"A mask of gold hides all deformities"
/The environmental effects of gold mining are not pleasant. It relies heavily on the use of toxic chemicals and produces so much waste that it is hard to grasp it. See below how much waste the gold to make a single gold ring produces.
Source: Tons of waste produced from gold mining – globally, this year
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I am interested in the correlation between gold accessories and rap and hip hop music. Almost every time I watch a rap music video, I see rappers wearing flashy and seemingly expensive gold. I have always wondered why this was the case. Rap culture, in general, is about flashiness. It’s not enough to “make it,” you have to show and tell everyone around you that you’ve made it. You have to show your fans that you are living the good life and can afford expensive jewelry. Because of this, many rappers today such as Trinidad James, Waka Flocka (he performed at Furman University last year), and Big Sean, have all been caught wearing fake gold. This may not seem like a big deal, but in the rap industry this is a major deal because it seems like the rapper can’t afford real gold. I am not surprised by this because we live in a materialistic and consumer society. Simply put, buying an expensive gold chain is a rite of passage in the rap industry.
Gold was first introduced to the Hip Hop Culture in the early 80’s by iconic group RUN DMC. After that, other Hip Hop artists such as Slick Rick, Rakim and Big Daddy Kane followed suit. Over the years it became the core of Hip Hop fashion and lyrics, which led to the stereotype that if you didn’t have any gold chains, it meant your rap career wasn’t doing well, which is not necessarily true. The origins of rap music primarily stem from the poor areas of the United States, where blacks began to rap verses and mix old music. Many of the black people in these areas tried to make money rapping instead of dealing drugs and stealing. To show how much wealth they possessed, rappers started wearing gold chains. Most people from these dilapidated areas were listeners of rap music and these rappers were role models to them, but they also had to see the rappers wear expensive gold accessories that they could not afford themselves. Rappers are selling a dream to their listeners, so it appears to be in their best interest to flaunt their wealth and success. For a rapper, it is really part of the costume, just as a country artist might wear boots or a cowboy hat.
Since its origin, rappers have used lyrics to promote their lavish lifestyle of buying bling bling and other expensive products. If I had a dollar for every time a rapper wrote lyrics about their gold jewelry, to be frank, I would be a billionaire. Let’s examine some of the times gold has been mentioned in the lyrics of rappers. In Trinidad James’ song titled “All Gold Everything” it talks about the rapper’s obsession with gold and how gold represents sheer flamboyance. His lyrics are vulgar, but if you want to read the full lyrics click here. The main chorus of his song goes, “Gold all in my chain, gold all in my ring. Gold all in my watch, Don’t believe me just watch.” When listeners hear music like this, they may want to emulate these rappers, as they are their idols. It may even lead some fans to buying gold chains. I can say that I wore a fake gold chain when I was kid, after listening to Soulja Boy. Besides lyrics, rappers are commonly seen gloating on social media that they just purchased expensive gold accessories.
If you look at the photo above, you can observe the diamond and gold piece purchased by my favorite rapper, Kodak Black, which costs an estimated $100,000. Posts like these are extremely common in the rap industry, and they let the world know just how much money these rappers and music producers have. Lastly, I want to conclude with this quote by rapper Big Sean that explains why he buys gold jewelry: “I really just appreciate good jewelry, clarity, gold. I think gold is made for kings and pharaohs—that’s what I am. That’s why I rock gold and, you know, stuff like that.”
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To learn more about the end of life of commodities, I went on a field trip with my class to a recycling center. This was beneficial to my project because it encouraged me to think about the end of the life cycle of gold. Gold is not only used in jewelry, but also electronics. The recycling center we visited recycled electronic waste, or, e-waste for short. E-waste may be defined as electronics that are at the end of their life cycle. This recycling center sends their e-waste to Charlotte, North Carolina, and 30% of their e-waste goes to the landfill. It was interesting to learn that inmates from the local prison come and help this recycling center with their e-waste recycling. Also, the center makes money selling all the recyclables except e-waste. They are required by law to collect e-waste. They collect about 14 tons of e-waste a week.
The recycling of e-waste is relevant to my project because as mentioned above, gold is used in electronics. Gold is the main primary metal in electronics and is found in laptops, computers, cell phone boards, etc. E-waste contains 40-50 times the amount of gold in ore mined from the ground (Wiens 2012). Because of this, the recovery of gold from e-waste is a process that is practiced in the world today. Businesses use state of the art technologies to recovery gold and other precious metals, and this helps to create a closed loop cycle. The only caveat is that in order for the recovery of gold from e-waste to be profitable, there must be high quantities of gold, and thus, high quantities of e-waste. Despite this, electronic consumption is thriving. E-waste shows a higher growth rate than any other category of municipal waste. E-waste is growing at an alarming rate due to increased consumption of electronic devices and the shorter life span of mobile phones, computers, televisions and other electronic devices (Tay et al. 2013). Additionally, due to the rising population of the middle class in non-developed countries, electronic purchase consumption has increased leading an increased amount of e-waste.
Simply put, the current trend is that the more affluent the world’s population becomes, the more electronics are being purchased. This has done wonders for the gold industry! 12% of the annual mine production of gold comes from recycled gold (Hagelüken & Corti 2010). Furthermore, there has been increased research on more efficient and environmentally friendly methods to extract gold from electronics. With 7% of the world’s gold locked away in electronic devices, reclaiming precious metals from electronic waste with more environmentally friendly methods could directly reduce the impact on the environment and save money at the same time (Clark 2016). It would also help reduce the need for expensive and environmentally destructive mining and refining operations.
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Aloe Blacc stated it perfectly when he said, “We live in an era of consumerism and it’s all about desire based consumerism and it has nothing to do with the things we actually need.” Consumerism is a defining characteristic of our capitalistic society. It is a driver of growing economies and the consumption of goods. To find out about how consumerism and gold are connected I took a field trip to the mall. For some, the mall is a safe haven where one can “shop till you drop.” Filled with many shops and advertisements, the mall portrays a front line for a consumerist culture. The shops are organized in a systematic way to maximize viewership and potential profits.
As part of this project, I went into different shops that sold gold. I wanted to find out how gold was sold, advertised, and secured. The fact that gold is sold in clear cases already sets it apart from many other commodities. When you walk into a jewelry shop, you can’t help but notice how well the shop is laid out. The shop is laid out to maximize the sales potential for each square footage. The aisles between the cases of gold jewelry are wide enough to fit an entire family. Furthermore, when I was at one of the jewelry shops in the mall, I engaged in an enlightening conversation with of the employees. After briefly explaining the details of my project, we discussed how gold is secured. She even told me that a Furman student came to speak with her about 6 years ago and they wanted to know more about the security components and the shop’s layout that would prevent the theft of gold. An example of some of these components are cameras, alarms, and safes. In the first shop I visited, the owner stopped me when I began to take a picture of the gold jewelry in the cases. She told me that because of insurance reasons, she could not let me take a picture of the gold while it is in the case. She did however pull a few gold necklaces out of the case and then I could take a picture of them. Because of this occurrence, I made sure to ask an employee before taking pictures in all the remaining shops I visited.
Another important aspect to consider with consumerism and gold is the role of alternate forms of payment such as credit. Long gone are the days where either debit or cash were the primary forms of payment for gold jewelry. If you look at Photo 1 above, you can see an advertisement for a credit card to buy gold. I took a picture of this advertisement as it was conveniently located on the counter near the register of one of the jewelry shops in the mall. Credit cards have transformed the consumerist culture and have allowed people to buy more commodities by deferring the payments until a later time. Photo 2 depicts the displaying of gold necklaces, but also shows a note that says that there is a 60% off sale for 14-Karat gold. Sales are one example of a marketing strategy that is used not only in the jewelry industry, but in many other commercial industries. Lastly, Photo 3 depicts an advertisement promoting the buying of gold and silver jewelry. Notice how elegant the woman is photographed in the ad, with the close shot of her head, torso and the multiple pieces of jewelry that she is wearing. Also, her clothes are neutral in color, so that the focus remains on the jewelry.
Lastly, how a commodity is sold, secured, and advertised is vital in our consumerist society. Look back to the quote in the 1st sentence of this field journal. We live in an age where our desires are often put 1st before our needs. While gold jewelry is beautiful and elegant, it is not a commodity that is necessary for survival. Gold sellers prey on consumers’ desires and sway people into buying gold jewelry through ads and marketing strategies such as the 60% off sale depicted in Photo 2. Because of the high value of gold, strict security measures are taken to protect gold from theft. Keep in mind that jewelry is just one of the roles gold has in society. Other roles of gold will be featured as well on this website.
/Gold, the prized commodity. But why? Why do people value gold?
To get a better understanding of how people perceive gold, I interviewed two different women from different social and ethnic backgrounds and asked them a set of questions. I will refer to the 1st person I interviewed as Interviewee 1, and the second as Interviewee 2. Everyone has a different perception of gold, but I wanted to find commonalities between the answers given from the interviewees. The 1st question I asked was why do people value gold? The 2nd question was when you think of the word gold what comes to mind? The 3rd was when you see people wearing gold jewelry what do you think about them and what do you think it says about them? The last question was what is the role of gold in a society and economy?
When asked about why people value gold, Interviewee 1 stated that they personally didn’t see the value of gold outside of its uses for jewelry. They did mention how historically, people valued it because it was a symbol of wealth and how in the Bible it is seen as valuable. Furthermore, when Interviewee 1 thinks of the word “gold”, they think of gold jewelry, gold bars, and wealth. Also, when this Interviewee sees someone wearing gold, they stated how if they are wearing one simple chain or necklace, that looks elegant. If they see people with multiple chains or necklaces, it looks like they’re trying to show off or brag about how much money they have. Lastly, when asked about the role of gold in a society or economy, Interviewee 1 mentioned how in the past, gold was used for currency and for trading, but nowadays it is hard to see the value of gold because of how much people use credit and debit cards.
Interviewee 2 stated that people value gold because it’s viewed as a luxury and because it makes them feel superior to others who can’t afford objects considered to be so valuable. When they think of the word “gold”, they think of the words “expensive” and “wealthy.”. Also, when they see people wearing gold, this Interviewee thinks that the person is wealthy and that they place a high value on material possessions. Lastly, when asked about the role of gold in society and economy, Interviewee 2 stated that it functions as a symbol that differentiates the upper-class citizens from the rest of the population. Additionally, they mentioned how gold has a purpose of making money.
Keep in mind that these are only the responses of two people, and their answers don’t represent how everyone in the population perceives gold. Regardless, these views serve an important purpose in that they provided insight into how some people may view gold. Stay tuned to a further discussion of this on the Cultural and Sociological Connections page.
So let’s briefly assess the commonalities and dissimilarities in the answers of these two interviewees. Both interviewees mentioned the word “wealth” multiple times and how gold is equivalent to wealth. Moreover, while gold has many forms and uses, both interviewees were working on the supposition that gold’s crucial function is to be used in creating jewelry. A more holistic view would be where gold is seen as a metal mined from the ground, that serves many roles in society today. Also, I thought it was intriguing how Interviewee 1 thought wearing too much gold was seen as a premise for bragging rights, but Interviewee 2 thought it meant that a person valued material objects. This just affirms the aforementioned point that the perception of gold can vary based on an individual’s social, ethnic, and economic background. In conclusion, regardless of one’s perception of gold, the value of gold can ultimately be determined by the market rate. Let’s see what the actual price of gold is today. To see the live price of gold click here.
/Gold is an important part of society and culture today. The desire for gold, especially gold jewelry, is apparent in many parts of the world, such as India. For example, in India, there is this overwhelming fascination with gold jewelry and this is apart of their cultural heritage.