VH1 takes an in-depth look at how hip-hop became a dominant force in American culture with the documentary series The Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop. Watch all four episodes here.

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Steve Stoute’s 2011 book, The Tanning Of America, was a revolutionary look at the history of hip-hop culture, and in early 2014, the book will be the basis for VH1′s latest Rock Doc This very special four-part series will include interviews with everyone from Diddy and Pharrell to Al Sharpton to Cory Booker and takes a look at how hip-hop has played a role not just in the entertainment world but in politics, civil rights and American culture as a whole.

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VH1′s “The Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop” features never-seen-before footage and interviews from numerous pop culture icons and entertainment personalities in America: Diddy, Dr Dre, Mariah Carey, Will.i.am, Russell Simmons, Pharrell, Nas, Reverend Run, Rick Rubin, Fab 5 Freddy, Jimmy Iovine, Al Sharpton, Cory Booker, Brett Ratner, Brian Grazer, Tommy Hilfiger, Ron Howard, Steve Stoute and many more.
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“The Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop” is produced by Rakontur, with Billy Corben directing and Alfred Spellman producing. Steve Stoute is an executive producer on the project. Executive producing for VH1 are Susan Levison, Ben Zurier, Shelly Tatro, Brad Abramson and Stephen Mintz.
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VH1′s Emmy Award winning Rock Docs are feature-length documentaries that tell unique stories of artists and music from a wide range of genres, styles and musical perspectives.

The Paley Center was pleased to host a panel about the VH1 documentary, The Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop, which explores how hip-hop has impacted every aspect of American life. The four-part documentary is based on the book by internationally acclaimed marketing maven Steve Stoute, who shows how hip-hop grew from an urban counter-culture movement to a major force in music, film, television, fashion, advertising, and politics. Our panel of experts discuss this "hip-hopification" of America and dissect important "tanning" moments over the past thirty years.

IN PERSON
Steve Stoute, Founder and CEO, Translation; Author, The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy
Billy Corben, Cofounder, Rakontur; Documentary Film Director
Reverend Al Sharpton, Civil Rights Activist; TV/Radio Personality
Fab Five Freddy, Hip Hop Pioneer; Visual Artist and Filmmaker
Daymond John, American Entrepreneur; Television Personality
Nas, Rapper; Actor
Moderator: Gayle King, Coanchor, CBS This Morning; Editor-at-Large, O, the Oprah Magazine

This all seems very racist and strange. Its not surprising they had DIddy up there, the premier artist to first truly commercialize Rap with all his dancing and other flashy things (and some would say ruined Hip-Hop). And they have a backdrop of Jay-Z talking about his cars. I get the feeling this will stir up bad reactions.

I also dont see the point of having Obama up there so much, he's not a rapper. But its obvious they want to play on color so they need him up there. Hip-Hop doesnt have anything to do with color really, its more of a culture. Also Rock N Roll was created by black people, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, etc.

[Edited 4/10/14 16:22pm]

LayzieKiddZ said:

I also dont see the point of having Obama up there so much, he's not a rapper.

Ron "Opie Cunningham" Howard, Norman Lear, & Tommy Hilfiger aren't rappers either, but they're on the program. The show isn't just about rappers or the music itself, it's more about how hip hop affected different businesses, like Adidas sneakers suddenly becoming really popular because of Run-DMC. The 1st episode doesn't even start out with rap, but with Norman Lear TV shows and blaxploitation movies from the early 1970s.

There are many great hip hop artists.

But this documentary is basically a look at the co-opting of hip hop into a corporate tool with a bunch of artists who do thier shilling intentionally or not.

Nicki Minaj's "Looking ass N***" with it's message and art work was a breaking point. Hip Hop artists were offically attacking the same people the art form was aiming to uplift & inspire. Who's voice the medium had previously been a champion of. There's nothing hip hop about that documentary except some thumping 808's.

[Edited 4/12/14 0:32am]

[Edited 4/23/14 18:58pm]

MickyDolenz said:

[Edited 4/23/14 18:58pm]

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Just saw Brian Williams' joint this morning. Hilarious! Especially with his own hypemen chiming in. Good stuff

hausofmoi7 said:

There are many great hip hop artists.

But this documentary is basically a look at the co-opting of hip hop into a corporate tool with a bunch of artists who do thier shilling intentionally or not.

Nicki Minaj's "Looking ass N***" with it's message and art work was a breaking point. Hip Hop artists were offically attacking the same people the art form was aiming to uplift & inspire. Who's voice the medium had previously been a champion of. There's nothing hip hop about that documentary except some thumping 808's.

[Edited 4/12/14 0:32am]

Completely agree on all counts. And in my opinion, the videos following your post only add to my feeling that the nation hasn't "united under hip hop" rather, those who are not from the groups that historically pioneered it, mock it and profit from it, while many hip hop artists smile and laugh along. Not realizing that they are the joke.

119 said:

those who are not from the groups that historically pioneered it, mock it and profit from it, while many hip hop artists smile and laugh along. Not realizing that they are the joke.

Other types of music get made fun of (Spinal Tap, The Rutles, Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful, parody videos on shows like SNL & In Living Color, The Life And Hard Times Of Guy Terrifico, etc.), so I'm not sure why rap should be exempt (ie. CB4 & Fear Of A Black Hat). Victor Borge made a whole career of spoofing the seriousness of classical audiences. With the companies, capitalism only works with exploitation. The average big company didn't become rich by being fair and nice (Monsanto, Enron). If you eat chocolate, there's a chance that the beans were picked by unpaid slave labor. If you wear Nike, there's a chance it was made in a sweatshop. Music is no different than any other business.

I know we've exhausted this topic already but speaking of the "Tanning of America." In the midst of all the hype around Nas' 20th Anniversary of "Illmatic", where the hell is MC Serch? Didn't he play a critical role in Nas' early days or is my memory mistaking. I haven't seen or heard anything from him in celebration of Illmatic's anniversary.

Musicslave said:

where the hell is MC Serch?

Apparently, he has a new self-help style TV talk show: