POSTCOLONIAL THEORY BLOG TASKS

Wider reading on race and Old Town Road

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

- Western 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, so much so that the Studio Museum in Harlem even held a Black Cowboy exhibition two years ago, featuring photographic works from Kahlil Joseph, Deanna Lawson, and Chandra McCormick that aimed to bring the black cowboy to the forefront of western history.

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

- Over the past few years, their popularity has surged to the point that Pyer Moss—a label that prominently presented western-inspired looks in its fall/winter 2018 runway 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?

- When the 20-year-old rapper released his song “Old Town Road” the track climbed toward the top of the Hot Country Billboard chart. When 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?

- Its singer’s Southern twang is, after all, reminiscent of the twang in the voices of popular country musicians, the track incorporates a banjo, and the video backdrop appropriately matched the aesthetics associated with country music. 

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

- Just as black artists have had a hand in the invention and popularization of genres including, but not limited to, 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.

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

- I think it was due to a lack of Black presence in American country culture. 

Applying postcolonial theory to Old Town Road

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

- it reinforces as it shows black people may need white people to stand before them to show theyre innocent e.g. "hes with me".

- it challenges as it shows a black, gay male doing hiphop/ rap.

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

-Lil Nas X is shown to feel comfortable and belonging in the western world but when he gets to the modern world where its full of black people he doesnt seem familiar with it or comfortable.

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.  

-Lil Nas X is seen as the criminal for stealing.

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

- Billy Ray cyrus in a pink suit which i typcially a feminine colour.

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

- lil nas x being a gay black man.