left for you loved ones…
Some Jordan shoes?
Benjamin Franklin once said, If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.