Florida State University Libraries Honors Theses The Division of Undergraduate Studies 2013 Decoding Dubstep: A Rhetorical Investigation of Dubstep's Development from the Late 1990s to the Early 2010s Laura Bradley Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] 4-25-2013 Decoding Dubstep: A Rhetorical Investigation of Dubstep’s Development from the Late 1990s to the Early 2010s Laura Bradley Florida State University, [email protected] Bradley | 1 THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES DECODING DUBSTEP: A RHETORICAL INVESTIGATION OF DUBSTEP’S DEVELOPMENT FROM THE LATE 1990S TO THE EARLY 2010S By LAURA BRADLEY A Thesis submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with Honors in the Major Degree Awarded: Spring 2013 Bradley | 2 The members of the Defense Committee approve the thesis of Laura Bradley defended on April 16, 2012. ______________________________ Dr. Barry Faulk Thesis Director ______________________________ Dr. Michael Buchler Outside Committee Member ______________________________ Dr. Michael Neal Committee Member Bradley | 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have shaped and improved this project, through all of its incarnations and revisions. First, I must thank my thesis director, Dr. Barry Faulk, for his constant and extremely constructive guidance through multiple drafts of this project—and also his tolerance of receiving drafts and seeing me in his office less than a week later. Dr. Michael Buchler’s extensive knowledge of music theory, and his willingness to try out a new genre, have led to stimulating and thought provoking discussions, which have shaped this paper in many ways. Dr. Michael Neal’s extremely detailed understanding of Lloyd Bitzer’s Rhetorical Situation helped me sort out an entire section of this paper that otherwise would not have completely made sense. Finally, Dr. Kristie Fleckenstein’s passion for rhetorical theory, and her great gift of teaching and instilling that passion in others inspired and shaped this project in more ways than I can express. As with all endeavors, there were many people whose support was crucial in the completion of this project. First and foremost, my mother, who has always been a constant supporter of all I do. Additionally, my close friends Sarah and Caroline, who, in working on their own theses, have been invaluable in their understanding, humor, and tolerance of frustrated venting. Equally important is the support I have received from my friends Kat and Katie, who in having absolutely no such project have been fresh, cheerful company and amply diverting when needed. You guys are stars. You are my muses. I dedicate this project to all of those above mentioned, and can only hope it is a successful enough project merit a dedication—and that the dedication itself does not come off as being terribly pretentious, rather than completely, sincerely gracious. Thank you. Bradley | 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….…..5 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………........6 The Emergence and Development of a Genre……………………………….…...8 The Sounds of a Genre and its Wayward Subgenre……………………………..11 Intended Analytical Frameworks……………………………………………......16 Chapter One : Identifying Cultural Context: Rhetorical Situation Analysis…………...18 The Components of Dubstep’s Rhetorical Situation.……………….…..……....18 A Shift in the Situation………………………………………………...…….….27 A Clash Between Two Dubstep Titans, A Schism Between Two Genres...........31 Chapter Two: Subjective Interpretations of Reality: Fantasy Theme Analysis….......…36 A Short Explanation of Fantasy Theme Analysis………………….….....….….37 Fantasy Theme Analysis of Canonical Tracks……………………………....….41 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...……51 Research Findings and Results…………………………………………………51 Explanation and Evaluation of Research Methods…………………...…..……53 Project Implications and Importance…………………………………………...55 Appendix: Track List…………….………..…………………………………..……….57 Works Cited.…………………………………………………………………….……..58 Bradley | 5 ABSTRACT This thesis will rhetorically analyze dubstep, a British electronic music genre that has now achieved international fame, through two rhetorical frameworks. My interest in this project began with a love for the music itself, and developed as I realized how little attention has been paid to electronic music genres by rhetorical scholars. These genres are rich with musical sampling and intertextuality, making them a great place for collaboration between music theory and rhetorical scholarship. First, this project examines the cultural context that made and shaped the genre using Lloyd Bitzer’s rhetorical situation framework to identify dubstep’s rhetorical exigence, audience, and constraints. I chose Bitzer’s framework to locate cultural context because of is close examination of exigence, audience and constraints in shaping rhetorical bodies. Then I will use Ernest Bormann’s fantasy theme analysis to look more closely at the musical texts themselves, analyzing the musical narrative through sampled lyrics as products of the previously studied rhetorical situation. Dubstep’s original exigence was to provide an overwhelming experience to overtake the body and allow its rhetorical audience (a small electronic music community of producers and potential producers) to confront a communal sense of individual anxieties, isolation, and disappointment with their urban environment and society. When the music gained fame and the audience became wider spread and less culturally connected to its roots, a schism occurred and the exigence changed to one of bacchanalian release, as producers made music to let a crowd let loose and blow off steam. This shift caused a notable change, and the change can be observed in the shifting fantasy themes within the musical texts. The fantasy theme of isolation, for instance, shifted from moody and gloomy isolation to violent rejection of societal rules. This project highlights the importance of audience in shaping a rhetorical body, and also demonstrates rhetoric’s utility in analyzing electronic music, which is full of intertextual sampling. Bradley | 6 INTRODUCTION A high-pitched sound, like a dial tone, sounds for a few seconds, followed by a woman asking with uncertainty, “Are we on air?” “Yes you are,” replies a male voice coolly. “Hello, Ma! Uh, I’d like to hear a new beat on the request line?” the woman requests. “Okay, you got it comin’ up,” the DJ acquiesces. The introductory notes tremble back and forth. They sound inorganic but crisp as they continue in a rhythmic and melodic pattern. A faint, electronic feedback starts to squeal in the background, imparting an eerie vibe. The notes take on a new pattern—rather than alternating between a few notes, the melody starts to flutter upward, but a minor key keeps the music’s optimism in check. And then a rumbling bass begins to groan below these sounds, along with a repeated drum pattern, followed by a high-pitched screaming sound like faraway white noise or even sirens, and finally, the percussive sound of a gun firing and cocking. All of these sounds alternate and pattern to form the song “Midnight Request Line” by Skream, which is often credited as being the first true dubstep song. Dubstep is a genre of bass music (electronic music that places heavy emphasis on bass as an aesthetic and rhetorical tool) that is still growing and developing. Its origins are in South Croydon in London, England. An offshoot of garage music, the genre first began in the late 1990s. It has since developed some subgenres, one of which is most well-known; in fact, the subgenre has, in some circles, come to be more known than the original genre. Dubstep’s journey is made more interesting by the fact that it was a genre that began and developed alongside the growth of the internet. The variety of factors that influenced the genre and its development can be overwhelming without a structured method of analysis. Rhetorical analysis can, in many ways, shed light on the genre’s development and its subgenre’s subsequent splinter. Bradley | 7 I will use two rhetorical frameworks, Lloyd Bitzer’s Rhetorical Situation and Ernest Bormann’s Fantasy Theme Analysis. I will employ the Rhetorical Situation framework to locate dubstep in its cultural context (identify the rhetorical purpose served, the audience addressed, and the constraints that structure the musical discourse). Then, I will delve deeper with Bormann’s framework to examine the fantasy themes in various dubstep songs’ lyrics, placing these fantasy themes in their appropriate cultural contexts as previously identified by Bitzer’s framework. This multi-dimensional analysis will provide greater insight into dubstep as a genre, and also demonstrate the potential rhetorical analysis has for studying electronic music: a set of genres that places great emphasis on sampling and intertextuality. This paper will illustrate how well Bitzer and Bormann’s frameworks can work together to examine rhetoric in two dimensions: first, in a broad cultural dimension, and then in a narrower, analytical dimension through close reading of artifacts. Additionally, this paper will function as a working example for future rhetorical scholars interested in analyzing musical genres. There is great overlap between music theory and rhetorical theory; while techniques and tools differ, many goals are the similar and related, and through collaboration, both fields can benefit greatly. Music