Marginalized subcultures fuel mainstream cultural innovation, not the reverse

Evidence

But culture isn’t sports. The minor leagues of marginalized communities, niche subcultures, and experimental creators have always been the most important crucible of innovation. While the mainstream occasionally produces something original, it mostly feeds on ideas generated outside its walls. Artists, subcultures, and countercultures are intrinsically motivated to break conventions, and the industry relies on them for fresh ideas to commercialize later. Even the most passive consumers, those indifferent to “high art,” may not actively seek out experimental work, but they instinctively grow bored with repetition. Hip-hop’s longevity comes from its ability to follow the lead of its vanguard, resulting in a long chain of stylistic evolution from drum machines to soul samples to synthesized trap beats. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 860

Categorization

• XREF: Central to the omnivore monoculture thesis: this mechanism of vanguard-driven renewal is what flattened distribution supposedly kills. — connects to: Subcultures reversed cultural flows by reversing the trickle-down of style — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 455; Subcultures form new status hierarchies for those lacking global status — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 399; Marginal figures more naturally produce radical symbolic invention — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 828 (+2 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 860