In Jack Hamilton’s “How Rock and Roll Became White,” and Jeff Chang’s Q&A with Theresa Riley, “Still Fighting the Power,” the ideas of oppressive systems is discussed, and more specifically the change in the systems of oppression in the music industry. Hamilton discusses the idea of rockism in the era of rock and roll and how systematic racism within popular music at the time was able to oppress marginalized artists and ensure the success of white men in the industry. Hamilton writes, “This belief does not hold up under basic scrutiny: All musicians are influenced by other musicians, and throughout American history most musicians worth hearing have been influenced by musicians whose skin is a different color than their own” (Hamilton). This shows one of the systems in which white artists were able to ‘justify’ their theft of songs, performance style, and economic gains from marginalized artists for their own gain. However, as Hamilton points out their claim doesn’t really hold up when examined closer. Chang talks about the similar issue but focuses on the new systematic oppression forming in the industry with the war on youth and the development of the hip hop genre. More specifically Chang says in the interview, “Although not all hip hop is exclusively political, a good amount of it speaks to the kinds of pressures that young people have been facing because of globalization, changes in policing and the incarceration of youth and oftentimes, the breakdown of institutions and structures in the communities that hip hop comes from” (Chang). Here Chang outlines the newest systems of oppression for marginalized artists. He also goes deeper into who is being impacted by this war on youth, “....with the rise of a new generation and what we have called the war on youth, which is the increasing use of the state to establish punitive measures to contain and incarcerate large numbers of young people of color” (Chang). Chang’s account for the issues dealt with in the hip hop community exemplify the systematic oppression that Hamilton outlines within the music industry. While the system in Hamilton’s piece is still present today it has also evolved to include the aspects of oppression that Chang discusses in his Q&A.
DJ Selections:
“Feeling Good” Performed by Nina Simone:
“Feeling Good” Performed by Michael Bublé :
Nina Simone first released her version of the song “Feeling Good” in 1965 and Michael Bublé released his version 40 years later in 2005. While there were many other covers of this song done, Bublé's version is astonishingly similar to Simone’s version of the song. Bublé follows the same voice patterns to a tee that you hear in Simone’s singing of the song. These versions exhibit the claim that Hamilton made in his article “How Rock and Roll Became White,” and how musicians are influenced by other musicians but are ironically -- not coincidentally-- influenced by people of color. Bublé’s performance of “Feeling Good” exhibits just this argument. Bublé was more than influenced by Simone’s performance of the song, he practically copied Simone’s vocals; this was the point that Hamilton was making in his article, influence and theft don’t have a defining line between them.
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