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? 

Visual cues associated with what could be classified as western—cowboy hats, cow prints, rhinestones, and fringed suede jackets.

2) How did the Yeehaw agenda come about? 

The Yeehaw aganeda came 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 reasons why  black cowboy has been 'erased from American culture' states back to during the Civil War, Texas slave owners left cattle wrangling up to the black slaves they purchased while the slave owners fought in battle. After the war ended, many slaves had become expert cowhands, and roughly 25 percent of cowboys were black.

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

Black cowboy aesthetic has been reflected by the fashion industry as a major clothing brand Telfar, has emphasised the importance of the black cowboy figure by employing this aesthetic on the runway. For Telfar, the “runway” at the fall 2019 New York Fashion Week happened to be a stage, where Ho99o9 and other musicians donned in their finest western accoutrements—including cowboy hats and chaps—and performed while models stage dove into the crowd turned mosh pit. The show was appropriately titled “Country.”

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

Lil Nas X and Old Town Road suggests about race and the country music community that black artists have had a hand in the invention and popularisation of genres including rock and roll, punk, riot grrrl, and electronic music, the ways in which black artists have shaped the sounds of contemporary country music have historically been overshadowed by the emphasis placed on white artists. For example, a musician like Ray Charles may be more commonly associated with the blues or soul, but he was one of the few black artists who achieved crossover success and made major contributions to American country music in the 1960s

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

The act of dressing like a cowboy, highlighting the impact black artists have had on country music, and flooding the Internet with decidedly black western imagery is a form of paying homage to this nearly forgotten community and a mode of archiving it so that it won’t be forgotten in the future. 

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

Black people and influences have shaped up rock and roll, punk, riot grrrl, and electronic music, the ways in which black artists have shaped the sounds of contemporary country music.

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

I feel like the drive for the Yeehaw agenda was mainly of the inequality and how misrepresented and under represented black people have been in the media due to the fact the only publicity they seem to receive is negative and hate publicity and since Lil Nas X's song got taken off the the billboards 100 just because he is a young black man playing country music it was the final straw towards black people making a movement about this. 

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?

The video reinforced black stereotypes of black people in the media due to Lil Nas X playing hip hop music in his music video which is stereotypical towards black people. However this video challenges black stereotypes as we can say Lil Nas X is seen as some kind of hero as in the music video we see him an Billy Ray Cyrus walk into this hall where there are a bunch of old people playing bingo which is shown in the video as quite boring and then it cuts to Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus performing on stage with the old people line dancing to their music which can show they saved them from the boredom which can be classified as the villain. 

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

We can argue that Gilroy's theory can be wrong as Lil Nas X may not be stuck between two different opposing cultures as we see in the end of the video how welcoming the white people are and how much fun everyone is having as they are all up and dancing and smiling and taking photos. 

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.  

Stuart Hall's theory suggests that audiences often blur race and class which leads to people associating particular races with certain social classes such as for example white people being more dominant and wealthier than white people. He suggests that Western cultures are still white dominated and that ethnic minorities such as black and Asian people are misinterpreted due to racist tenancies. This theory can help support the theory of what Hall is saying is correct due to the fact of Old Town Road being removed from the Billboards 100 due to the fact it featured a young black man (Lil Nas X) playing the lead role in a country/rap music video. 

However, this theory can be argued as we can say that in the music video there are mainly black people shown in the country music video which can help support the idea of country music not being all white dominated and that black people can be featured inside the video. We see other representations of famous black people in the music video such as Chris Rock and Rico Nasty. 

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

There are some key themes that are represented in Alvarado's theory of black stereotypes in the Old Town Road video such as Humorous as we see in the ending of the video Chris Rock's out takes he does showing him stuttering and messing up his lines which provides the audience laughter as it is quite funny. Furthermore, we do see Exotic being represented in the music video in the form of Lil Nas X as we can say his costume he was wearing which was a cowboy outfit and that he was trying to represent himself as a cowboy in a Western genre which shows Lil Nas X trying to fit in which is stereotyped as a white dominated era. 

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

bell hooks suggested that social classification (e.g. race, gender, class, sexuality) are interconnected. She argued that sexism and racism meant that black women had the lowest status in American society. Lil Nas X subverts bell hook's idea due to the case of gender being presented in a fair and equal way. This is because towards in the end of the music video we see a mix of black and white people together line dancing which helps to show the idea of gender and race being shown equality within the video and being treated fairly. This goes against the idea of bell hook's as she states that black women had the lowest status in American society but as we can see in the music video helps to support the idea of equality and fairness overall.