Rui-Long Monico: Geek & Hustler: The Rapper as an Agent of Spread of Contemporary New Media Aesthetics, Culture & Ideology

Fused with references to video games and comics, manga and science-fiction, fantasy worlds and electronics in its lyrics, album covers, films and mythologies, rap music as a genre has – since its very humble beginning – built an intimate rapport with geek culture. "Early adopters" of consumer technology – often corrupting its original application in acts of sabotage or experimentation –, rappers are notoriously characterized by their heavy consumption of both new media and pop culture.
For a few decades now, hip hop has dominated the cultural conversation. With the advent of a generation of digital native rappers – whose Internet uber-literacy includes mastering the mechanics of virality and diffusion –, the frontier, the battleground space for innovation and relevancy, has shifted online. This research will explore the role of the Rapper in the circulation of Internet vernacular, reflecting on the sheer efficiency of the Rapper as an outlet of taste expression, as an agent of spread of new media aesthetics, culture and ideology, from the fringe to the mainstream.
As case studies, a curated array of rappers will be considered, featuring both established acts as well as up-and-coming contenders. Their faces covered in tats, sporting candy-colored dreads, rainbow grillz, eclectic or corny fashion and absurd jewelry, adopting offensive or invented antics and mannerism, distorting grammar, speech patterns and images in their music and videos… these rappers are formidable ambassadors of each and every idiosyncrasy contemporary new media culture has to offer. This seemingly deliberate and prevalent celebration of vulgarity and ugliness offers a polyphonic display that feeds directly to the "Schaulust" of digital fandoms – always in search of social distinction – while matching here all too cleverly the essence of the “Internet Ugly” in a very successful endeavor at gaming the system?

A trained fine artist, Rui-Long Monico is the co-founder and creative director of Candy Factory, a visual communication agency based in Geneva and for which he has participated in numerous projects for local and international institutions. Academically, he holds a design BFA from the University of Texas, a crisis communications CAS from the Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften and an art history MA from the University of Geneva. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Geneva; his research questioning the soft power of Swiss banknote design. He is the author of “De l'économie dans l'art contemporain : entrepreneuriat, profit et critique” (2020), “Voir sans être vu : architecture et politique oculaire de Topkapı Sarayı” (2020), “Le linceul des brumes : formes et fonction des Salons noirs d’Alain Huck” (2019), “Helvetica : véhicule d’un modernisme militant” (2019), “Hans Clemer : il Maestro d'Elva” (2018) and “Donald Trump : la communication de crise comme outil de gouvernance” (2018).