Postcolonial theory: blog tasks

Wider reading on race and Old Town Road

Read this W Magazine deep dive on the Yeehaw agenda and answer the following questions: 

1) What are the visual cues the article lists as linked to the western genre? 

Cowboy hats, cow prints, rhinestones, and fringed suede jackets.

2) How did the Yeehaw agenda come about? 

In September 2018, the trend of black pop-culture figures wearing cowboy garb was dubbed the “Yeehaw Agenda” by Bri Malandro, a Texas-based pop-culture archivist.

3) Why has it been suggested that the black cowboy has been 'erased from American culture'?

The imagery associated with Americana has been overwhelmingly white. 

4) How has the black cowboy aesthetic been reflected by the fashion industry?

"An organisation of black community leader in California called Compton Cowboys has blazed a trail by preserving the history and legacy of the black cowboy. Their Instagram account has garnered more that 20,000 followers. Their popularity surged to the point that Per Moss which is a label that prominently presented western inspired looks in its fall/ winter 2018 runaway show, featured the Compton Cowboys in the look book for their fall 2018 collaboration with ReeBok."

5) Read the section on Lil Nas X and Old Town Road. What does it suggest about race and the country music community?

Billboard decided to remove the song, insisting that it “does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music” for it to be considered part of the genre, the Internet revolted, with many contending that the erasure of the song from the country charts reveals a problem with race in the country music community. 

6) What elements of the song and music video are suggested to be authentically country and western?

His song reached number 19 on the Hot Country Billboard chart before being removed because it "[did] not embrace enough elements of today's country music" despite featuring the aspects of country music showing the racist beliefs held by the country community.

7) What genres of music does the article suggest have been shaped by black influences? 

Rock and roll, Punk, Riot grrrl, and electronic music. 

8) In your opinion, what do you think has been the driving force behind the Yeehaw movement? 

Money and fame, also representation of peoples culture.

Applying postcolonial theory to Old Town Road

Revise the postcolonial theories we have studied and apply them to the Old Town Road music video: 

1) How does the Old Town Road music video both reinforce and challenge black stereotypes in the media?

Reinforces: Rap music, hood, race cars, guns, hip hop dancing.

Subvert: Country music, cowboy and western aesthetic that's mainly dominated by white men.

2) How could you argue that the Old Town Road video challenges Gilroy's theory of double consciousness?

Because Lil Nas X is represented as a cowboy which is stereotypically known as dominantly white, it shows that Lil Nas X has found a sense of belonging as a cowboy and doesn't have to view himself through another persons eyes. 

3) How does Lil Nas X and Old Town Road provide an example of Hall's theory of race representations? Alternatively, you could argue against this if you prefer.  

Representing Lil Nas X, Chris Rock and the other 2 black men as cowboys reinforces the idea that audiences may blur race and class, therefore representing the black cowboys as dangerous and unwealthy. 

4) Are there any examples of Alvarado's theory of black stereotypes in the Old Town Road video? Why/why not?

Lil Nas X appears in the video's first scene as a violent criminal running from the sheriff, while Chris Rock then plays the sheriff in a comical way. 

5) How does Lil Nas X provide a compelling case study for bell hooks's theory of intersectionality?

 Since Lil Nas X is a black man and has opened up about being gay, this shows intersectionality as it shows race, gender and sexuality. And how him opening up as gay may put him in a lower status in American society.