Boom Box - Cultural Significance

Cultural Significance

The boombox quickly became associated with urban society, particularly African American and Hispanic youth. People used their boomboxes to spread their ideas; cassettes were traded and shared among those open to the music, and played as loud as possible out of the box for those who didn’t want to hear what they had to say. The wide use of boomboxes in urban communities led to the boombox being coined a “ghetto blaster”, a nickname which was soon used as part of a backlash against the boombox and hip hop culture. Cities began banning boomboxes from public places and they became less and less acceptable on city streets.

The boombox became intrinsically linked to hip hop culture and, as Fab Five Freddy puts it, was “instrumental” in the rise of hip hop. Certain models like the JVC RC-M90 and the Sharp GF-777 were known as the boombox kings, having the power to drown out other ghetto blasters and were used in music battles. The Beastie Boys embraced the boombox as a signature, The Clash always had a boombox with them, and Schoolly D lugged around a Conion 100cf in the UK.