Global Ghettotech | Norient.Com 24 Sep 2021 05:08:31

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Global Ghettotech | Norient.Com 24 Sep 2021 05:08:31 Global Ghettotech | norient.com 24 Sep 2021 05:08:31 Global Ghettotech INTERVIEW by Camilo Rocha The Brazilian journalist Camilo Rocha interviews the ethnomusicologist, DJ and norient writer Wayne Marshall about the latest musical trends around the globe: Reggaeton, Kwaito, Kuduro, and Grime. [Camilo Rocha]: You are a music ethnomusicologist. How did you get into that area? Where did you study? Are you doing any academic work at the moment? [WM]: I was inspired to become an ethnomusicologist when I discovered the field my senior year in college (I was an English major). I took a class on music and race in the US with Ron Radano and ended up studying with him in graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was a real epiphany to discover that I could keep music central in my life and approach it from an intellectual / scholarly angle. Currently, I’m teaching at Brandeis University in Boston, offering courses on hip-hop, music and globalization, and «digital pop». [CR]: Explain «global ghettotech» to those who don’t know what it is about. [WM]: «Global ghettotech» is a phrase I came up with to describe what seems like an emerging aesthetic among certain DJs and bloggers. I’ve also called it «nu whirled music» to describe its (antagonistic but derivative) relationship to «world music» as well as the importance of fusion (mixing «global» genres such as hip-hop, techno, reggae, etc., often with «local» styles) in the concept. For me, global ghettotech describes the recent interest in such genres as funk carioca, kuduro, reggaeton, juke, grime, kwaito, etc. – genres identified with the ghettos of the former colonies as well as with the ghettos of today’s post-colonial metropoles. I want to stress that I use the term somewhat critically – I don’t mean simply to celebrate this kind of engagement. One thing I find really problematic about https://norient.com/stories/rochaglobalghettotech Page 1 of 5 Global Ghettotech | norient.com 24 Sep 2021 05:08:31 it, for example, is the flavor-of-the-month approach to engaging with «other» musics: e.g., «kuduro is the new baile funk!» When it becomes a surfacy, fashionable pursuit, it gets more problematic, for me, than when it is about finding new sounds in different places and really getting to know them and the social and cultural contexts that shape them – and in the process, learning about one’s own place (and, usually, privilege) in the global order. [CR]: How do you see the popularization of «global ghettotech»? Why has there been so much exposure and interest for these types of sounds? [WM]: I think a lot of it has to do with the advent of technologies that make it possible for people to produce music all over the world (e.g., FruityLoops) and to circulate music rather widely (e.g., the Internet, blogs, mp3s, p2p). In terms of interest, I think some of it has to do with a certain familiarity (i.e., hearing hip-hop and techno with new accents) and some of it has to do with seeking out the exotic (as with «old» world music). [CR]: I can see a lot of people here in Brazil viewing all this as a new kind of exploitation: guys from the first world shopping around ghettos of the globe in search of the new rhythms to feed their DJ sets, getting credit and fame while the original artists are not mentioned or soon forgotten. Is that fair or not to say? [WM]: I think that’s definitely a fair statement in some cases, but it’s important to look at the individual and how he or she engages with the people in the places from which those sounds come. Collaborating with people in Rio or Kingston is a lot different from downloading them. In that respect, there are plenty of elite or middle-class Brazilians who could be just as guilty of this sort of exploitation. [CR]: Does «global ghettotech» sometimes run the risk of being just a trendier guise for the rich world’s old taste for «exotic» (cultural tourism thrills as opposed to understanding and identification with the scenes it is exploring)? [WM]: Yes, definitely. And not just sometimes – a LOT of the time. [CR]: How is the acceptance in America for this kind of musical approach? [WM]: I’d say it’s still fairly marginal. It’s not as if this kind of music – even as projected by MIA or Diplo or Ghislain or /Rupture – is mainstream by any stretch. You don’t really see it on MTV or hear it on the radio. It’s mainly an internet phenomenon and confined to a few clubs nights / parties in big cities like New York, Montreal, Boston, etc. For the weekly that I do in Boston with DJ Flack, «Beat Research», we play all kinds of genres, often https://norient.com/stories/rochaglobalghettotech Page 2 of 5 Global Ghettotech | norient.com 24 Sep 2021 05:08:32 touching on many that might fall under the «global ghettotech» umbrella, and we’ve got an open-minded audience that likes that sort of thing, but it’s still a pretty small scene. [CR]: Do you do a lot of travelling for music research? Tell us a couple of interesting stories about your travels. [WM]: When I’m lucky enough to find funding, I love to travel to new places and check out their soundscapes and pay attention to what is local and what is global and how people negotiate the two. I’ve spent a good amount of time in Jamaica, both doing research and collaborating with artists there (and I’ve written a lot about it on my blogs). Recently, I had the good fortune to spend several days in Rio, which I had been wanting to do for many years. I’m afraid I don’t have the time to go into many stories, but I often find that music is a great way to connect with people, especially when we share a love for, say, hip-hop or reggae and thus share a musical language, even if we don’t always share a spoken language. [CR]: A lot of ghetto music bypasses copyright as it is commonly made on pirated software and samples freely. Meanwhile, illegal downloading is threatening the music industry as we know it. Do you think we are going in an inevitable direction, where music will become free? Will that be a good thing and why? Should music have a price? Do you manage to make any money selling music? [WM]: These are very big questions, and it’s hard to say. It does seem like we’re moving in that direction, but there are many ways to commercialize music – selling recordings is a relatively recent way for musicians (or more commonly, record labels and publishers) to get paid. I think that performance will remain an important way for musicians to earn a living. I’m not sure whether music should have a price. I generally don’t believe in monetizing or propertizing things, music included, but I think I’m in the minority on that one. I’m glad, at any rate, that musicians continue to do what they do without much regard for outmoded copyright structures. Some – perhaps most! – of my favorite music is «illegal» music. Personally, I don’t make very much money selling music, which is perhaps part of the reason why I’m not very invested in music having a price. Most of the money I earn through music is from playing gigs, usually DJing, though I can’t say that I make a lot – hence the academic day job. [CR]: Do you sometimes feel there should be more political lyrics in global ghetto music (I’m thinking of Rio funk, reggaeton, kuduro and kwaito which are largely sexual and/or party-oriented)? Or maybe feel that these musics could have more of a commitment to change or denounce their situation (if you think they do promote some kind of social change, please explain why)? https://norient.com/stories/rochaglobalghettotech Page 3 of 5 Global Ghettotech | norient.com 24 Sep 2021 05:08:32 [WM]: Sometimes I might feel that way, but then again, I think that music about sex or pleasure or partying is already political in a certain sense. It depends very much on the social or cultural context, of course. It’s no surprise that the themes that dominate a lot of ghetto music have to do more with everyday concerns, or with transcending the stress of everyday life, or with pissing off the middle-class, the government, the power structure. As for promoting change, sometimes one sees that sort of thing, especially in the Rasta-inspired visions of a lot of reggae, but in general, people living in ghettos worldwide haven’t seen much change, don’t see much hope for change, and probably won’t change the focus of their lyrics until there is some real change in the social conditions in which they live. I guess it’s something of a chicken and egg question, but it’s not for me to tell people what to rap about. Of course, as a DJ it can often be uncomfortable to play songs that are overtly misogynist or which objectify women as sex objects (and little else). Perhaps that’s another significant appeal of «global» / foreign ghettotech: it’s easier to listen to booty music when you don’t understand all the words. [CR]: What new stuff (styles/artists/producers) have you discovered recently that has really impressed you? [WM]: I’ve been really impressed with a lot of the young juke producers coming out of Chicago: DJ Nate and DJ Clent especially.
Recommended publications
  • Global Hip-Hop Class
    AAAS 135b: GLOBAL HIP-HOP Wed 6:30-9:20 pm Mandel G03 Spring 2012 Wayne Marshall [email protected] office hours: by appointment DESCRIPTION Examining how hip-hop travels and is embraced, represented, and transformed in various locales around the world, this course approaches hip-hop as itself constituted by international flows and as a product and set of practices that circulate globally in complex ways, cast variously as American, African-American, and/or black, and recast through the cultural logics of the new spaces it enters, the soundscapes it permeates. A host of questions arise when we consider hip-hopʼs global scope and significance: What does the genre in its various forms (audio, video, sartorial, gestural) carry beyond the US? What do people bring to it in new local contexts? How are US notions of race and nation mediated by hip-hop's global reach? Why do some global (which is to say, local) hip-hop scenes fasten onto the genre's well-rehearsed focus on place, community, and righteous opposition to structural and representational forms of violence, while others appear more enamored with slick portrayals of hustler archetypes, cool machismo, and ruggedly individualist, conspicuous consumption? How can hip-hop circulate in such contradictory forms? In what ways do hip-hop scenes differ from North to South America, West to East Africa, Europe to Asia? What threads unite them? In pursuit of such questions, we will read across the emerging literature on global hip- hop as we explore the growing resources available via the internet, where websites and blogs, MySpace and YouTube and the like have facilitated a further efflorescence of international (and peer-to-peer) exchanges around hip-hop.
    [Show full text]
  • Read Or Download
    afrique.q 7/15/02 12:36 PM Page 2 The tree of life that is reggae music in all its forms is deeply spreading its roots back into Afri- ca, idealized, championed and longed for in so many reggae anthems. African dancehall artists may very well represent the most exciting (and least- r e c o g n i z e d ) m o vement happening in dancehall today. Africa is so huge, culturally rich and diverse that it is difficult to generalize about the musical happenings. Yet a recent musical sampling of the continent shows that dancehall is begin- ning to emerge as a powerful African musical form in its own right. FromFrom thethe MotherlandMotherland....Danc....Danc By Lisa Poliak daara-j Coming primarily out of West Africa, artists such as Gambia’s Rebellion D’Recaller, Dancehall Masters and Senegal’s Daara-J, Pee GAMBIA Froiss and V.I.B. are creating their own sounds growing from a fertile musical and cultural Gambia is Africa’s cross-pollination that blends elements of hip- dancehall hot spot. hop, reggae and African rhythms such as Out of Gambia, Rebel- Senegalese mbalax, for instance. Most of lion D’Recaller and these artists have not yet spread their wings Dancehall Masters are on the international scene, especially in the creating music that is U.S., but all have the musical and lyrical skills less rap-influenced to explode globally. Chanting down Babylon, than what is coming these African artists are inspired by their out of Senegal. In Jamaican predecessors while making music Gambia, they’re basi- that is uniquely their own, praising Jah, Allah cally heavier on the and historical spiritual leaders.
    [Show full text]
  • Lemos, Ronaldo. "To Kill an MC: Brazil's New Music and Its
    Lemos, Ronaldo. "To Kill an MC: Brazil’s New Music and its Discontents." Postcolonial Piracy: Media Distribution and Cultural Production in the Global South. Ed. Lars Eckstein and Anja Schwarz. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014. 195–214. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 23 Sep. 2021. <http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781472519450.ch-009>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 23 September 2021, 16:35 UTC. Copyright © Lars Eckstein and Anja Schwarz 2014. You may share this work for non-commercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. 9 To Kill an MC Brazil’s New Music and its Discontents Ronaldo Lemos Introduction On 6 July 2013, the Brazilian ‘funk carioca’ musician Daniel Pellegrine, known as MC Daleste, was killed on stage while performing in front of 5,000 people in the city of Campinas. Daleste was first shot in the armpit. Not knowing what was going on, he shouted at the audience. A second fatal shot hit him in the abdomen. All was instantly caught on video by his fans, some of whom later posted the killing on YouTube. The police concluded that Daleste was shot from a distance of 40 metres, indicating that he was probably hit by a sharpshooter. Daleste (his name is a contraction of ‘from the East’, in reference to the ‘East Zone’, the largest metropolitan area in Sao Paulo) was 20 years old. Even though virtually unknown by the upper economic classes, Daleste was one of the most popular artists in Brazil.
    [Show full text]
  • Open Lyric and Liberation.Pdf
    THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY LYRIC AND LIBERATION: ADORNO AND THE DIALECTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF BRAZILIAN HIP HOP ALEXANDER GONCALVES Fall 2018 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree in Philosophy with honors in Philosophy Reviewed and approved* by the following: Eduardo Mendieta Professor of Philosophy Thesis Supervisor Brady Bowman Professor of Philosophy Honors Adviser * Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College. i Abstract This paper offers a critique of the cultural defeatism posited in Theodor Adorno’s 1937 work “On Jazz” through adumbration of the music of Brazilian favelas. Whereas Adorno sees musical attempts at liberation as nullified by their subservience to the whims of government and market, the research and reflection here evidences the emancipatory nature of music. Brazilian Funk demonstrates our capacity to advance change through music, and thus calls upon us to build more efficacious systems for fostering and assimilating music of the world’s people. In refuting Adorno’s condemnation of jazz, I craft a narrative evidencing the pragmatic import of fostering musical outlets within communities while acknowledging the dangers of artistic proliferation in capitalist society. The case of the funk movement in Rio De Janeiro demonstrates art’s function both as a liberatory tool and fulcrum for exploitation. The data substantiating this thesis were compiled through myriad sources: the social and aesthetic theory of Adorno, his contemporaries, and predecessors; interviews with Brazilian funk musicians, musicologists, and enthusiasts; three months investigating the musical communities in Rio De Janeiro and São Paulo; relevant documentaries, ethnographic and historical research, news archives, musical releases, and other online media.
    [Show full text]
  • Kevin O Chris, Parangolé, Banda Eva E Dennis Intense Na Programação Da Liga Dos Blocos De Carnaval De Ouro Preto
    KEVIN O CHRIS, PARANGOLÉ, BANDA EVA E DENNIS INTENSE NA PROGRAMAÇÃO DA LIGA DOS BLOCOS DE CARNAVAL DE OURO PRETO A seleção de atrações da Liga dos Blocos para o Carnaval de Ouro Preto contempla estilos musicais que são a cara do verão. Quem vier para a festa, no Espaço Folia, vai encontrar muita animação, ao som de axé, funk e música eletrônica. Kevin O Chris, MC Livinho, Jerry Smith, MC Don Juan e DJ Guuga animam o dia 22 de fevereiro, sábado, quando o Bloco do Caixão comanda a festa. Parangolé, Breaking Beatzz, Groove Delight, MC Rick e FP de Trem Bala fazem parte do line-up do Bloco Cabrobró, no dia 23 de fevereiro, domingo. Na segunda-feira, 24 de fevereiro, o Bloco da Praia é quem dá o tom, com Banda Eva, Liu, MC G15 e Pedro Sampaio. Para finalizar, no dia 25 de fevereiro, terça-feira, o Bloco Chapado traz Dennis Intense, Bruno Martini e Thiaguinho (Warm Up). Confira as atrações de cada bloco integrante da Liga: Bloco do Caixão – 22 de fevereiro de 2020 Atrações: Kevin O Chris, MC Livinho, Jerry Smith, MC Don Juan e DJ Guuga Kevin O Chris 2019 foi o ano de Kevin O Chris. O artista emplacou mais de 10 hits nas paradas nacionais. No ano anterior, Kevin o Chris começou a se destacar na vertente do funk carioca conhecida por "funk 150 BPM", que tem batidas mais aceleradas, e na festa "Baile da Gaiola", originária do Complexo da Penha, no Rio de Janeiro. Sua primeira canção a alcançar o topo das paradas musicais brasileiras foi "Vamos Pra Gaiola".
    [Show full text]
  • Alternativo 2 Programe-Se.Qxp
    2 Alternativo O Estado do Maranhão - São Luís, 29 de agosto de 2014 - sexta-feira Festa tropical para todos os gostos Divulgação A 16ª edição da Shock Me traz Estados Unidos e Canadá. Em Serviço 2007, o trio lançou o primeiro tema tropical e performance do MC álbum, With Lasers. Pouco tem- • O quê po depois, a atual vocalista do Pedro D’Eyrot, do Bonde do Rolê Shock Me grupo, Laura Taylor, foi escolhi- • Quando da numa seleção organizada Hoje, a partir das 22h pela MTV, após a saída da anti- em neném, aqui se co- muitos outros. Sucesso no cir- • Onde ga vocalista, Marina Vello. me bem, bem! O trecho cuito ludovicense, a festa che- Espaço Noir (Ponta d’Areia) Este ano, o grupo teve uma de V da canção Kilo, do gru- ga a sua 16º edição com força • Ingressos suas músicas incluídas na trilha po paranaense Bonde do Rolê, total. “Acredito que o que mais Primeiro lote: R$ 20 (pista) e sonora da novela global Geração nunca serviu tão bem para con- chama atenção nas festas da R$ 40 (camarote) Brasil. A canção é tema do perso- vidar o público ludovicense a Shock Me é a interação que o Segundo lote: R$ 25 (pista) e nagem Shin, interpretado pelo ator participar da 16ª edição da público tem com os temas R$ 50 (camarote) Rodrigo Pandolfo. Recentemente, Shock Me, hoje, a partir das 22h, que nós propomos. Eles ves- Terceiro lote: R$ 30 (pista) e o grupo foi elogiado por Mark Ron- no Espaço Noir. Festa traz temá- tem a camisa, literalmente, e R$ 60 (camarote) son, produtor do próximo álbum tica bastante tropical e partici- vão se divertir ao som das me- de Paul McCartney.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Survival of 'Radio Culture'
    Coventry University Coventry University Repository for the Virtual Environment (CURVE) Author name: Mudhai, O.F. Title: Survival of ‘radio culture’ in a converged networked new media environment. Article & version: Post-print Original citation & hyperlink: Mudhai, O.F. (2011) 'Survival of ‘radio culture’ in a converged networked new media environment' in Popular Media, Democracy and Development in Africa. ed. Herman Wasserman. London: Routledge: 253-268 http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415577946 Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. This document is the author’s final manuscript version of the journal article, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it. Available in the CURVE Research Collection: October 2011 http://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open Survival of ‘radio culture’ in a converged networked new media environment* Okoth Fred Mudhai ([email protected]) Coventry University Introduction With emphasis on popular music and related entertainment rather than democratic culture and identity politics, this chapter examines the extent to which radio remains significant in socio-cultural and political landscapes in Africa given the proliferation of newer information and communication technologies (ICTs) more recently enlivened by cell phones and social networking applications.
    [Show full text]
  • Garage House Music Whats up with That
    Garage House Music whats up with that Future funk is a sample-based advancement of Nu-disco which formed out of the Vaporwave scene and genre in the early 2010s. It tends to be more energetic than vaporwave, including elements of French Home, Synth Funk, and making use of Vaporwave modifying techniques. A style coming from the mid- 2010s, often explained as a blend of UK garage and deep home with other elements and strategies from EDM, popularized in late 2014 into 2015, typically mixes deep/metallic/sax hooks with heavy drops somewhat like the ones discovered in future garage. One of the very first house categories with origins embeded in New York and New Jersey. It was named after the Paradise Garage bar in New york city that operated from 1977 to 1987 under the prominent resident DJ Larry Levan. Garage house established along with Chicago home and the outcome was home music sharing its resemblances, affecting each other. One contrast from Chicago house was that the vocals in garage house drew stronger impacts from gospel. Noteworthy examples consist of Adeva and Tony Humphries. Kristine W is an example of a musician involved with garage house outside the genre's origin of birth. Also understood as G-house, it includes very little 808 and 909 drum machine-driven tracks and often sexually explicit lyrics. See likewise: ghettotech, juke house, footwork. It integrates components of Chicago's ghetto house with electro, Detroit techno, Miami bass and UK garage. It includes four-on-the-floor rhythms and is normally faster than a lot of other dance music categories, at approximately 145 to 160 BPM.
    [Show full text]
  • Hip-Hop & the Global Imprint of a Black Cultural Form
    Hip-Hop & the Global Imprint of a Black Cultural Form Marcyliena Morgan & Dionne Bennett To me, hip-hop says, “Come as you are.” We are a family. Hip-hop is the voice of this generation. It has become a powerful force. Hip-hop binds all of these people, all of these nationalities, all over the world together. Hip-hop is a family so everybody has got to pitch in. East, west, north or south–we come MARCYLIENA MORGAN is from one coast and that coast was Africa. Professor of African and African –dj Kool Herc American Studies at Harvard Uni- versity. Her publications include Through hip-hop, we are trying to ½nd out who we Language, Discourse and Power in are, what we are. That’s what black people in Amer- African American Culture (2002), ica did. The Real Hiphop: Battling for Knowl- –mc Yan1 edge, Power, and Respect in the LA Underground (2009), and “Hip- hop and Race: Blackness, Lan- It is nearly impossible to travel the world without guage, and Creativity” (with encountering instances of hip-hop music and cul- Dawn-Elissa Fischer), in Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century ture. Hip-hop is the distinctive graf½ti lettering (ed. Hazel Rose Markus and styles that have materialized on walls worldwide. Paula M.L. Moya, 2010). It is the latest dance moves that young people per- form on streets and dirt roads. It is the bass beats DIONNE BENNETT is an Assis- mc tant Professor of African Ameri- and styles of dress at dance clubs. It is local s can Studies at Loyola Marymount on microphones with hands raised and moving to University.
    [Show full text]
  • Trace Mziki Celebrates African Greatest Music Talents at Afrimma Awards 2017
    PRESS RELEASE NAIROBI, SEPT. 28 2017 TRACE MZIKI CELEBRATES AFRICAN GREATEST MUSIC TALENTS AT AFRIMMA AWARDS 2017 TRACE MZIKI, the channel dedicated to Swahili, Eastern and Pan African music is supporting the 4th annual AFRIMMA Awards and Music Festival 2017 in Dallas (TX) on Sunday October 8th. Since 2014, AFRIMMA awards and celebrates new talents from Africa and the African diaspora. As the first ceremony outside Africa showcasing Afrobeats, Assiko, Bongo, Coupé Decalé, Funana, Genge, Highlife, Hiplife, Kwaito or Soukous, AFRIMMA will be co-hosted for the first time by Kenyan stand up comedian Chipukeezy, alongside Nigerian comedian Basketmouth. This year, AFRIMMA promises a bigger show. The event will offer a music festival experience with headlines such as Tanzania sensation Diamond Platnumz as well as Uganda’s Triplets Ghetto Kids who were featured in French Montana’s “Unforgettable” music video. Other headline acts confirmed to attend are Fally Ipupa, C4 Pedro, Eddy Kenzo and Tiwa Savage. This year’s events include a Pre-Show with London band The Compozers, a Pre-Party, a Pool Party, A Music Panel, Fashion Show, as well as a grand After Party after the main show to close AFRIMMA 2017. Two new categories have also been added to the 2017 edition of AFRIMMA : Best Lusophone artist and Best Francophone artist. Anderson Obiagwu, CEO of AFRIMMA/BIG A declares, “TRACE has been a proud supporter of African music and important matters and causes in Africa. AFRIMMA is delighted to partner with TRACE in a synergy of brands synonymous to African music. It’s all about Africa as Africa’s biggest music award ceremony and Africa’s biggest music TV group brings you an unforgettable AFRIMMA experience.” Launched in 2016, TRACE Mziki with its presence at AFRIMMA allows TRACE group to continue to dedicate their love and support to African artists, whether they are newcomers or internationally acclaimed.
    [Show full text]
  • Redalyc.Kwaito, Hip-Hop and Television in South Africa: a Case
    Interin E-ISSN: 1980-5276 [email protected] Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná Brasil Ndlovu, Musa; Smith, René Kwaito, hip-hop and television in South Africa: a case study of the Yizo Yizo 3 series and soundtrack Interin, vol. 11, núm. 1, enero-junio, 2011, pp. 1-18 Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná Curitiba, Brasil Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=504450764003 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Kwaito, hip-hop and television in South Africa: a case study of the Yizo Yizo 3 series and soundtrack Musa Ndlovu and René Smith Abstract This paper presents an analysis of kwaito and hip-hop on television in South Africa. It employs the locally produced Yizo Yizo as a case study to explore the intertextual relationship between music and television. Yizo Yizo, a reality-based drama series, was groundbreaking in propelling the experiences of black youth onto the national agenda. In representing what can be described as ‘authentic township experiences’, the series utilizes kwaito, and to a lesser degree, hip-hop, as signifiers of township and ‘essentially’ black youth experiences. Soundtracks to the series utilize both genres and local kwaito and hip-hop artists feature as themselves. The paper adopts a discursive approach to exploring intertextuality and the ways in which meanings embedded in a television series are related to music and other secondary texts and vice versa.
    [Show full text]
  • The Queer of Color Sound Economy in Electronic Dance Music
    The Queer of Color Sound Economy in Electronic Dance Music Blair Black Within electronic dance music cultures (EDMCs), musicality and experi- mentation have been indebted to black and Latinx DJs of color since its inception in the 1980s. Even today, queer DJs of color continue to push the envelope of experimental EDM by showcasing dance music from the “global south,” centering remix styles that border between hip hop and EDM, and sampling cultural references popular in queer communities of color. This article explores music’s complex entanglements with identity and community for queer people of color in underground electronic dance music scenes. To be specific, the individuals within these communities self-identify as racial/ethnic minorities on the genderqueer spectrum of non-normative gender and sexual identities (gay/lesbian, trans, non- binary, etc.). Moreover, I argue that these socio-economic positions act as an impetus of a sound economy – the shared system of socio-cultural aesthetics – for queer communities of color in EDM. The first section dis- cusses the identity politics that underlie this sound economy by tracing how intertextuality allows DJs to display these minoritarian1 perspectives. I then highlight why (re)centering racialized queer identities is radical by tracing EDM’s political shifts. Specifically, I highlight how narratives sur- rounding EDM changed due to the demographic turn in Europe during the 1990s. The last section explores the re-emergence of pivotal queer DJs of color and the scenes they founded in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York by focusing on the flows of culture and people between cities to point to a more extensive global network of racialized queer communities in constant musical and political dialogue.
    [Show full text]