The most direct comparison in No Dead Air! The iPod and the Culture of Mobile Listening, written by Michael Bull in 2005, and the Documentary Film from 1983 Style Wars, is the subtle revolt against oppression through a resurfacing of the façade in the space that is planned and designed by those who have power. While Hip-Hop culture, including the subcategories of break dancing and graffiti included in the film, creates change. The changes in a perceived surface and environment through the iPod or mobile listening device in those spaces create a personal interaction with space that can also be put on to us.

As one individual studied in “Dead Air” stated that he imagined different people on the subway singing different lines in a Talking Heads song as he listened and enjoyed his trip to work. Here he creates a different surface level to what can be a disturbing environment. Another woman in the same study shared with us that the scratching noises and the interactions with people made her uneasy. She needed the music to escape where she was and feel secure in her own space. This connects directly with a graffiti artist to me who is redefining a space that was created by a higher power, mostly without their say. Plus, when they “Bomb” in that they create an identity in the space that is one held high yet is oppressive. In the construct as it is opposed on to the user out of the situation where the need is to be transported from home to work in order to earn a living wage. As we see the plain white subways later in the film Style Wars this tagging, murals, and or bombs create a different façade from the capitalist, industrial, dominating space of government infrastructure. The sounds of hip hop flows through these spaces as another kid can and is shown breaking/dancing on cardboard on the streets. These materials and spaces take new meaning when they are used in this way, as it is clearly shown then and now that a houseless population some using cardboard boxes for homes and the sidewalk journey making users then and now uncomfortable. As the listener listens to music expressing what they feel inside, they too can dance or be quiet in, creating a barrier to experiencing their surroundings. Hip-Hop culture, I believe, goes in a clear stance of expression and, at its best, stands against oppression. At the same time, isolation into ourselves can take us away from creating a change that is needed in these spaces. You can look at this as an evolution from radical obstruction in the system to acceptance. Where I am looking at this combo of video and literature as letting the powerful design a space where we can be further controlled while they are free and letting the tragedies in our system continue as they multiply their benefit.