Before the Apple iPod there was the walkman, the first portable cassette player that had been introduced before the iPod was even a thought. It came out 1980’s selling around 200 million units all together. While it is not hard to imagine how this small technological advance changed how individuals experienced music it also formed a different kind of racism which hadn’t been seen till then. The cassette was created because the co-founder of Sony, Masaru Ibuka, travelled extensively and found it taxing to carry around a bulky cassette recorder in order to have the joy of experiencing music on the go. It was from here that the walkman was created not only giving you portable music but also giving you privacy to listen to music of your choice. The walkman not only gave individuals the right to enjoy music on their own it also created competition for the boombox which had been introduced mid-1970’s. Not only was this competition which destroyed the popularity of the boombox it also created discrimination among the users of both products. Society considered those that used the boombox as primarily being used by the Hispanic and African American urban youth while the walkman was used only by those that could afford it. Not only is there a racial aspect when talking about the walkman there is also a societal issue in which many believed it contributed to individual users becoming antisocial and isolated from other individuals. In my paper I will be explaining the history of the walkman which includes the history of the boombox. I will also be explaining that while it is believed that those that used the walkman developed antisocial characteristics it is not completely fact because the individuals made every attempt to make for the antisocial behavior and united society in their own personal experience of music.

In order to fully understand the walkman we must first understand the technology that came before it, the boombox. We must first understand what the boombox actually started out as which was “a large portable radio and often tape deck or CD player with two attached speakers” . The boombox had been originally created by a Philips company in the Netherlands and was first introduced to the American market in mid-1970’s. It is when the boombox first hit the American market that more than 60% of all households had at least one which is astounding considering the fact that it was a tool meant purely for entertainment. The main reason for the creation of the boombox was so that music could be recorded from the radio on a cassette without the need of a microphone. Also they were created because buyers wanted to be able to listen to music louder and that had more to offer than radios. Not only did it give individuals the opportunity to record music straight off the radio it also gave them the opportunity to edit that music by messing around with the bass, treble, and midrange. The boombox had the advantage of having high fidelity while also being cheap and having the capability of producing sound at “120 db at close range, which is equal to the deafening roar of a jet engine” . It was the editing and recording capability that caused the boombox to be as big as it was originally was because it required big speakers, a cassette deck, the radio receiver, and it needed up to 10 D-sized batteries to work. This technological made it easy to share music between each other and it also made it easier for individuals to get their hands on the music they wanted. It became a symbol for sharing music and mixing the latest sounds. It was as the popularity of the boombox grew so did the want for louder and heavier bass grew. This is the reason that boomboxes kept getting bigger and bigger even to the size of a suitcase and became known as a Brixton briefcase. From the time of its creation to the ending of its reign as hip-hop king the boombox was created to include detachable speakers, a keyboard synethizer, and even a motion detector they would sound when it was moved on some of the most expensive boomboxes.

The boombox not only changed the capabilities of recording and editing music it also created a culture of public music sharing whether the individual wanted to or not. It was “the portability and low cost of the boom box” that made it difficult to avoid. They shared music in one of two ways making copies of cassettes for other people or individuals who had to listen to the music in public that didn’t necessarily want to. It also gave you the choice to publically share your music or to plug your headphones in and enjoy your music in private. But along with all the technological advances that came with the boombox the heavier and larger it became. When looking back the boombox became more than a symbol for music but also a symbol of status among the young urban community. The bigger, louder, and flashier the boombox the more attention and respect someone would have earned. It was because of how cheap and easy it was to get a boombox that it became closely linked to “inner-city African American youth” .
It is no coincidence that as the popularity of the boombox grew so did the popularity of hip-hop and rap. Rap was founded on the concept of taking someone’s original musical work and superimposing other sounds and or noises on to it . The way this was done was by the
“use of their turntables as musical instruments: they slowed down and speeded up the disc, they rubbed their fingers on the surface to produce tremolo, and they scratched the surface of the disc with the needle, not randomly but rhythmically – making it part of the music” .
It was from here that the music was recorded onto cassettes because of the wide availability of the boom box and because it was easier to record to because everyone understood how. It is with the growing popularity of hip-hop that the sales of the boombox grew and was adopted by many hip-hop celebrities as their signature item such as the Beastie Boys and LL Cool J. The reason the boombox became popular in the hip-hop industry was because it represented something that could instantly start a party and because it was accessible to anybody. Another reason to the popularity was the fact that it wasn’t merely just something to listen to music on it was

It was once the walkman was introduced that the popularity of the boombox dissipated. This technology not only created competition for the boombox but it also destroyed any future it would have had. The walkman was mass produced so individuals not only had the right to portable music but also giving them the option of listening to music of your own choice in private. The walkman was first introduced in 1980 to the American market and when it was first introduced Sony marketed it as the walkman being fashionable and culturally definitive. By marketing it as such it states that the owner was up to date and is financially stable enough to afford the commodity before it became cheaper.