Afrofuturism, Percussion, and the Communication of Afrofuturist Themes in Music
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Future Sounds: Afrofuturism, Percussion, and the Communication of Afrofuturist Themes in Music by Benjamin Thomas A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Bachelor of Arts Music The Colorado College May 3, 2021 Approved by ____________________________ Date ____May 3, 2021____ Ryan Banagale ____________________________ Date ___________________ Michael Grace Thomas 2 Abstract On the very first Monday of my first year at Colorado College, I had made plans to audition for a student band called Frog. This would be the first band I had ever joined, culminating in an album release and an east coast tour in the summer of 2018. After that, it was Arc Trip, Parents, Public Indecency, Worm Weather, Bongo Saloon, and now Host Body. Each project has been an opportunity to develop my musicianship, exposing me to new musicians, genres, and general life experiences. After COVID-19 destroyed the worldwide music scene, playing with other musicians became a health risk. My relationship with drumming was partially fractured, and as most people can probably relate—I felt more stagnant than ever. Despite this, I continued to practice and explore my ideas outside of a band context; consequently, this evolved into a desire to create music that was representative of my own abilities and interests. Around this same time, I began discussing the possibility of creating a small duo project with Evan Hirshorn. We both wanted to create something representative of our musical abilities; furthermore, we wanted to create something that sounded professionally mixed and mastered. The intention was to create an auditory résumé, which we can share as proof of our abilities when we’re trying to get gigs in the music industry. These objectives laid the foundation for formulating my capstone project, which has flourished into a collection of songs that we are both extremely proud of. Throughout the writing process, we both drew inspiration from various artists to compose our individual parts. This allowed me to digest my written drum parts from an analytical perspective, drawing connections to specific artists, patterns, phrasings, and other ideas. This exploration into broader percussive elements transformed into a concentrated interest in Afrofuturist percussion. I wanted to examine the development of percussion throughout Thomas 3 Afrofuturist music, define its characteristics, and determine if anything I had created shared similarities with Afrofuturist percussion. Exploring these sonic elements of Afrofuturist music begged the question—does Afrofuturist art require a visual component? Throughout this paper, I will attempt to answer this question by analyzing the percussive ideas of three Afrofuturist albums, dissecting percussive ideas within my own project, and bringing both into conversation with one another. This will help determine whether or not Afrofuturist percussion can be concretely defined, and if sound alone can communicate Afrofuturist aesthetics. Analysis Part I - Afrofuturist Percussion Introduction Mark Dery was one of the first people to formally articulate Afrofuturism within the realm of higher education, using the term in his 1994 essay “Black to the Future” (Kettle). In this essay, he defines Afrofuturism “to describe a flurry of analysis fueled by sci-fi-loving Black college students and artists who were passionately reframing discussions about art and social change through the lens of science and technology” (Womack 16). I would argue that art is the primary focus of modern-day Afrofuturism, but its commentary implies social change through a reinterpretation of science and technology. The reason I make this distinction is because it would be unlikely for Afrofuturist discussion to center around issues of diversity within science/tech-related industries. This Afrofuturist reinterpretation of science and technology is presented in a number of ways; for instance, some associate Afrofuturism with fictional timelines that explore immense African technological development as a result of no European interference. Others approach Afrofuturism as a means of exploring a socially perfect future, in which humanity has embraced Thomas 4 its differences and flourished into an advanced civilization through a unified effort. Then there are other Afrofuturists who explore ideas of inter-planetary liberation, or the liberation of Blacks through the African colonization of another planet—presumably in a galaxy far, far away. This reference brings me to modern day discussions of Afrofuturism, in which social commentary and reinterpretations of science and technology are approached through the lens of art; specifically, the science-fiction genre in film, literature, music, poetry, dance, or anything that requires creativity and imagination. I’m presenting all this information as a means of prefacing my history with this topic. Ytasha Womack argues that simply recognizing the lack of diversity in the original Star Wars trilogy would make you somewhat of an Afrofuturist (Womack 7). In this case, perhaps Afrofuturism revolves around the approach of sci-fi genres and the utilization of this genre to provoke social change. A great example of this is Star Trek, which is infamous for its social commentary. I’d argue that my introduction to Afrofuturism began with the exposure to sci-fi series such as Star Trek, as well as other famous works like Black Panther and Star Wars. While I didn’t realize it at the time, I was being exposed to Afrofuturism outside of a musical context. Afrofuturist music was foreign to me before I started listening to Erykah Badu and Outkast. They served as the catalysts to introduce me to artists like Janelle Monae, Parliament Funkadelic, Flying Lotus, Bootsy Collins, and Sun Ra. This is when I began to see the deep roots of this cultural aesthetic, as I had never really understood Afrofuturism outside of visual media—despite the fact it largely originated in the late 1960s/early 1970s jazz scene. It was clear to me that Afrofuturist music spanned a diverse array of genres, from jazz all the way to pop. This diversity is what made it a fascinating topic to approach in the first place. I rooted my study into Afrofuturist percussion within the context of three Afrofuturist albums. These albums are Thomas 5 Space Is the Place by Sun Ra, Baduizm by Erykah Badu, and 1983 by Flying Lotus—respectively released in 1973, 1997, and 2006. These three albums are all recognized as Afrofuturist due to their influence on the movement, their aesthetics, and their commentary on issues of racial injustice. Space Is the Place (1973) Afrofuturism is most commonly associated with visual aesthetics, but its original conception began in the 1950s Chicago jazz scene. It was about this time that Sun Ra began formulating his own commentary on racial injustice, which wouldn’t be presented until the late 1960s. He laid the foundational aesthetics and philosophy of the movement, “landing” on Earth in 1969 to deliver a message of intergalactic liberation (Newman). His 1973 album “Space Is the Place” is recognized as a cornerstone Afrofuturist album, promoting the notion of escaping Earth to colonize a new planet free from oppression. Sun Ra’s method of transportation was music itself, meaning that anyone who listened to his music would be transported to his new colony—providing a physical liberation through music. This may suggest that he believed music could be a form of liberation, albeit mental or spiritual as opposed to physical. This liberation may be accomplished by opposing the oppression of Black bodies through the shameless expression of Black joy. This is an important aspect of Afrofuturist music and Black protest music in general: the empowerment of Black people through unification, joy, and the continued fight for true liberation. The drummer on this album is Lex Humphries, who is known for playing with other well-known jazz artists like John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillepsie, and Yusef Lateef. Much of the drumming on the album is indistinguishable from traditional jazz drumming. On Thomas 6 most tracks, he uses a modified version of the classic jazz ride pattern. In swing music, this pattern is written as depicted in figure 1; however, it is played in a triplet feel as depicted in figure 2. Lex Humphries modifies this pattern by keeping the quarter note steady, and adding in the swung eighth note whenever he feels like it—as opposed to strictly playing the swung eighth note on the “and” of 2 and 4. This adds more liveliness and space to the ride cymbal, while providing freedom for the performer to explore. The idea of playing swung is an important concept in jazz that influenced later developments in Afrofuturist drumming. This will be discussed later in the paper. Figure 1 Source: Vaartstra, Brent. Figure 1. 2017. Learn Jazz Standards. https://www.learnjazzstandards.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/JazzRide-8s-300x116.jpg Figure 2 Source: Vaartstra, Brent. Figure 2. 2017. Learn Jazz Standards. https://www.learnjazzstandards.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/24-jazz-ride.jpg The noteworthy rhythmic complexities in this album are really embedded within the rest of the instrumentation. Right off the bat during the title track, listeners are thrown into a Thomas 7 traditional swing feel before the vocals enter. The line “space is the place” is chanted throughout the song, cementing the vocals in 4/4. There is a distinct call and response between a number of vocalists, which is an extremely common theme in traditional African drumming. The rigidity in the vocals is important around the 5 minute mark, when the bass and trumpet begin to play in 5/4. During this part, the consistency of the vocals keep everything locked together while the bass and trumpet explore a different time signature. “Discipline 33” features a slow, sluggish groove, as well as lots of percussion for the purpose of adding texture. This is something we experimented a lot with when writing the interludes, as we wanted those tracks to be opportunities to explore unfamiliar percussive instruments.