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Student Symposium
Power Symposium
UCLA Faculty
Center, Pines Room
11:00am -4pm
As part of the POWER MOVES
conference which features noted personalities such as Fab 5 Freddy, N’Bushe Wright,
Prof. S. Craig Watkins, Ras Kass, Boots, and Lady Pink, among others, we also seek to
showcase the works of graduate students engaging in research following these themes of Hip
Hop culture in the Diaspora. The student papers will make a significant contribution to
the conference and will aid in enriching the dialogue of this gathering.
11:15-12:00pm
"Shut ‘em
Down: Hip Hop and Social Change"
11:15-11:35am
"(Re)definition of a Movement: Influence of Hip
Hop Music on Social Awareness and Change," Gniesha
Dinwiddie, UCLA
11:35-11:50am
"Hip Hop and Colonialism,"
Dean Jayasinghe, UCLA
Discussant: Connie Razza, UCLA
12:00-12:30
BREAK
12:30-1:30pm
"This
One’s a Girl"
12:30-12:50pm
"
Ladies First: Where Feminism and Hip Hop
Intersect," LaShae Gilliam, UCLA
12:50-1:10pm
"From Video Girls to Multimedia Divas: The
Impact of Music Video on the Body Aesthetic Representation of Black Women’s Bodies in
Popular Culture," Dionne Bennett, UCLA
1:10-1:30pm
"Feminism's Paradoxical
Position in Hip Hop Culture: Deconstructing the Myth of Misogyny,"
Holly Mead, UC Riverside
Discussant: Shani
O’Neal, UCLA
1:45-2:45pm
"The Universal
Mix"
1:45-2:05
"Don’t Call it a Comeback: House
of Pain and the Modern Minstrel Show," Mark Quigley, UCLA
2:05-2:25
"Things Fall Apart and Hip
Hop’s Unraveling," Brian Dolinar, Claremont Graduate School
2:25-2:45 "Keeping it Unreal: Trip
Hop, Postmodernism, and Cultural Politics," Dale
Chapman, UCLA,
Discussant: Julian
Ware, UCLA
3:00-4:00pm
"Crossroads:
Gender, Sexuality and
Alternative Expressions of Hip Hop"
3:00-3:20
"Hip Hop Soul Mate?: Hip
Hop Soul Divas and Rap Music," Gwendolyn Pough, Western Washington University
3:20-3:40
"Coincidental Beats and
Rhythms of Divergence: A Dialectical Ethnomusicology of Black Masculinities in Rap and
House Music," Carmen Mitchell, UCLA
3:40-4:00
"'Gee Wiz: get my clothes tailored like
I'm Liz': The Focus on Missy Elliot's Body," Tracy
Curtis, UCLA
Dionne
Bennett, Ph.D candidate for Department of Anthropology, UCLA. "From Video Girls to
Multimedia Divas: The Impact of Music Video on the Aesthetic Representation of Black
Women's Bodies in Popular Culture.
This
essay is based on the following premises: 1) That Black people of diverse colors,
shapes, sizes and hair textures are beautiful and that our beauty is a form of power;
2) That Eurocentric cultural practices have tended to negate or marginalize this
beauty and the power it invokes; and 3) Music Videos more than any other popular medium
have engaged Black aesthetic representations both challenging and corroborating
Eurocentric aesthetics and representing African American beauty in ways that have
both celebrated and compromised us.
Through a videographic
history of the representation of Black women's bodies in recent music videos, this essay
will compare Black women's aesthetics in hip hop and R&B videos and will compare Black
women as silent dancers in the videos of male artists and as lead vocalists in their own
videos. The essay will also address how Black women's images in music videos both
influence and are influenced by representations of Black women in film and fashion.
Using content analysis of various media, the essay will directly discuss specific physical
features of Black women's body aesthetics including: hair length, texture, and color;
lips; skin color; body types and of course, the all important "butt."
Specific women artists like MC Lyte, Salt-n-Pepa, Queen Latifah, Mariah Carey, Janet
Jackson, TLC, Whitney Houston and others will be observed in order to culturally
contextualize the changes in their body representations to larger transformations in Black
Popular Culture specifically the increased collaboration between hip hop and R&B
musical forms.
The goal of the essay
will be to both celebrate and critique these representations of Black Women and to assess
their cultural meanings and consequences. Ultimately, I hope to consider the impact
on these images on "real" black women and how we perceive ourselves and are
perceived by others as a result of the marriage between music video and the hip hop
revolution.
Dale
Chapman, UCLA.
"Rap, Trip-Hip, and Sampling: The Cultural Politics of Post-Industrial
America."
The genre of hip-hop
has been the source of some of the most profound social critiques of contemporary society
over the past two decades. Artists and groups such as Public Enemy, KRS-One, and Ice Cube
have all questioned some of the basic assumptions underlying American social practices.
However, as Tricia Rose has argued in a recent paper, we need to be extremely careful
about uncritically accepting the notion that hip hop is inherently subversive; in spite of
the tremendous contributions of artists affiliated with the hip hop underground -- the
Roots, Mos Def and Talib Kwali, Spearhead and others -- the overwhelming popularity of
such artists as Master P, Puff Daddy and Jay-Z has led to a situation where the mainstream
of rap is celebrating some of the central values of late capitalism.
The musical
technique of sampling -- a procedure that needs further attention within the literature on
hip hop -- has served as a powerful rhetorical device in the promotion of each of these
narratives. I would like to argue that the emergence of sampled grooves in contemporary
hip hop has served in equal measure as a fundamental source of critique and as a metaphor
for the penetration of late capitalist ideologies into America's marginalized communities,
following the collapse of industrial wage labor in American inner cities. Moreover,
sampled grooves also serve to validate market economy ideals in other sectors of American
society, including the more privileged white middle-class demographic. Looking to the
music of both Puff Daddy and Portishead, I wish to examine the ways in which the musical
strategies of hip hop function in relation to various communities of listeners in
contemporary American society.
Tracy
Curtis, Ph.D Candidate of the English Department, UCLA.
" 'Gee whiz: get my clothes tailored like I'm Liz': the Focus
on Missy Elliot's Body."
The project examines how African American women writing and performing
today are defining a radical black female subjectivity by aggressively engaging the
formerly taboo subject of sex. The authors doing the most interesting work today move
beyond the sex roles traditionally reserved for African American female characters victim,
sex object and wife to include graphic depictions of voluntary sexual activity which often
takes
place outside the realms of marriage, heterosexuality, and romance. The video artists echo
this assertion of sexuality by defining themselves against the "traditional"
gendered roles African American women play in videos. These artists show themselves to be
sexual subjects rather than sexual objects while they formally engage the sex object
stereotype in one
or more aspects of their videos.
In addition to this
assertion of subjectivity, the artists set up a more explicit self-fashioning by
highlighting the characters own creativity and creative control. In other words, the
figures in the videos refuse to be hoochies. They show themselves making music rather than
simply speaking it; their words or the accompanying images highlight their producing,
playing, or writing video roles in which African American women are not often seen. These
artists assert their creative and sexual subject positions in ways which contrast the
prevailing images of African American women in videos. They also convey images which
indicate they, rather than some other person, are in charge of the productions.
Missy Elliot
exemplifies this refusal to adhere to gender expectations. She rejects the hyper-feminine
vamp look that many of her contemporaries, such as Foxy Brown or Lil Kim, are actively
using to sell their recordings. In fact she makes fun of that role, changing hair within a
video, in which the lyrics actually mention a different hair style, to highlight the fact
that the long, straight hair is something she has attached just for the occasion. But she
does not stop there. In other works, she highlights the fact that the position her
contemporaries embrace is a disempowered one that implies a lack of control. She does
this by taking a traditionally male lead singer position in front of a
line of scantily clad female dancers. Their silence, which is typical of videos with male
artist, becomes subject for commentary when the lead figure is a woman.
The gender-role
challenges Missy Elliot launches lead her into video roles other African American women
have eschewed. Her videos are adventurous, playful, and often surreal. While they get
fairly decent reviews from many among the crowds of teens brought in to review videos for
MTV, many of the African American kids express disgust at her on-screen work. While
they do not say that their problem is with her refusal to adhere to the prescribed gender
roles, their comments lead to that conclusion. I want to look at the things which can push
those buttons, examine why they create such tension, and consider the future implications
of these gender "violations."
Gneisha
Dinwiddie, M.A.
Program in African American Studies, UCLA. "(Re)definition of a Movement:
Influence of Hip Hop Music on Social Awareness and Change"
For
almost thirty years, the influence of Hip-Hop music has been essential in raising social
consciousness and articulating the nihilism expressed in the Black urban experience.
The profundity of Hip Hop has caused a society- altering collision between youth
culture and societal norms which created a movement that has protested the
social-structural inequalities that exist in America. From this, Hip-Hop has been
deemed as a "social movement" embraced by not just Black youth but all young
people. What makes this movement unique is at the forefront are Rogue heroes (as
opposed to formal leaders) who represent the beliefs and values associated with
articulating the nihilism within the urban community. Specifically, nihilism refers
to the sense of psychological depression, personal worthlessness, and social despair so
widespread in Black America that is a result of racism, oppression and exclusion of
African American people in American society. Further, artists of Hip Hop whose
lyrics deal with nihilism are regarded as heroes and leaders within the Hip Hop
movement. Rogue heroes are essential to the movement because they challenge
mainstream authority when it threatens to disenfranchise minority rights in favor of
majority rule.
The purpose of this
proposal is to articulate the emergence of Hip-Hop and its affect on social change
through an analysis of Collective Behavior and New Social Movement Theories.
Specifically, I will analyze how the movement has challenged the logic of complex social
and political systems in efforts to contest institutional hierarchy. Also, the
position of rogue heroes, specifically artists with political agendas such as Tupac Shakur
and Queen Latifah, and their influence on creating new collective identities that are
counter to normative identities will be discussed. Lastly, I will assess the impact
of the Hip Hop movement and the extent to which political and social consciousness has
been raised to promote change not only in the urban setting but in other racial and ethnic
communities.
LaShae
Gilliam, M.A.
Program in African American Studies, UCLA "Ladies First: Where Feminism and Hip
Hop Intersect"
My
proposed conference paper will discuss the ways in which hip hop has become an arena for
feminism. Particularly, I am interested in the relationship between the spoken word
and power among Black women, how Black women negotiate space for themselves in
male-dominated art form, and whether the female rapper has autonomy over how she is
portrayed in hip hop. I intend to examine these issues through the use of
comprehensive analysis of the lyrics themselves in conjunction with a comparison to
traditional African-American folklore.
My paper will
consist of three components. First, I will discuss the relationship of rap music to
traditional African-American oral lore, drawing comparisons between the bragging style of
most modern MCs and the traditional "signifying" done by African Americans
throughout history. Next, I will discuss the myth of the "bad man" made
famous through such tales as "Stagolee" and "John Henry."
Finally, I will show how modern female MCs have taken these traditional myths and inserted
a feminist twist to them.
Dean
Jayasinghe,
UCLA. "Hip
Hop and Colonialism."
This paper is about hip hop. It is about more than that.
It is about people, the way we interact and the way we have grown to survive.
Everybody with whom I speak asks what I want people to take away from this paper. It
is my hope that you will take away a new thought of your own, for in writing it I have
struggled against myself. Every word has made me better, every thought has been a
new security against the part of me that I do not understand.
This paper is
about the way in which we define ourselves and our world, about what culture is and why it
exists. Hip Hop is a force, it is so deep within me and millions who are in that
like me, that it changes me. It is resistance to oppression, for it has in me formed
a consciousness that leads me to say so. It is in particular resistance to
oppression of a colonial nature that exists within this country. Unique in form, it
is not in principle. Morality in culture defines the gulf between citizens and
subjects. Subjects are created as a result of cultural interaction, especially war
and colonialism. Subject cultures resist oppression. Hip Hop resists
oppression.
Holly
Mead, UC
Riverside. "Feminism's Paradoxical Position in Hip Hop Culture:
Deconstructing the Myth of Misogyny."
A transformative bridge between feminism and hip hop can be
constructed through what e. davis calls a daily "feminist hip hop
maintenance." in order to make this connection, a feminist hip hop maintenance not
only critically explores the heterosexism and violence of especially
masculine/male-centered hip hop lyrics, but can also be understood as a solidifying
"art" for and between feminists and hip hop artists, alike, who simply strive to
give voice and agency to their everyday lives.
Although this
revolutionary link between feminism and hip hop is rarely addressed, much less considered,
previous literature suggests that the "art" of feminist hip hop maintenance can
only be assumed by black women; however, though a hip hop feminist analysis of the
direction, tone and personal interpretation
of various hip hop lyrics- while at the same time adressing popular conceptions of
'whiteness' as well as 'blackness'. It is the contention of this paper to argue that women
across all racial lines can, and do, maintain for themselves the art of feminist hip hop
maintenance.
Carmen
Mitchell, M.A. Program
in Afro-American Studies, UCLA. "Coincidental Beats and Rhythms of Divergence:
A Dialectical Ethnomusicology of Black Masculinities in Rap and House Music"
The precarious genre of hip-house during the late eighties and
early nineties was a fusion of dance oriented house music and the streetwise vernacular of
rap music. Many rap artists aligned themselves with house music, a genre that originated
in black gay clubs in Chicago during the mid-eighties.
But
beyond house and rap’s musical convergence signified in hip-house, I will investigate
the subsequent deployment of black masculinities that penetrate these specific music
texts. Although one is cognizant of homophobic lyrics in rap music, this presentation
works to understand the corollary articulations of identities in house and rap music
together.
I
will carry out Charles Keil’s methodological approach of a ‘dialectical
ethnomusicology’, or the contemplation of two musics, (Keil, 198) to explore notions
of black gay and heterosexual sexualities manifested between rap and house music. I
conclude that my research elicits the discourse of realness, authenticities, falsehoods,
and fakes. It probes the implications of authentic and inauthentic identities and the
mechanically produced and reproduced musics of rap and house music together. My findings
will uncover the historical and social contexts of identities and articulations that flow
within, against and between house and rap music. In turn, I am hopeful these conclusions
can signify the potential for new cultural projects to emerge.
Gwendolyn
Pough,
Western Washington University. "Hip-Hop Soul Mate?:
Hip-Hop Soul Divas and Rap Music"
This paper
looks at hip-hop culture and rap music as a site of discussion across the sexes and
follows the premise that hip-hop feminist Eisa Davis sets forth - "there is and
always has been a strong public dialogue between male and female rappers, between black
men and women." The discussion I follow in hip-hop begins with questions about love
put forth in the ballads of hip-hop soul divas, then moves on to answers found in the rap
lyrics performed by men. The discussion is taken to another level in the rap lyrics put
forth by women rappers such as Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown, and Queen Pen. This paper probes the
discussion between the sexes found in the lyrics; furthermore, it challenges feminism to
look at rap as a site with potential for real political change in the fight against
sexism.
Mark
Quigley,
UCLA Department of English. "Don't Call It A Comeback: House of Pain and the Modern
Minstrel Show"
While bragging is
obviously a common feature of rap, House of Pain distinguishes itself by basing claims of
superiority on invocations of a strong Irish identity and attempting to de-legitimize the
idea of rap as a primarily African-American cultural form. In addition to asserting the
dominance of the "Irish intellect," House of Pain repeatedly punctuates its
music with references to the skills of the Irish street fighter. At first, this sort of
posturing may appear unremarkable or even laughable. When considered in terms of the
broader historical context of Irish-Black relations in the US, however, the picture House
of Pain sketches emerges as quite disturbing. Focusing on their self-titled 1992 debut, my
paper argues that House of Pain positions itself to challenge the idea of rap as a source
of black discursive power. Not simply another white appropriation of black music, House of
Pain explicitly challenges black power and enacts the old Irish-American role of ethnic
buffer and racist surrogate for mainstream white society.
The paper examines House of Pain's affiliation with American notions of an authentic
Irishness and explores how such ideas of ethnicity function within larger American
hierarchies of race. Drawing on the work of Roediger, Lott, Ignatiev and others, the paper
reviews how American ideas of Irishness often place expressions of Irish empowerment in
the US in opposition to expressions of African-American power. In particular, my paper
looks at Irish roles in American minstrel traditions, both as performers and objects of
ridicule. Comparing these roles with those performed by House of Pain, the paper pays
particular attention to the importance of the idea of the proximity of Irishness and
Blackness as a means of both authorizing imitation and legitimating claims of Irish
superiority. According to this logic, the coarseness of the Irish enables them to
understand black people particularly well. That the Irish can understand blackness while
remaining more or less white, however, works to reinforce white claims of black simplicity
and marks the concept of Irish ethnicity as a useful tool for maintaining white privilege.
Similarly, House of Pain identifies as "Celtic savage[s]" who nonetheless
"love America, apple pie, Mom and all that."
The paper examines these issues in order to address larger issues of power in hip hop
culture. The discussion of House of Pain necessarily raises the question of the place of
race in hip hop culture. It provides a means of looking at the bases of hip hops claims to
discursive power by observing how House of Pain attempts to manipulate and contest them.
In so doing, the paper seeks to illuminate some of the threats to the impact of hip hops
critique of American racial and class inequality.
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