scholarly journals Jay-Z and O.J.: Sport and the Performance of Race in Hip-Hop Music

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 192-206
Author(s):  
Kellen Jamil Northcutt ◽  
Kayla Henderson ◽  
Kaylee Chicoski
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Hip Hop Music ◽  
Jay Z ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to understand the symbolic messaging in hip-hop music as it relates to the lived experiences and realities of Black Americans in the United States. The study examined the song and music video titled “The Story of O.J.,” by hip-hop artist Jay-Z to gain a better understanding of how Jay-Z interpreted the impact of Black Americans’ lived experiences in the United States on their identity and ability to progress economically and socially, regardless of social standing, within subcultures such as sport. Employing a content analysis method, data were collected and analyzed using critical race theory. The results of the analysis of lyrical and video data identified three major themes: (a) battle with Blackness, (b) economic enslavement and financial freedom, and (c) systematic subjugation.

scholarly journals Color Crit: Critical Race Theory and the History and Future of Colorism in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Reece
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skin Tone ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
American Society

Critical race theory teaches that racism and racial inequality are constants in American society that stand outside of the prejudices of individuals. It argues that structures and institutions are primarily responsible for the maintenance of racial inequality. However, critical race theorists have neglected to formally examine and theorize colorism, a primary offshoot of racial domination. Although studies of colorism have become increasingly common, they lack a unifying theoretical framework, opting to lean on ideas about prejudice and preference to explain the advantages lighter skinned, Black Americans are afforded relative to darker skinned Black Americans. In this study, I deploy a critical race framework to push back against preference as the only, or primary, mechanism facilitating skin tone stratification. Instead, I use historical Census data and regression analysis to explore the historical role of color-based marriage selection on concentrating economic advantage among lighter skinned Black Americans. I then discuss the policy and legal implications of developing a structural view of colorism and skin tone stratification in the United States and the broader implications for how we conceptualize race in this country.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Needs and Lived Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence Survivors in the United States: Advocate Perspectives

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110548
Author(s):  
Maya I. Ragavan ◽  
Lauren Risser ◽  
Virginia Duplessis ◽  
Sarah DeGue ◽  
Andrés Villaveces ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Local State ◽  
Structural Inequities ◽  
The Impact

We explored the challenges and lived experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic by interviewing 53 U.S.-based IPV advocates between June and November 2020. Advocates described how the COVID-19 pandemic limited survivors’ abilities to meet their basic needs. The pandemic was also described as being used by abusive partners to perpetrate control and has created unique safety and harm reduction challenges. IPV survivors experienced compounding challenges due to structural inequities. IPV must be considered by local, state, and federal governments when developing disaster planning policies and practices, including in the context of pandemics.

‘Doing fifty-five in a fifty-four’: Hip hop, cop voice and the cadence of white supremacy in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-131
Author(s):  
Jennifer Lynn Stoever
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Public Enemy ◽  
Jay Z

This article examines how police officers in the United States use a racialized and gendered way of speaking called ‘cop voice’ to provoke fear and extreme forms of compliance from people of colour. Through autoethnographic analysis coupled with sonic attention to how Jay-Z (‘99 Problems’), Public Enemy (‘Get the Fuck Out of Dodge’) and Prince Paul (‘The Men in Blue’) represent ‘cop voice’ through shifts in their rapping flow or by using white guest rappers, ‘Doing 55 in a 54’ argues that police weaponize their voices. Identifying and listening closely to these examples of cop voice reveal how people who are raced as ‘white’ in the United States mobilize this subject position in their voices through particular cadences that audibly signify racial authority, while at the same time, never hearing themselves as doing so.

Decoding Difference

2021 ◽  
pp. 958-975
Author(s):  
Lisa Sechrest-Ehrhardt
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
History Of ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Ethnicity And Gender ◽  
The Impact

Race, ethnicity, and gender issues have always been important matters in American politics. However, during the past two presidential elections these issues were the vanguard topics displayed on centerstage. The United Sates has a tainted history with respects to certain populations which it has discriminated against and marginalized throughout the country's history, and the tensions surrounding these issues erupted like a volcano. The United States became polarized as people began to align with different political and social ideologies depicting how those who are regarded as being different, “others”, should be treated. This chapter provides a brief history of marginalized populations in the United States and uses Critical Race Theory and self-awareness as means to help the reader understand the impact on society when racism and inequality are woven into the fabric of the country.

Rhymin’ to (Re)Discover One’s Africanité

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-95
Author(s):  
Scooter Pégram
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bicultural Identity ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Social Constructs ◽  
Heritage Culture ◽  
Hip Hop Music ◽  
Video Presentations ◽  
Over Time

This paper analyzes the presence and influence of Africa in French hip-hop music over time, giving particular emphasis to recent years where the continent has motivated deeper connections and more meaningful manifestations of one’s heritage culture in songs and video presentations by popular artists. Contemporary rappers in France have been linguistically and stylistically shifting their sounds away from trends present in the United States as they increasingly focus their attention toward the African continent as a way to celebrate the duality of their bicultural identity. This international and transnational musical alteration of their sound toward Africa provides them and their fans much needed comfort against the marginalization that they face at home in France. Thus, these contemporary thematic types of transnational musical shout-outs to the African continent provide rappers and their consumers hailing from ethnocultural communities a means in which to confront the racism and exclusion they face in a country where youths of color are frequently viewed with suspicion and where issues relating their unique diverse social constructs are routinely ignored or dismissed by the French State.

Masculinities Theory as Impetus for Change in Feminism and Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann C. McGinley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Queer Theory ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Feminist Analysis ◽  
Group A

“Masculinities studies” refers to a body of theory and scholarship by gender experts in various fields of social science that has enriched the feminist analysis of law. In drawing on and incorporating masculinities theories into their work, feminist legal scholars have defined “masculinities” as a structure that gives men as a group power over women as a group, a set of “masculine” practices designed to maintain group power, and the engagement in or “doing” of these masculine practices. Although masculinities studies originated in fields outside law, legal scholars have adopted insights raised by masculinities scholars, combined with those of feminist theory, queer theory, and critical race theory, to develop a legal theory of masculinities that proposes new legal interpretations and policies that better correspond to the lived experiences of persons of different genders, races, and classes. This chapter explores how masculinities research has influenced legal feminism in the United States.

scholarly journals Hip-Hop Music and Social Identity - An Analysis on the Construction of Jim Smith in the Movie ‘8 Mile’

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Yi Wang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Rap Music ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
The United States ◽  
The World ◽  
Hip Hop Music ◽  
American Society ◽  
Sharp Criticism ◽  
The U.S

When it comes to American hip-hop music and rap music, people always think of the African American singers in loose clothes, the flashing lights on the dirty stage, all kinds of alcohol and cigarettes, as well as many drunken scenes. However, such a familiar scene is indeed an authentic portrayal of the United States. If you have heard about hip hop music, it is not difficult to find that many hip-hop lyrics are often full of dirty abuse, cold ridicule and sharp criticism. In a sense, hip hop music and rap music can be considered a kind of 'voice resistance' from the lower class of American society. However, it has not changed their current situation, and hip hop music and rap music are still regarded as inappropriate for children and teenagers. It is noteworthy that in recent years, with the popularity of hip-hop music, people from all over the world have gradually paid attention to this unique music style. At the same time, more and more people from the lower class of the United States are also be concerned by the U.S. government.

Decoding Difference

2018 ◽  
pp. 139-165
Author(s):  
Lisa Sechrest-Ehrhardt
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
History Of ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Ethnicity And Gender ◽  
The Impact

Race, ethnicity, and gender issues have always been important matters in American politics. However, during the past two presidential elections these issues were the vanguard topics displayed on centerstage. The United Sates has a tainted history with respects to certain populations which it has discriminated against and marginalized throughout the country's history, and the tensions surrounding these issues erupted like a volcano. The United States became polarized as people began to align with different political and social ideologies depicting how those who are regarded as being different, “others”, should be treated. This chapter provides a brief history of marginalized populations in the United States and uses Critical Race Theory and self-awareness as means to help the reader understand the impact on society when racism and inequality are woven into the fabric of the country.

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