music-and-migration-blog

[music-and-migration-blog]

Could you explain the differences between the logic of the mainstream industry and alternative circuits?

The circulation of music through mainstream industry and alternative circuits are very different because of many things; their intention, reach, frequency, and budget size. In mainstream industry, the budget to create music is far larger than the independent networks’ budget. They can monopolize a studio, pay sound engineers, marketing researchers to find out who their target market it in order to fine tune music to sell, money to buy radio spots, etc. Alternative circuits of music circulation simply don’t have the same resources; the Punks in Indonesia had secret venues to play in to hide from the oppressive Sharia Law that forbade them, and the Turkish diasporas in Germany had the Türkü bars that encouraged sharing the emotions being spoken about in traditional songs with other Turkish people around to connect them to the feeling of the “homeland.” Alternative circulation is often something only people with connections to the source of the music know about, meaning it has little reach other than invite-only. For example; we found out about Max’s band and him playing at the Smiling Moose because he told us. If he had not told us about this venue and the music, we wouldn’t have been privy to the event. It’s a similar case with all alternative methods of circulating music. Mainstream industry music instead uses its vast resources to reach as many people as they think will consume their product and pay them money. The money aspect also changes the subjective and objective quality and content of the recordings; the mainstream is better sound quality but far less content quality than music typically circulated in alternative circulation of music. A good example of this is the way mainstream industry whitewashed and appropriated Despacito for money and had it playing on every young person’s device in America but then was forgotten once the novelty wore off for them. The original audience of Despacito consume this song with a sense of novelty, but an understanding of the language, culture, geographic location and nuances of the topics being sung in the song. Mainstream industry often takes the broadest route to circulate the music in order to get it to as many people as possible without the authentic avenues of spreading music (migration, listening with others, knowing musicians, suggestions from friends from other places, etc.) Mainstream industrial music takes advantage of capitalistic connectivity on the internet to spread music; YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, internet radio and endless advertisements. Combined with a huge budget, this creates a powerhouse of mainstream music dominating young people who consume culture instead of creating it. It discourages young people, especially in poverty prone areas, from creating their own music with their own experiences and instead consuming music in the easiest and convenient ways possible. Those who have alternative circulation methods of music typically create their own music with subjects criticizing power, oppression, etc. that are harmful to the business model of the mainstream. The subject of music between the two are also vastly different. Notice on the radio, the songs have lost meaningful content and instead are about generic sexual topics and pointless vulgarity (vulgarity without a message, like punk.) 

word count: 523

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How do you experience translocality in your daily life involving music?

In my personal music choice, I experience translocality when I listen to punk, ska, new wave, reggae, rap and rock (or any combination of these) because they are all tools to fight against oppressive forces. People often use music to spread ideas that are damaging to powerful regimes; these ideas: freedom, equal rights, anti-capitalism, anti-religion, and creating culture rather than consuming it are things oppressive (capitalistic) societies don’t want to be globally rejoiced. Even though the genres sound different, they all stand for similar things. Reggae, for example, acts as a vehicle to speak out against “Babylon’s” tyranny, colonization, inequity and racism. All these music types have been historically demonized by the oppressive ruling class (wealthy/racist/capitalists). This can be observed easily as rock was once considered “the devil’s music,” surely because of its message to rebel against strict religious culture that was oppressing POC, women, LGBT people and all forms of dissent. Another example is how the punks of Indonesia are/were considered a threat in Indonesia for their messages of rebellion against fundamentalist Islam and freedom from oppression. Then, rap has historically been called the music of “violence” and “thugs” due to systemic racism of course, but also for its outcry against the system rigged against black and poor people, police brutality and socioeconomic inequity. Finally, reggae has been dismissed and stereotyped as stoner/hippy music. However, oppressive classes have tried to discredit reggae because of its strong stance on imperialism, colonization, slavery, and the hypocrisy of ruling classes to disproportionately punish black people in Jamaica for using cannabis while using it themselves without consequence.

I experience translocality when I listen to the music of oppressed people because as person coming from a poor immigrant background, I can relate to what the music has to say; it connects me as a disenfranchised youth left behind by the system. I live and always have lived in the ghettos with my poor immigrants and African descended people who have been left behind by racist legislation like gerrymandering to break up voting areas to make it more beneficial to republicans, redlining neighborhoods, creating food deserts in urban areas and opening one corporate grocery that upcharges, denying POC to purchase land in the past among other Jim Crow era norms that still have persisting effects today, like property taxes funding schools and education. Poor neighborhoods mean poor schools which mean art and music programs being cut, not paying public school teachers enough. When I see the disparity between my neighborhoods versus those who have funding for private, for-profit charter schools and catholic schools, it makes me sick. The teachings of these kind of schools, which demonize poor people, Muslims, Jewish people, LGBTs, Hispanics and Black people make it easier to create policies that invoke ghettoization and starve welfare programs. When minority kids have a poor education and no art programs, no opportunities except to work for minimum wage in bad conditions, it’s a strategic move to push those people towards crime. Not to mention the lobbying by police unions that supports for-profit prisons, criminalization of marijuana, etc. that disproportionately affects these people compared to the upper-class white people who do similar crimes but get minimal time. The music I listen to reminds and connects me to others who experience similar things.

Additionally, because I am a business student, I can’t help but see the exploitation capitalism causes every day that I sit in class and watch as culture is produced for the youth by businesses who want to influence what and how we think to turn a profit. It’s clear this is the case due to the very strict music industry that only plays and supports carefully constructed, meaningless garbage on the radio. This same industry is famous for its rampant sexual abuse of artists and censorship from what they really want to say; the same industry that has whitewashed and appropriated cultures/music for money. All around, the corporatization of music has led to its decline in creative quality and silenced dissenting voices.  The people who are creating music that sends a message of freedom from oppression is not supported by the system, so when I listen to music like that, it reminds me that I’m a part of a resistance that has no real physical location, but a connection with disenfranchised people, nonetheless.

Word count: 719

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Discuss the impact of tourism in local music and the way in which it produces particular experiences of a global world. How do you think that other economic activities can transform music from the perspective of the negotiation between the global and the local that entail globalization processes?

The process of globalization entails the uniformity of local music to appeal to tourists from other nations who positive and negatively impact the cultural and economy of their destination while also altering the experiences of the musical global world by changing local music to conform to expectations of visitors. Local music presentations simply become a part of a tourist’s itinerary rather than an authentic experience that the local musicians feel they want to play. This happens with other economic activity as well; the touristic “authentic” experience that is paid for is simply a simplified and often simplified, characterized version of the true local experience. This is called the commodification of culture. The commodification of culture refers to the use of a cultural traditions and artifacts in order to sell and profit for the local economy (Shepard).

There are both positive and negative sociocultural impacts of commodification on a culture in terms of globalization. One positive is the creation of business and jobs for local craftsmen and musicians who can sell their goods and music to tourists. “Rural” tourism is seen as a "cure” for poverty and leads to the improvement of transportation, infrastructure and the development of telecommunications in an area (Zhou).  Critics of the commodification of local cultures in terms of globalization believe that tourists are not actually interested in cultural beliefs, music, and traditions of the locals but are instead obsessed with owning a part of it for themselves. By monetizing cultural artifacts, locals lose the value to their culture to currency and capitalistic tendencies, lending to the belief that tourists are no longer having authentic experiences.

Additionally, there can be both positive and negative impacts to the economy of the local’s community during the process of globalization. A positive impact can refer to the increase in jobs, a higher quality of life for locals, an increase in wealth of an area, rebuilding and restoring historic sites and encouraging the revitalization of cultures (Wyllie). A positive impact is to increase or to make better either for the tourist, the host community and residence and/or the tourist destination. Positive impacts are related more to the materialistic well-being, rather than to the happiness of a host community or tourist (Kyungmi).

Word Count: 524

Worked cited

Shepard, Robert (August 2002). "Commodification, culture and tourism". Tourist Studies.

Zhou , Su. “Tourism Seen as Cure for Poverty in Central, West Regions .” Tourism Seen as Cure for Poverty in Central, West Regions, 6 Mar. 2017, english.gov.cn/news/top_news/2017/03/06/content_281475586651838.htm.

Wyllie, Robert W. 2000. Tourism and Society; A guide to problems and issues. Venture Publishing. State College, Pennsylvania. Chapters 01-03

Kyungmi K. (2002) Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality and Tourism and Management: The Effects of Tourism Impacts upon Quality of Life of Residents in the community, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Retrieved from: 28 November 2016

[music-and-migration-blog]

How do you think that cosmopolitanism and diasporas can contribute to responding to the challenges that these forms introduce?

According to the reading by the Journal of the American Musicological Society, cosmopolitanism has often had different notions than its more modern definition. Cosmopolitan music, in the 1800s, used to represent a less diasporic communities and more wealthy, well-traveled elites and middle-class Americans. Cosmopolitanism was also often associated with nationalism, even though they’re quite contradictory terms as it exclusivly contradicts the open-mindedness that is implied in many constructions of the concept (Journal, 537).

Because of this, cosmopolitanism was not regarded as a good thing as it is seen in more recent times. It had negative connotations as it implied an exclusivity that created a sense of “otherness” to those who wanted a sense of belonging and cultural roots. The idea of nationalist cosmopolitanism, as described in the reading, can be associated with how in the 1800s, Americans who were middle-class would perform Italian operas in English, much to the delight of wealthy elites. Clara Louise Kellogg, a popular music director from that time, used this opportunity to turn huge profits from performing the Italian operas in English as well. This is like the concept of cultural appropriation; taking music from other cultures and watering down the authenticity of the piece to conform to the appropriator’s language and culture. Modern forms of this still exist in the American music industry today. For example, Despacito was originally mostly sung in Spanish with authentic rhythm until Justin Bieber did a cover, inserting his English part, changing the music video to be about him, and even had the audacity to cut out one of the Puerto Rican musicians in the original video. It’s precedented for many years that certain cultures will appropriate music to fit their needs, which is not very cosmopolitan at all, as it can be defined as any repertoire that mixes works by composers from different countries. The notion of nationalistic cosmopolitanism felt that people should direct their energies to a single nation; this sounds a lot like colonization-lite or syphoning the richness of other cultures into one place and taking all the credit.

There are additional forms of cosmopolitanism such as patriotic, moral, cultural, and political. Patriotic cosmopolitanism is the concept of using a national identity to form part of the cosmopolitan one. Moral cosmopolitanism was the most dominant form, according to the reading, and was concerned with universalism and having equal moral concern for humans everywhere and affording them equal treatment. Cultural cosmopolitanism was interesting because it was considered society as being plural and tolerating differences. Moral and cultural cosmopolitanism seem to be the most congruent with the current version of the term. Finally, political cosmopolitanism aimed to assimilate the concepts of north and south of a region while combining traditions and raising the musical consciousness of the region (542).

 Word Count: 515

 Worked Cited

“Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Nationalism, 1848–1914” Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 66, No. 2 (Summer 2013), pp. 523-549

[music-and-migration-blog]

How does immigration connect to cosmopolitanism?

Immigration directly relates to cosmopolitanism as the core component to make it possible. Without immigrants, the notion of cosmopolitanism wouldn’t be the same. According to our class notes, cosmopolitanism is the consciousness of living in a multicultural society. However, multicultural and cosmopolitanism are very different. For example, multiculturalism is based on preserving inherent differences between people while cosmopolitanism is based on bridging them together. Multiculturalism implies separate and real, or assumed, status based on collectivism; groups of people having power because of their background and identity. Collectivist power may not always be shared equally, and rarely is, or even proportionately from one group to the next. In our notes, multiculturalism is denoted by a main culture sharing a space with a minority culture. Cosmopolitanism, on the other hand, is the idea that all people, regardless of differences, are citizens of a single community.

In Mica Nava’s TedTalk, the universal community of citizens should consider cosmopolitanism a positive ideal to be cultivate instead of a negative one. Nava touched on how a positive attitude towards immigration was necessary for a cosmopolitan society to flourish; their shared morality is a central idea to cosmopolitanism. However, although many cities are identified as "cosmopolitan,” that doesn’t mean that all the citizens consciously embrace the that philosophy. Realistically, places can be called "cosmopolitan" because people of various ethnic, cultural and/or religious background live closely and interact with each other. Cosmopolitan places, as stated by Mica Nava, should strive to align themselves with more positive views on accepting immigrants as a part of the collective culture rather than participating in racism or nationalism.

Additionally, immigration is a key concept when discussing the political nature of cosmopolitanism. Often, it can be used for negative political rhetoric. For example, cosmopolitanism became a rhetorical weapon when it was used by nationalists against "alien" ideals that went against orthodoxy. Examples of this include when European Jews were often accused of being "rootless cosmopolitans” (Miller) and Joseph Stalin attacking writings involving “all things foreign and cosmopolitan” in 1946 (Greenfield). For an example in more modern times, cosmopolitanism became an epithet used by Vladimir Putin of Russia as well as nationalists in Hungary and Poland (Greenfield). As for America, Stephen Miller, a Trump administration senior policy advisor, publicly criticized CNN reporter Jim Acosta for having "cosmopolitan bias" during a discussion on the government's new immigration plan (Archibugi). Because immigrants are often seen as a threat to the nation-state’s homogenous population and culture, they and by extension cosmopolitanism is frowned upon by dictators and nationalists because it encourages cultural diversity/multicultural blend while also discourages exclusive attachments to a culture and strong nationalism. 

 Works Cited:

Archibugi, Daniele. Debating Cosmopolitics, London: Verso, 2003.

Greenfield, Jeff. "The Ugly History of Stephen Miller’s ‘Cosmopolitan’ Epithet: Surprise, surprise—the insult has its roots in Soviet anti-Semitism." Politico 3 August 2017

Miller, Michael L.; Ury, Scott (2010). "Cosmopolitanism: The end of Jewishness?". European Review of History: Revue Europeenne d'Histoire.  (3): 337–359. doi:10.1080/13507486.2010.481923.

 Word count: 500

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Week 7 Questions (Reading)

Q1: Does the African diasporic music containing “cross-rhythm“ exist in American music? Does the forced migration of Africans to the United States affect the sound of African music?

Q2: How have regional African musical traditions changed over time and location? Do the experiences of the different African diasporas performing these traditions change the sound?

Q3: Does the incorporation of rhythm to African music make sense in a multicultural context of the United States? As in, does it make sense that there is less rhythm in many musical forms that prevail in the U.S.?

[music-and-migration-blog]

Questions for Week 7:

Q1) With diasporic communities within Britain being from both the very rich and very poor social class, why is it that the very poor become a rallying cry against labor migration while the super rich stay immune to criticization?

Q2) Does the United States have Cosmopolitanism? Why might the U.S.differ from the U.K. in terms of how citizens interact?

Q3) How does one balance a strong cultural identity with the embrace of cosmopolitanism? How do diasporas with strong connections to the homeland feel about mixing identities?

[music-and-migration-blog]

Yes, it’s updated with proper sourcing.

Indicate an example of "diasporic" music that has been transformed by the music industry?How it has changed? How does globalization affect diasporas?

An example of diasporic music that has been transformed by the music industry is Rock and Roll. In order to understand Rock and Roll, you must to look at the roots of the past such as the Blues. The Blues grew out of African spirituals and work songs sung by African-Americans in the South. Many of these people had been brought to the United States as slaves, and before the Civil war, they labored in difficult situations on the Southern plantations. These African-Americans would become an influential musical community in America by cultivating the Blues, which then turned into Jazz and Rhythm and Blues.

Rhythm and Blues developed from the Blues, and Rock and Roll developed from Rhythm and Blues. Little Richard, one of the great innovators in 1950’s rock music, has often said that “Rhythm and Blues had a baby and somebody named it Rock and Roll.” He, of course is right, and several important Rhythm and Blues artists were part of the beginning of Rock and Roll. Among them were Muddy Waters, Willie Mae Thornton, Joe Turner and Ray Charles. However, even they had a predecessor that was denied the title of pioneer by the musical industry. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and recording artist. She attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and rhythmic accompaniment that was a precursor of Rock and Roll. She was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll audiences, later being referred to as “the original soul sister” and “the Godmother of Rock and Roll”. She influenced early Rock and Roll musicians, including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. Presley’s incredible legacy leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of fans and supporters of the black diasporic community that inspired all sounds of popular American Rock and Roll today. Presley openly admitted to his influences within the African-American community once he became famous. He popularized the sound to white America and changed the music industry for Rock and Roll forever, leaving behind Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s legacy. Although Elvis never denied his black musical inspiration, Elvis duplicated his influences for a white audience that didn’t necessarily know about the black diasporic roots of his music. He became a household name for something he didn’t create; an imitation. Even so, many of Presley’s black counterparts such as James Brown praised him for his integration of black music into the American mainstream music industry. Statements such as John Lennon’s, “Before Elvis, there was nothing,” is cause of such resentment from the black diasporic community because it’s just not true.

To understand how Elvis Presley changed the Rock and Roll music industry, it’s important to understand the musical roots from Sister Rosetta Tharpe; she was a pioneer in her guitar technique. She was among the first popular recording artists to use heavy distortion on her electric guitar, presaging the rise of electric blues. Her guitar playing technique had a profound influence on the development of British blues in the 1960s; in particular, a European tour with Muddy Waters in 1963 with a stop in Manchester is cited by prominent British guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards. The globalization aspect of Rock and Roll caused Sister Rosetta Tharpe to be mostly forgotten as her name isn’t immediately identifiable to most as the Godmother of Rock and Roll, unlike Presley who was heavily influenced by her music. Globalization allowed the roots and history of Rock and Roll to be conveniently ignored in favor of artists who were able to effectively integrate black music into the American mainstream music industry as their own.                                

 Word Count: 638

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Indicate an example of "diasporic" music that has been transformed by the music industry?How it has changed? How does globalization affect diasporas?

An example of diasporic music that has been transformed by the music industry is Rock and Roll. In order to understand Rock and Roll, you must to look at the roots of the past such as the Blues. The Blues grew out of African spirituals and work songs sung by African-Americans in the South. Many of these people had been brought to the United States as slaves, and before the Civil war, they labored in difficult situations on the Southern plantations. These African-Americans would become an influential musical community in America by cultivating the Blues, which then turned into Jazz and Rhythm and Blues.

Rhythm and Blues developed from the Blues, and Rock and Roll developed from Rhythm and Blues. Little Richard, one of the great innovators in 1950's rock music, has often said that "Rhythm and Blues had a baby and somebody named it Rock and Roll." Several important Rhythm and Blues artists were part of the beginning of Rock and Roll including artists such as Muddy Waters, Willie Mae Thornton, Joe Turner and Ray Charles. However, even they had a predecessor that was denied the title of pioneer by the musical industry. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and recording artist. She attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and rhythmic accompaniment that was a precursor of Rock and roll. She was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll audiences, later being referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the Godmother of Rock and Roll". She influenced early Rock and Roll musicians, including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley (Oliver). Presley’s legacy “leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of fans and supporters of the black diasporic community that inspired all sounds of popular American Rock and Roll today” (Eversley) due to the perceived notion that Presley was taking something that wasn’t his even though he openly admitted to his influences within the African-American community once he became famous. He popularized the sound to white America and changed the music industry for Rock and Roll forever, leaving behind Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s legacy. Although Elvis never denied his black musical inspiration, Elvis duplicated his influences for a white audience that didn’t necessarily know about the black diasporic roots of his music. He became a household name for something he didn’t create; an imitation. Even so, many of Presley’s black counterparts such as James Brown praised him for his integration of black music into the American mainstream music industry. Statements such as John Lennon’s, “Before Elvis, there was nothing,” is cause of such resentment from the black diasporic community because it’s just not true.

To understand how Elvis Presley changed the Rock and Roll music industry, it’s important to understand the musical roots from Sister Rosetta Tharpe; she was a pioneer in her guitar technique. She was among the first popular recording artists to use “heavy distortion” on her electric guitar (Oliver). Her guitar playing technique had an influence on the development of British blues as well. The globalization aspect of Rock and Roll caused Sister Rosetta Tharpe to be mostly forgotten as her name isn’t immediately identifiable to most as the Godmother of Rock and Roll, unlike Presley who was heavily influenced by her music. Globalization allowed the roots and history of Rock and Roll to be conveniently ignored in favor of artists who were able to effectively integrate black music into the American mainstream music industry as their own.                                

 Word Count: 613

Works Cited:

Oliver, Paul. “Tharpe, Sister Rosetta.” Oxford Music Online, 2001, doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.27773. 

Eversley, Melanie. “Why African-Americans Are Ambivalent about Elvis.” TheGrio, 11 Aug. 2011, thegrio.com/2011/08/11/why-african-americans-are-ambivalent-about-elvis/. 

[music-and-migration-blog]

Analyze the history of Reggae departing from the information offered in the documentary "Roots, Reggae, and Rebellion."

In the BBC documentary “Roots, Reggae, and Rebellion,” it explored the history of Reggae in Jamaica as the music of disenfranchised diasporic people, reviewed its part in creation of musical communities to form identities and and discussed the global effects resulting in hybridization.

Music and religion connect the diaspora brought as slaves and forced under hard labor conditions, many of which used these to form a rebellion. As we’ve discussed in class, these elements are key to connecting diasporas to their homeland’s culture and even contributes to the creation of something new to represent new migrant experiences. Reggae and its predecessors, Ska and Rocksteady, were an outlet of frustration and raw emotion against the tyranny of Babylon. Even slang such as this connects the people part of the diaspora from Africa, and even goes as far as to link those outsides of the musical communities to those within it. Since the slaves brought to Jamaica lost their cultural identity and connection to where they came from in Africa, they used Reggae (and predecessor forms) to form an identity instead.

Since Reggae wasn’t played on the radio, except for watered down versions not containing the same political strife and religious connotations, music lovers had to improvise to get the music to everyone on the island. Jamaicans of the poor working class formed musical communities while they would gather in dance halls or on the street with the vans playing music from their enormous speakers. In these safe places reserved for members of this musical community, they could dance, practice their sexuality and generally enjoy each other’s company. Being a part of this community means voicing struggles without the fear of Babylon authority looming. This distinct lack of opposing authority allowed musicians to play about Rastafarianism, political discord, calls for peace and unity, and their visions for the Jamaican people (for example, Exodus by Bob Marley and the Wailers.) Rastafarianism was a key component in connecting musical communities together with topics like “The King of all Kings” and praising “Jah.”

Once gaining massive popularity on the international stage, people who were not within these musical communities of Jamaica could relate to the music borne from the struggle Jamaicans faced. Reggae related to a wider audience and its revolutionary messages resonated with an increasingly marginalized UK white youth. The power of the connection to Reggae music caused these youths start creating hybridizations of Reggae with punk rock and pop during years of disconnect with their authority they called “Babylon,” a term used by Jamaicans which joined them against a common oppressor. Reggae also became a cultural lifeline for young black people who were experiencing racism and rejection in their own country, which resulted in hybridizations of Hip-Hop, Jazz, Blues and Reggae. Because of a common struggle, music and culture intertwines to create new musical experiences. Even new versions such "Reggae Revival” such as that performed by Chronixx whose lyrical content revolves around themes of anti-war, romantic declarations and resilience. Because of Reggae’s relatability to “the people” across all geographical boundaries, there are many kinds of fusion sounds and influences throughout many genres of music.

Word Count: 521

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Where do we see musical hybridization within our community? Does it have to do with migration in the US?

           Musical hybridization is directly related to migration in The United States. Because the United States are a melting pot of cultures and identities, it’s no wonder that musical hybridization takes place all around us. Within our musical communities, such as the hip-hop and rap community or the punk rock community, there is clear musical hybridization with Reggae and Ska music called Reggae fusion, which is a fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, R&B, jazz and drum and bass. Reggae was originated in Jamaica in the 1960s out of other forms of indigenous music like Ska and Rocksteady while Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in 50s and included the combine elements of Caribbean Mento and Calypso with Rhythm and Blues and American Jazz. Reggae was popularized by artistes such as Peter Tosh and Bob Marley, who specifically became very popular in the United States as a cultural icon.

One of many examples of reggae-fusion in the United States is the band Sublime. Sublime produces music of ska-punk genre which is a fusion music genre lending influences from Jamaican sound. Bob Marley and associated Jamaican reggae acts such as The Wailers, and Peter Tosh feature prominently in Sublime's songs, as do other Jamaican reggae and dancehall acts such as Born Jamericans, Toots & the Maytals, The Melodians, Wayne Smith, Tenor Saw, Frankie Paul, The Wailing Souls, Barrington Levy, Half Pint and Yellowman. Additionally, Sublime was also heavily influenced by the 1980s and 1990s hip-hop and rap scene of Los Angeles and New York City, borrowing from such acts as N.W.A and Eazy-E, the Beastie Boys, Just-Ice, Public Enemy and Flavor Flav, KRS-One, Doug E. Fresh, Too $hort, Mobb Deep, as well as the Philadelphia-based rapper Steady B and Texas hip-hop The Geto Boys. Sublime’s musical hybridization was a result of their rich, diverse environment surrounded by migratory musical communities.

Another example of reggae fusion is a popular album “Distant Relatives” by rap-star Nas and Bob Marley’s youngest son, Damien Marley. Fusing hip-hop and reggae musical elements, Damien Marley and Nas also incorporated samples from African music into their album. The album's lyrical content heavily revolves around themes concerning Africa, from ancestry and poverty with social commentary of the United States and Africa; the track "Count Your Blessings" reflects on the plight of Africa. Marley was born in Kingston, Jamaica and so this is a direct reflection of migratory hybridization within local musical communities due to migration from Jamaica. Their aptly named album “Distant Relatives” discusses the diaspora caused by African slaves’ forced migration and the notion that all people come from Africa and are all “distant relatives” which is, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is supported as “almost all living people outside of Africa trace back to a single migration more than 50,000 years ago” (Culotta et al). Their track on this album called “Africa Must Wake Up” discusses the diasporic identity of Africans and migrants tracing back lineage to Africa, vocal about the struggles and plights facing African culture, identity and knowledge as the meaning of having an African identity changes for those who were (forced) migrants. From the song, “The slums, diseases, AIDS We need all that to fade We cannot be afraid So who are we today? We are the morning after The make shift youth The slave ship captured Our diaspora, is the final chapter The ancestral lineage built pyramids Americas first immigrant The Kings sons and daughters from Nile waters The first architect, the first philosophers, astronomers The first prophets and doctors was us.”

Word count: 538 (not including lyrics)

Works Cited

Culotta, Elizabeth, et al. “Almost All Living People Outside of Africa Trace Back to a Single Migration More than 50,000 Years Ago.” Science | AAAS, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 26 Oct. 2018, www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/almost-all-living-people-outside-africa-trace-back-single-migration-more-50000-years.

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What role does migration play in the establishment of "musical communities"? 

Migration plays a large part in the establishment of musical communities as diasporas inherently bring music from their culture into their new homelands, often to combine and create new subsets of music. For example, when Indians were brought to Trinidad and Tobago as indentured laborer’s, their musical community containing Hindi music combined with the African’s calypso creating a new mixed amalgamation of music that represented the indentured people integrating with the culture of their new homeland. According to Kay Kaufman Shelemay, “a musical community is a special entity, an outcome of a combination of social and musical processes, rendering those who participate in making or listening to music aware of a connection among themselves.” Essentially, the Indians brought to Trinidad and Tobago used music to connect themselves to Hindi culture and put their own twist on it that resulted from the social processes involved with interacting with a new culture and and change of land. An even more dramatic example is the forced migration of Africans to the Americas. Several genres of music including spirituals & gospel, jazz, hip-hop have all been created by black musical communities that resulted from the forced migration of slavery. Being removed from their homelands and having their cultural identities effectively erased forced them to create identity through music and community.

Shelemay also argues that “’community’ is a ‘keyword’ here; a term that ‘organizes knowledge’ in powerful ways.” For example, one way that musical communities have organized knowledge is through spirituals. The meaning of these songs was most often covert. Therefore, only Christian slaves understood them, and even when ordinary words were used, they reflected personal relationship between the slave singer and God. These spirituals are coded in references to the bible that seem innocuous to plantation owners but contain information unknown to anybody not within the musical communities. The spirituals that African slaves would sing in the fields would often contain covert information on how to escape slavery, meant for one another to pass down to their children and other slaves; secretly coded messages hidden from the slave/plantation owners. The plantation owners were not a part of those musical communities and therefore could not access the knowledge informally organized by the African slaves.

For example, these coded songs often referenced fugitives running to a free country as “riding a chariot” or a “train.” The spirituals "The Gospel Train" and "Swing low, sweet chariot" directly refer to the Underground Railroad, an informal organization who helped many slaves to flee slavery. The song “Wade in the Water” and its lyrics detail how to lose the bloodhounds while running away from slavery by finding a body of water to throw the dogs off their scent (“God's a-going to trouble the water” for the dogs), referencing Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad (“See that band all dressed in red/Looks like the band that Moses led” as Moses’s followers dressed in red and her nickname was also “Moses”), and referencing crossing the Ohio River where they could be free (“If you don't believe I've been redeemed/Just follow me down to the Jordan's stream”). The migration of African-Americans also brought jazz and blues to America, creating musical communities that contained the raw powerful emotions and experiences of the long-term hardships of slavery and racism.

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How does music contribute to the construction of individual and collective identities of migrants?

           Music contributes to the construction of individual and collective migrant identities in many ways. For an individual, music is the most easily created form of cultural production. To be able to connect with one’s culture when migrating is an important way to carry on traditions and create a transnational migrant experience. An individual’s ethnic identity and culture are maintained and transformed in diasporic situations, namely though music. This music helps form the individual’s cultural identity connects that individual to the collective. Kurt Weill considered himself an American once he contributed his German opera style of music mixed with what he considered to be the true essence of American culture, changing its shape forever.

For the collective migrant identity, music as a cultural contribution is very popular, highly democratic and more far-reaching in both production and consumption than any other means of perpetuating culture such as art or literature. This means that even when the collective migrants are away from their homeland, they’re still connected with their culture and the broader meaning of what it means to participate in their culture. For example, Jamaican reggae was and is used to express their religion and politics, namely the struggle from the British’s occupation, who they famously call “Babylon,” as well as general issues in local politics (social subordination or resistance of British colonization and laws they don’t subscribe to or agree to.)

Reggae is serves as a cultural tool to connect Jamaicans with their heritage and struggle against occupying forces which changed their homeland drastically. This music has the power to evoke powerful memories and capture emotions, especially when religious participants use it to praise Jah (God) and carry on the religious traditions of the culture. It not only gives aesthetic pleasure, but also spiritual uplift (typically Rastafarianism.) This sense of shared ethnic and historical identity makes music an interesting tool to learn about other cultures. If you listen closely to Jamaican reggae, you can understand their struggles as they describe it and experience part of their culture, even as an outsider.

Additionally, as we saw in Kurt Weill’s musical, music plays a large part in connecting migrant communities in new places and constructing solidarity and cultural remembrance within a foreign culture. It connects the dispersed diasporas that can’t go back to their society of origin so easily, such as those who came to the US to escape WW2. Those migrants ended up staying and making roots in the US, creating an intermingling of their culture and traditional American cultures through music and other cultural productions that inevitably changed the idea of what being an American means. The idea of the American spirit changed while integrating migrant culture, creating and becoming the new collective. They became a part of America’s melting pot culture. The collective identities of migrants have contributed to the unique cities of America, creating a diverse culture of music.

For example, in Pittsburgh we have 90 unique neighborhoods which served as home to many different migrants; Germans, Polish, Italians, Japanese and African-Americans to name a few. The forced migration of African slaves turned African-Americans brought jazz and hip-hop to Pittsburgh, contributing their impactful cultural identity to the whole of Pittsburgh. Gentrification changes the make up within the physical neighborhoods, but the music which contributes to the collective identity remains.

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How has the notion of “nation-state” shaped the understanding of “migration”?

The notion of “nation-state” has shaped the understanding of “migration” as it establishes territorial control of the sovereign land with homogenous political organizations and common ethnicities. Because of this, the idea of “migration” creates fear of cultural mixing and economic challenges as seen in the BBC Brexit documentary. Because of territorial sovereignty, it creates an a somewhat automatic resistance against migration as it has a controlled material sphere with a homogenous population.

For example, the British citizens, who populate their own nation-state, were concerned with migrants taking their jobs (political sphere) and replacing them as the common ethnicity (cultural sphere.) This would disrupt the nation-state status quo. Due to the EU free travel, the governmental organizations that tend to the British such as the NHS are being used by migrants and therefore seen as taking resources from the homogenous body of people within the nation-state of Britain. Some consider migration within a nation-state to be threat while others praise the economic advantages it brings when considering differentiation in skill-levels and skill-sets of migrant workers.

Usually a nation-state has a single language, culture, history, religion, territory and nationality. Migration creates addition to these things; many languages, different cultural celebrations (the Polish festival), rich history, diverse religion and many mixed nationalities. Diasporas from other nations coming into a nation-state bring their culture with them which dilutes the consistent nation-state’s culture, which may be threatening to the people who inhabit it. It’s easy to see how politicians use this threat and fear of migrants to motivate constituents to do things that might not even benefit them (such as the numerous benefits of having free movement within the EU.) Nation-states like the United Kingdom create different understandings of migrations than a regular nation with diverse populations such as The United States. The US, for example, was built on immigration and is a melting pot. Therefore, the understanding of migration is more positive and accepted as the way of the land versus a nation-state that has citizens with similar cultures, history, language and ethnicity.

In addition, the notion of migration brings up along with it the rights of individuals as citizens and notions of belonging and identity within a nation-state. Modern constructs of citizenship have been around a fixed relationship between the state, the territory and the individual citizen. Rights to citizenship are also linked to belonging to a nation-state, and therefore has changed the understanding of citizenship of migrants. Within this, structure and identity are shaped by historical and social factors, such as the perceptions of others of a single ethnicity populating the nation-state. Individuals and communities possess overlapping identities that change social, political and economic conditions across borders of the EU and United Kingdom. The search for identity and certainty has made the definition of “belonging” change and become contested, since new forms of inclusion and exclusion of migrants are justified. As we saw in the BBC doc, this is especially true of migrants from the Middle East. The questions of “who we are” and who “belongs” to the community have become a strong tool of politicians of nation-state societies, appealing to the heart of public contestations about societal issues, citizenship rights and belonging. Issues of identity have gained significance in offering explanations for social and political concerns and as a way of justifying social and cultural change such as voting for the Brexit leave.

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Hi Professor Velaquez!

This is going to be my blog for the semester.