Elijah Wald's "Polka Contrabandista"

In this article, Wald discusses corridos, ballads which seem to be a Latin waltz or polka (quite the interesting mix), and their social and political role in communities surrounding the Mexican-American border. I was especially surprised by their significance in the drug trade. Though the songs were ostensibly just about news stories, many of the songs not only mentioned drug trafficking and use but seemed to support it. Apparently some bands would even accept money or equipment from drug lords in exchange for writing a song about that person. This brings in some of the issues we've seen in such genres as rap and metal.

Discussion question: Do you think this type of music inspires violence or crime, like some have suggested rap and metal do? If so, what should be done? Should it be banned or censored, even though it is conveying the truth (more or less) of life for this particular culture?

Duany's "Popular Music in Puerto Rico: Toward an Anthropology of Salsa"

In his article, Duany traces not only the musical history of salsa music but also the anthropological one. He discusses that, due to the various interracial relationships in Puerto Rico that began centuries ago, Puerto Rico, like many other islands in that area, experienced a great amount of transculturation that brought about new features and traditions of the culture, including salsa. Though salsa may be a distinctly Puerto Rican form of song and dance, its roots are in such cultures as Spanish (the seis) and African (the bomba). From this reading, it seems that salsa especially thrived because Puerto Ricans living in New York used it as a form of identification with their heritage, even though it was not necessarily something their ancestors did--a phenomenon also witnessed in the study of bhangra and several other genres of music.

Discussion Question: Why do you think there seems to be a phenomenon in which people (especially those part of a diaspora) seem to relate a music to their heritage even when that music is relatively modern or not necessarily a product of their original culture (that of the "home country")?

Dudrah's "Drum'n'dhol"

In this article (featuring a quite fantastic title), Dudrah discusses how British bhangra music relates to Asian youth in Britain. Because it uses traditional instruments and, sometimes, even traditional songs combined with more modern Western styles, bhangra music seems to reflect the identities of these British Asian youth. It allows them to connect with their heritage in a way that is still true to the urban reality they know. I did find it interesting that bhangra music was somewhat similar to rap; it is clearly male-dominated, often with lyrics that are disparaging towards women, but listeners often overlook that because they enjoy the beat or are too busy dancing to notice.

Discussion question: It seems that a number of parallels can be drawn between bhangra and hip-hop, including the importance and prevalance of traditional songs and, at least for bhangra, instruments. Do you think these connections to each culture's heritage is related to their minority status, or is this something that is true for most genres?

Deena Weinstein's Digging the Music: Proud Pariahs

I thought Weinstein's chapter gave great and in depth insight into the culture not only of the metal fans but also of the music itself. What I found most interesting about her article was the relationship between females and the music and, for that matter, with other members of this musical youth culture. Women were either viewed as objects of males or as "just one of the guys," adapting many of the style choices and attitudes of male metal fans. This might not be surprising considering that metal seems to have become intrinsically tied to masculinity. There seem to be very few instances, at least at the time this was written, that women were able to have a creative role in this scene and actually be subjects.

Discussion question: Since a similar issue with females' participation in scenes has come up before (especially during our I <3 Hip-Hop in Morocco discussion), can anyone suggest what steps should be taken to change this social norm, if indeed it should be changed?

Hayes' "Fear of (and Fascination with) a Black Planet"

Hayes' article deals mostly with "relocation of rap by white non-urban youth," focusing on a mostly-white suburban town outside of Toronto. In the article's introduction, Hayes asks, "Who has the right to decide what rap looks and sounds like? Is it a specifically African-American form, impermeable to change, or is it up for grabs, a tabula rasa onto which anyone may inscribe his or her own desires, frustrations, fantasies of mobility and other concerns connected to one's specific place in the world?" This question seems to overshadow most of his article, but it is unclear whether a singular answer exists. Hayes seems to suggest that for both white suburban rap fans and black urban youths rap is inextricable from the notion of it being authentic black culture. The white fans who have little to no experience with urban settings seem to associate "authentic black culture" with what they hear in gangster rap songs--urban violence, crime, poverty, etc. They perceive rappers who ignore these “authentic” things as "sell-outs," even when their success has taken these artists out of poor urban areas and allowed them to live in huge mansions in Beverly Hills. What stood out most to me was how important perceptions of race seemed to be in rap music, whereas arguably "whiter" genres such as punk, classic rock, pop, and metal do not seem to be associated with a particular race nearly as much. Though rap music does still seem to have strong ties to race, Hayes seems to promote the idea that these associations, especially those that equate rap with urban violence, do not need to proliferate; however, he feels that they can be beneficial if people use rap music as a way to interact humanely with people of other races that they might not normally interact with and continue to break the racial barrier that still exists in our society.

Discussion question: Do you think that rap will continue to be dominated by black artists and listeners, or in the future will we see much more involvement by other races (especially white), like what has happened in rock music? Do you think white people might "take over" rap, leaving African-Americans to again create a new type of ground-breaking music that will exceedingly gain popularity?