Outkast, is a southern hip hop duo composed of Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton, respectively known as their stage names Andre 3000 and Big Boi. The East Point Atlanta, Georgia duo has penetrated black culture with its earthly realism and historical allusions – enabling them to create their own uniquely peculiar lane in the music industry. Aside from their numerous throwback hits such as Hey Ya!, Ms. Jackson, ATLiens, and Roses, Outkast further expressed their afro futuristic artistry within their music videos – associating a deeper and positive egocentric message to their soulful soundtracks. Many of their music videos, including the videos for ATLiens, Prototype, and Elevators, portrays Andre 3000 and Big Boi as some type of extraterrestrial …show more content…
Thus, there is a dual message that entices listeners to be “woke” and that proudly portrays their southern heritage that, during the 90’s and early 2000’s, was just beginning to be …show more content…
The video itself illustrates a magical connection between two lovers while successfully avoiding oversexualizing the women. The visual effects in the video, such as zooming in on the woman’s face and blurring the background objects epitomizes the purity of love instead of lust, which is typically objectified in the music industry. Perhaps, the futuristic visual of Andre 3000 as an alien was also intended to depict love in its purist form by showing love from the perspective of an outsider. Doing so inspires listeners to be brought “back to this world,” get “back on the right track,” and not fall victim to trending infidelity and lust that society
...y captures the South and the aspects that it holds dear and appeals to both people of the North and South alike through accurate and descriptive examples of Southern culture. Dixie embodied the start of the South and some agriculture aspects persist today, yet through industrialization the Southeast has changed from Dixie’s rural land to urban areas of growth. Cultural South continues to shape the current attitudes and values that are exhibited in many residents who are proud of their background and are satisfied with its current ideas and cultures. While the South heralds from traditional values and institutions, Dixie, Southeast, and Cultural South have been blended together to form what we today consider the South.
“We Shall Overcome” was a popular song of comfort and strength during the civil rights movement; it was a rallying cry for many black people who had experienced the racial injustices of the south. The song instilled hope that one day they would “overcome” the overt and institutional racism preventing them from possessing the same rights as white citizens. Anne Moody describes several instances when this song helped uplift her through the low points of her life as a black woman growing up in Mississippi in the 1950s and early 1960s. By the end of her autobiography “Coming Of Age In Mississippi” (1968), she saw a stream of excessive and unending violence perpetrated by white people and the crippling effects of poverty on the black people of
The whole music video is in remembrance of the little girl Aiyana Jones and to show its audience the injustice it served in America (Alexis 5). The music video does not focus on the lyrics, but focuses on a whole different story. Although the music video is about the war between the government and drugs, the lyrics and the music video share a mutual message and that is to seek peace not only in the community, but also in our minds. Today, there have been issues on police brutality and unlawful arrests. This music video really illustrated different point of views of different people such as the victim and the policemen. Although the music video displayed a different message, the lyrics also provided a great message to people especially young women. Both music video and lyrics
They speak of their people’s past, of the present, and how they can be a more successful grouping of people in the future despite their oppression. In one song labeled “The Storm” by Doc Battiest, the lyric talk about historical occurrences in his native area of Florida. He speaks of kids dying of suffocation as their mothers shove dirt in their mouth as soldiers walk by. Sacrificing one to protect the camp where many Indians took shelter. But he explains that from this pain comes strength. His people are strengthening and their voices, which were once locked up, are now being heard. They just need a larger stage where everyone can hear what they have to say. Another perspective will open eyes and ultimately a combination of views will mold a true
Werner, Craig Hansen. 2006. A change is gonna come: music, race & the soul of America. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
In American culture, the South has more or less been stereotyped and degraded in various ways, which naturally brings about a sense of defensiveness. The southerners stick together to defe...
“The US South has long been viewed as a place of romance, leisure and gentility, Southerners have been credited with warmth, expressiveness, spontaneously, close family ties, a love of music and sports, and an appreciation for the things that made life worth living- from cuisine to love.”
His analysis of the video and song seem more akin to a movie critic’s review of the next Quentin Tarantino film. He comments, “the video...is daring, provocative, traumatizing, cynical,... and to many, a work of genius.” This jarring examination seems relatively out of place for a song in the number one spot on the radio. One could attribute this simply to shock value, but Molanphy sees (or hears) something more when he acknowledges, “When you focus on [the] music, you gradually adjust to what initially makes it so jarring, particularly the lurch from the the sweet, acoustic Afrobeat intro to the droning, brooding chorus.” Incidentally, the song is much more than Gambino’s “cri de coeur” as Molanphy puts it, as it stands alone as a legitimate piece of hip-hop music. Paired with the video, the dark commentary does not seem so out of place when you recognize the history of rap music and its influences. He recognizes this best when he uses ethos to increase his
For many Americans, country isn’t just a type of music. It’s a lifestyle. From sippin’ sweet tea on the porch, drinking beer at a tailgate or driving a pick up down the backroads, country music has made its way into the hearts and minds of many Americans. It is one of the only truly home grown American art forms. Its relatability and wide appeal has made country music one of the most commercially successful and popular genres in the United States. Using the work of scholars Tichi, Pecknold, and Ellison, I will show how country music grew from its rural southern roots into an integral part of American culture.
Before beginning to analyze both Motown and Stax Record’s influence on black consciousness it must first be understood why black consciousness itself can be seen as a step in the right direction in the fight against black struggle. Brian Ward does a great job of capturing the true success of soul music’s influence on black consciousness. Ward says, “[Black radio’s] real strength… was its ability to dramatize and celebrate shared aspects of the black experience… to promote a revived sense of black identity, pride, solidarity and common consciousness” (Ward 449). In his book, Ward also points out that despite this successful development of black consciousness, there was limited success both economically and structurally on behalf of the black music industry. This shows that even though ther...
Percival Everett’s “The Appropriation of Cultures” (2004), demonstrates the power of a symbol and the meanings that it can carry. In the story, Daniel Barkley is a highly accomplished African American man who graduated from Brown and frequently plays guitar near the campus of The University of South Carolina. From the beginning of the story, Barkley exposes a distinct independent personality that isn’t afraid to break stereotypes or labels. The first scene describes an instance in a bar where white fraternity boys were challenging Barkley to play ‘Dixie’ for them. Instead of refusing, like most would have done, he instead begins to play and take ownership of the song. Later in the story, Barkley decides to purchase a truck with a giant confederate flag decal in the back. Despite the strange stares and confusion
King, Richard B. A Southern Renaissance: The Cultural Awakening of the American South, 1930-1955. NewYork: Oxford University Press, 1980.
The influence of Hip-Hop has never been as great as it is in this day and age. Often dismissed by a majority of America as simply a fad, hip hop has become a global phenomenon and has arguably been the most popular form of music for the past three decades. Hip-Hop has influenced art, language, fashion, culture, and sports. This music has been used to teach elementary level children, it has been taught in undergraduate universities and serves as a bridge for hundreds of philanthropies. The influence of Hip-Hop has also been felt in films. These films range from fictional works, documentaries, and autobiographies. A film known as, Something from Nothing by famous rapper Ice T sheds light on elements within Hip-Hop that have enabled the genre to reach millions of people.
...t of people around you. The images are really helped clarify what the singer really wants to talk about. Without the images in the video some many things could have been interpreted from the song itself. Before I watched the video I just thought the author was talking about war, and specially the wars America was fighting at the time of the song’s release. The music in combination with the instrumentals and video create a piece of art that enlightens the soul.
In Hollywood today, most films can be categorized according to the genre system. There are action films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories: Hollywood films, and independent or foreign ‘art house’ films. Yet, this outlook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered ‘Hollywood films’. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive violence or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to displace its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of ‘foreign’ or ‘art house’ cinema.