Kira Smith
Before the internet, print was the main way to write about music (a relic of an idea today considering the way most of us consume media: the internet). But beyond editorials, billboard hits, and “The Top 1000 Albums of This Decade SO FAR” lists, individuals could still (occasionally) share their narratives on the progression of music.
Back in the days of print, Langston Hughes wrote about Memphis Minnie’s performance on the icebox. He praises her powerful music, but also takes the opportunity to criticize the venue and its owners, white men, who profit off her talents. Of these men, Hughes writes, “They never snap their fingers, clap their hands, or move intime to the music. They just stand at the licker counter and ring up sales on the cash register. At this year’s end the sales are better than they used to be” (Hughes). While these men are not moved by Minnie’s music, Hughes recognizes this monetary success is not everything, that “Memphis Minnie’s music is harder than the coins that roll across the counter” (Hughes), that her influence is something beyond mere capitalism – it’s humanism. In his poetry, Hughes expands the archive, exposing the club owners for the thieves they are.
There have always been alternative stories regarding music history, digital media has just made them easier to create, consume, and care about. As Tara McPherson urges:
“Our field has taught us that technologies are not neutral tools, and that they powerfully influence social systems. Thus, it is imperative that we be involved in the design and construction of the emerging networked platforms and practices that will shape the contours not only of our research, but of social meaning and being for decades to come,” (McPherson, pp. 123)”.
Our ability to communicate online, via this relatively new technology, is not optional: it’s something we all must do to keep these alternative narratives of music socially relevant. Much of this class focuses on “expanding the archive” of stories told about music, applying new perspectives to current and old content to reshape the way we think about this content as a population. In this way, we rewrite and often challenge the popular narrative surrounding the great influences on music.
DJ Selections:
These covers of the same song, Moon River, across more than 50 years demonstrate the sonic influence of new technologies, as well as the evolving context of a song through the lens of different artists’ experiences.
- Moon River by Frank Ocean (2018)
- Moon River by Opus Orange, Komoti (2017)
- Moon River by Frank Sinatra (1964)
- Moon River by Jerry Butler (1961)
- Moon River by Audrey Hepburn (1961)
Citations:
- Hughes, Langston. “Music At Year’s End.” Chicago Defender, 9 Jan. 1943.
- McPherson, Tara. “Introduction: Media Studies and the Digital Humanities.” Cinema Journal, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 119–123. Winter 2009, doi:10.1353/cj.0.0077.
AFRAM337 