Miller (2004), "Rap's Dirty South: From Subculture to Pop Culture"

Miller (2004) argues that Southern rap culture foregrounds current racial issues in the South. This allows Southern rappers to challenge these issues in a way that build a specific community for those living in the Southern states.

Though rap has traditionally been associated with urban locations, rappers in the "dirty South" take pride in narratives of the rural South. This allows hip hop rhetoric to be transported to the South in a way that speaks directly to Southern culture.

This movement forged common ground among rappers who identify with the "dirty South." Miller (2004) argues that this created a coalition community of rappers and consumers who acknowledge and rebel against Southern racism.

Baldwin (1999), "Black Empires, White Desires: The Spatial Politics of Identity in the Age of Hip Hop"

Baldwin (1999) argues that White America's outrage over hip hop's immorality is really about Black Americans taking pleasure in commodity. Baldwin (1999) sees this as a historical changing of the guard the represents a renegotiation of White cultural power. While White suburbia is defined by consumer culture, Baldwin (1999) argues that White Americans are not comfortable with Black Americans taking the same kind of pleasure in consumerism. Hip hop's conspicuous consumption can be read as a threat of Black Americans taking over White Americans' roles as consumers.

Gabbard (2007), "White Face, Black Noise: Miles Davis and the Soundtrack

1. Soundtrack music has to be ignored to be effective. When Black musicians contribute soundtrack music, their role as a creator is ignored, as the work is in service only to the White film producers and characters.

Gabbard (2007) argues that soundtrack music must be ignored to be effective. Audience awareness of the musical bedding breaks the cinematic illusion. This becomes problematic when one considers the White music industry’s historical cooptation of Black music for its own profit, since using Black cultural forms to enhance all-White film products hides Black musicians from view, exploiting them for the purposes of the White film industry. 

2. Gabbard (2007) uses Miles Davis' contribution to the Pleasantville soundtrack to illustrate his point. Though Davis' music plays an integral role in the characters' transformation, the politics of Whiteness in the film are never interrogated. Davis' songs function only in service of the White characters.

Gabbard's most compelling example involves the snippets of Miles Davis' work that frame characters' emotional and physical awareness in Pleasantville. As the characters learn more about their world, they change from black and white into color, an effect that is enhanced by Davis' music. However, the viewer is not encouraged to acknowledge the jazz bedding: "[films like this] deny personhood to African Americans and keep them off screen at the same time that the films use black music to give depth and romance to their white characters" (275). In short, Davis' cultural work is shelved as a discrete art form, and rechanneled in service of White characters and filmmakers.

Stilwell (2001), "Sound and Empathy: Subjectivity and the Cinematic Soundscape"

Stilwell (2001) uses psychoanalytic theories from feminist film studies to compare film’s visual signs to its musical signs.

1. The visual is a masculine domain, while the aural is a feminine domain.

Stilwell (2001) divides film spectatorship into the masculine look and the feminine sound. Though she is quick to hedge this claim by clarifying that these categories should not be taken as discrete or essential (a problematic aspect of most psychoanalytical theories), her argument stems from the idea that the enveloping nature of sound casts the movie theater as a womb, causing the male gaze to collapse in on itself if the spectator closes her eyes.

2. By emphasizing the aural, films can position themselves to present a feminine experience with which women can more closely identify as spectators.

Stilwell applies the idea to feminist independent film Closet Land. For Stilwell, the film’s feminist spirit is best exemplified by its emphasis on sound, a trait that manifests in a highly emotional experience that prompts the viewer to take on a feminine subjectivity, identifying with the female protagonist and rejecting the masculine space in which she is trapped.

McRobbie (1980), "Settling Accounts with Subcultures: A Feminist Critique"

Hebdige's (1979) Suculture has been widely critiqued, but perhaps the most famous of these is McRobbie's (1980) feminist critique. As McRobbie (1980) aptly argues, the masculinization of “youth” is exacerbated by the academy’s refusal to acknowledge gender’s cultural role. Style itself is invisibly built on women’s backs, McRobbie (1980) notes, and by continuing to erase the ways in which the female body is objectified and acted upon in the name of style, cultural studies loses much political ground. McRobbie’s (1980) critique suggests a bridging of the public and private spheres in subcultural research, arguing that cultural studies gains complexity and depth by expanding its thrust to “questions of style and sexual politics” (p. 78).

She levels two main charges at Hebdige (1979).

1. Hebdige (1979) ignores the fact that his subcultures are the prerogative of men.

McRobbie (1980) argues that the subcultural moves Hebdige describes are primarily based upon the styles of the men in the group. Many of the groups he studies are exclusively led by men.

2. McRobbie (1980) takes Hebdige (1979) to task for ignoring the role women play in subcultures.

By ignoring women's roles in subcultures, Hebdige (1979) ignores the fact that subculture's male fantasy and expression is made possible by women who take up the extra burdens as wives and mothers.

Women are also often used as objects in the development of subcultural style.  Women are present in the visibility of style, but generally only as accessories to the men's presentations.

Hebdige (1979) "Style as Homology and Signifying Practice"

Hebdige (1979) argues that a concept of polysemic, postmodern semiotics should be integrated into subcultural studies. Punk swastikas, for example, do not necessary refer to Nazism; rather, the symbol is borrowed simply for its ability to shock and revolt a culture from which punks aim to be differentiated. If we understand the signifying elements of style as poached from a broader cultural context, Hebdige (1979) argues, then the function of style is revealed as a way of distancing subcultural members from the mass society: “although the punks referred continually to the realities of school, work, family, and class, these references. . . were passed through the fractured circuitry of punk style and re-presented as ‘noise,’ disturbance, entropy” (p. 61).

By borrowing from the broader culture, subcultures demonstrate both a distance from the masses and a communal identity.

Dawkins (2010), "Close to the Edge: The Representational Tactics of Eminem"

Dawkins (2010) uses de Certeau to examine the dichotomy between Eminem and the black hip hop tradition, arguing that Eminem uses three strategies to bounce between his identity as white outsider and “black” insider. Dawkins’ (2010) primary purpose in the article is to use Eminem as a case study for understanding transracial politics in the popular culture arena. 

1. Eminem redraws the boundary of the Other as women, LGBT people, and rich white men

First, she argues, Eminem marginalizes women, homosexuals, and certain classes of white men in order to redraw the same/Other boundary. By exaggerating the Othered status of these groups, Eminem solidifies his position at the top of the hierarchy through his own hip hop sameness. 

2. Eminem marks himself as unique. He uses this uniqueness to position himself as unique within the Black community in which he wishes to perform.

Second, in carving out this borderland space for his hip hop sameness, Eminem's marketability relies on his uniqueness. This uniqueness becomes a rhetoric of authenticity, as he asserts the existence of a “real Slim Shady” thereby denigrating other white rappers (and Marshall Mathers) as imposters. 

3. Eminem reproduces his position as within the Black community in a variety of platforms. This reinforces the role he has carved for himself.

Third, Dawkins (2010) argues that Eminem disguises the manufacturing of his own sameness by combining a variety of cultural materials and styles into a hip hop brand. He sells his authenticity by endlessly reproducing it. 

Deaville (2006), "Selling the War in Iraq: Television News Music and the Shaping of American Public Opinion"

Deaville (2006) describes the use of music in newscasts, arguing that musical tone and style impacts the framing of issues for its audience. He uses newsrooms' preparations for an impending war following 9/11 as a case study.

1. News divisions began commissioning musical interludes for use in newscasts immediately after 9/11. The music was commissioned specifically as a way of being prepared for the beginning of a war.

2. The songs commissioned were primarily discussed in terms of justice and righteous wars. In some cases, composers even specifically noted that they were playing into a general feeling of America's right to "kick some Arab ass."

3. Deaville (2006) argues that this music thereby worked to frame the war in Iraq in a certain way. Specifically, most of the music was aggressive rather than contemplative. This influences the ways the accompanying news stories are understood by consumers. By framing the news stories with assertive, angry music, viewers are encouraged to read news stories about the war from a pro-war perspective.

McLeod (1999), "Authenticity Within Hip-Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with Assimilation"

McLeod (1999) traces authenticity discourses that surround hip hop performers by using a method similar to content analysis. The center of his argument is the phrase “keeping it real,” which he traces to a variety of sources including interviews, magazine coverage, and recordings. 

1. For McLeod (1999), the increasing market for hip hop in white suburban America threatens to colonize the form’s black cultural roots. Using an anthropological framework, he argues that the historical response to the threat of assimilation has been a vocal reaffirmation of the community, in this case, translating to the spatial politics of “the street,” “the underground,” and the pre-commercial “Old-School” style. 

2. The strength of McLeod’s (1999) piece lies in its thorough analysis of discourses; where many a rock essay references authenticity as though it were above explanation, McLeod (1999) neatly maps the forms and uses of the concept, leaving a methodological trail behind him.

Bayton (1989), "How Women Become Musicians"

Bayont (1989) examines issues of band formation, practice time, and creative process as they pertain to women’s experience. 

1. Female musicians primarily learned to play an instrument after they joined the band, as women were not encouraged to learn music in the aggressive way that men are.

She begins by comparing individual female and male musicians, noting that the women she interviewed only began playing rock instruments after they decided to join a band. This contrasts work on male musicians, a difference Bayton suggests is related to women’s socialization as passive and timid. 

2. Feminist musicians struggled to create a model for their bands that was not leader-centered. 

The essay then tackles the challenges of group performance, focusing on feminist groups in particular. Women she interviewed often discuss issues of leadership, as the feminist model resists authoritarian forms of organization, but the rock model relies on a lead singer to address the audience. 

3. Female musicians found it difficult to negotiate their roles as mother and musician, but found their role as musician to open a positive space in which they could discuss all aspects of their lives.

Finally, Bayton notes the difficulties female musicians face in splitting time between their roles as musician and mother, smartly noting that male rockers, even when they are fathers, rarely experience the same pull. Importantly, though, the all-female band provided a space for women’s dialogue and solidarity, providing emotional and creative support in a safe environment. Thus, the women Bayton interviewed faced a number of obstacles when developing personae as rock musicians, but found the rock band to offer feminist rewards as well.

Hennion (1983), "The Production of Success: An Antimusicology of the Pop Song"

Hennion (1983) reports on his interactions with popular music producers to examine the ways producers attempt to create a profitable product. He moves through a number of categories of consideration (including things like the singer's voice, the melody, the accompaniment, and the story of the lyrics). Hennion (1983) argues that popular songs function as dreams in two ways.

1. Popular music replicates the escapist feeling of a dream.

Popular music offers the escapist feeling of a dream primarily through its storytelling function. Hennion (1983) notes that the most successful popular songs should tell a story that feels simultaneously current and rooted in timeless myth. This effect is enhanced through the background music, which Hennion (1983) argues is often unnoticed by the listener. Elements like fading out within popular music further contribute to the dream-like status of music, since dreams do not end abruptly.

2. Popular music captures the present before politicians and commentators can. Music therefore represents the public's dreams for the future before they fully materialize elsewhere.

Hennion (1983) notes that producers do not tell people what to like. Instead, they offer a number of possible songs, and the public will eventually grasp on to one of them. He understands these various options as choices for the current cultural moment will be defined. The most successful songs are defined and circulated by popular musicians before anyone fully realizes where the culture is going. The song, therefore, co-creates the meaning of the cultural moment.

Adorno (1932), "On Popular Music"

1. Popular music is all the same. It distinguishes itself from classical music by repeating itself. Popular music producers trick us into thinking the music is new by altering minute aspects of melody or voice.

Adorno (1932) argues that popular music is all cut from the same proverbial cloth, distinguishing itself from classical genres by replicating itself endlessly rather than creating new and creative forms. In fact, he argues, popular music goes so far as to create small, internal advances within melodies and voices in order to disguise the fact that all popular music is highly standardized. 

2. This standardization functions as escapism and wish fulfillment, which appeases people.

The purpose, according to Adorno, is to create “a social cement” (p. 311). Listeners feel music first as leisure, which offers a small respite from the “boredom of mechanized labor” (p. 310), and second as a catharsis of wish fulfillment. While this is not an unreasonable analysis, what is problematic about this essay is the way that Adorno (as usual) assumes a totally passive audience, often insinuating the misery of the faceless masses, even arguing that listeners “consume music in order to be allowed to weep” (p. 313). Though it was not the most uplifting piece I read all week, Adorno does make some interesting points which, were the Marxist overdetermination toned down a bit, could be very compelling even 70 years later.

Brown (2001), "Ally McBeal's Postmodern Soundtrack"

1. Ally McBeal's soundtrack attaches itself to individual characters. By aligning individual songs with individual characters, Brown (2001) argues, the show's soundtrack humanizes the characters. In particular, Brown (2001) argues, the use of soundtrack surrounding the character of Ally allows the audience to sympathize with her through the songs.

2. The show's use of soul singer Vonda Sheperd onscreen and offscreen enhances this effect. By visually reaffirming Sheperd as the source of the music, the otherwise fragmented show becomes more cohesive. Disparate messages in the show's structure are therefore brought together to form a narrative that aligns with Ally's character.

Stilwell (2007), "The Fantastical Gap Between Diegetic and Non-Diegetic"

Stilwell (2007) problematizes the way soundtrack theory has discussed diegetic and nondiegetic music as discrete categories. Instead, she argues that the boundary between diegetic and nondiegetic is fluid.

1. According to Stilwell (2007), many films stretch the boundary between these categories. These renegotiated forms are dismissed as deviant. Stilwell (2007) argues that instead of understanding these boundary-crossing films as anomalies, film scholars should realize that the inflexibility of these categories limits the range of interpretations available for film analysis.

2. By searching for areas in the borderland between diegetic and nondiegetic, film music scholarship gains a more thorough understanding of the emotional and cognitive work of film music.

Dyer (2012), "Music and Presence in Blaxploitation Cinema"

Soundtrack music is inseparably linked to character and setting through their simultaneously visual and auditory presentation, musical choices can impact the racial tones of a message.

1. Theme songs for Black characters like Shaft align closely to the character's movements. The music seems to come from the setting, which ties the character to the setting.

Examining the interaction of soundtrack and visual imagery in 1970s blaxpoiltation films, Dyer (2012) argues that black characters like Shaft are proverbially married to their Harlem settings through an implication that the funk soundtrack radiates from the space itself. By closely aligning the black star’s movements with the soundtrack, the films indicate that Shaft and other black characters are inextricably tied to the dangerous and economically collapsing settings.

2. White characters do not use movements that align to the music. They therefore are not linked as closely to the space in which they work.

On the other hand, Shaft’s white counterparts move out of time with their soundtracks, emphasizing difference between the music and the character.

3. Music in Blaxploitation cinema implicitly argues who does and does not belong in certain settings. These settings are generally indicative of certain economic positions.

In this way, Dyer (2012) argues, the integration of music and image functions politically to segregate America, defining the appropriate spaces for black Americans through the covert rhetoric of soundtrack.

McClary and Walser (1988), "Start Making Sense!: Musicology Wrestles with Rock"

McClary and Walser (1988) identify the problem with using musicological methods to study rock music.

1. Classical musicologists often deride popular music as a lesser form.

2. McClary and Walser (1988) argue that this is due to the limitations of classical musicology as a method for anything besides classical music. By parsing out the various short-comings of classical music studies, such as the difficulties of notating and explaining nuances of performance and “the sensual power” (p. 289) of music, the authors demonstrate that the problem is not with popular music. Instead, the problem is with shoving popular music into a classical music paradigm. It is not that popular music falls short of some artistic bright line, but that classical musicology lacks the tools to describe the very different traditions of rock and other popular genres.

Goodwin (1988), "Pop Music in the Digital Age of Reproduction"

Goodwin (1988) engages with postmodern musical criticism in this essay. He is particularly concerned with the argument that digitally reproduced music feels inauthentic.

1. Digitally-produced music is not so different from traditionally produced music.

Listeners attempt to negotiate digitally produced music through the same modernist, real framework of musical history. Furthermore, digital reproduction attempts to synthesize the "real" as closely as possible.

2. Postmodern musical criticism tries to stretch digital music into something new.

Goodwin (1988) engages the post-modern argument that sampling represents the fragmentation and disintegration of popular music. He counters this argument by pointing the problems with theorizing in the abstract. Goodwin (1988) argues that the preoccupation with postmodernism in musical culture has resulted in theories that overstate the importance of postmodernism on the listening experience.

Barthes (1977), "The Grain of the Voice"

1. Lyrics and texts are only one part of a vocal performance. The voice itself is another.

Barthes (1977) divides his discussion of vocal performance into two aspects. The phenosong involves the lyrical and melodic aspects of a song. The genosong, on the other hand, involves the physical act of singing and the way that this act impacts and interacts with the lyrical elements.

2. The grain of the voice can be found in the genosong.

Barthes (1977) argues that the best musical performances include what he calls "the grain of the voice." By "grain," Barthes (1977) refers to "hearing a body," in that a roughness comes through in the singing. He notes that trained singers are often encouraged to erase the body from the song,

3. The grain of the voice creates a stronger connection between singer and listener.

For Barthes (1977), the grain of the voice allows listeners to connect with a singer in a more intimate way. He argues that the body's presence in the song creates a sensual connection between the performer and the listener.

Frith (1985), "Afterthoughts"

Frith's (1985) follow-up to his 1978 essay with McRobbie qualifies the claim that rock is inherently masculinist. Instead, Frith (1985) argues that rock should be studied within the cycle of production. Masculinist leanings in rock are part of a cyclical ideology. Frith (1985) therefore argues that analyses of rock and its audiences should be mindful of the ideological context in which production and consumption take place.

Frith and McRobbie (1978), "Rock and Sexuality"

1. Rock music pushes women into private sphere fantasies and men in public sphere fantasies.

Frith and McRobbie (1978) argue that the "cock rock" singer elicits identification by performing exaggeratedly masculine movements. In a culture of repressed female sexuality, women can't perform in this way. Without women performing as stars, female consumers have no outlet for identification. The female music consumer is pushed toward the domestic,l fantasizing about marriage and motherhood as partner to the star rather than fame and success as a star. Rock and pop thus create a gendered dichotomy in which men's contributions are a matter of public praise while women are relegated to the private sphere.

2. Rock music may also create a positive space for women.

Rock music may open up a space in which an exclusively female community can be built. though the space often revolves around male stars, it is importantly one of the few opportunities for girls to come together in the public sphere.