Jack Hamilton brought forth an
explanation inextricably linking whiteness to the rock and roll genre that was
so heavily influenced by black artists otherwise deemed as other. The exclusive
appropriation of black contributions to rock and roll were utilized to
construct a white authenticity to the genre. Direct attributions and covers by
white bands of black art were thus considered the development of an authentically
white art form that Hamilton so artfully articulated as a, “paradoxically
backward-looking avant-gardism.” Though, and this is a very valuable insight by
Hamilton, white music critics charged with sorting the authenticity of artistic
contributions even challenged the authentic whiteness of a band like the
Rolling Stones because of their proximity to blackness, albeit received as a
creative exploration of white identity within genre. In this way, the cultural
critique of rock and roll seems to have been more concerned with the
preservation of whiteness as a centerpiece to musical expression than any
referendum on the persistent presence of black culture within the major artform,
as if the two could not possibly coincide within the development of a sound.
Theresa Riley and Jeff Chang noted
an accessibility, an anti-rockist quality of hip hop. Particularly, Change
notes the utility of hip hop “as a critique of society and the economy”
generally, which doesn’t necessarily link itself to a reproduction of racialized
identity, though the artform has been predominately black. Chang makes the claim
that hip hop is for marginalized young people around the world, which lends to
its air of inclusivity.
Meek Mill ft. Miguel – “Stay Woke” Performance at the 2018
BET Awards
This performance is a must watch for those interested in
expository protest rap about the seemingly unchanged conditions of black bodies
in urban centers and their relation to the state and the margins in particular.
Nipsey Hussle – “Face the World”
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