Abstract
A theoretical consideration of teleology in African American popular music, focusing on the late-1960s output of Motown Records. The question of goal direction and musical value in popular music is traced back to the theoretical dispute between Leonard Meyer and Charles Keil, who stand in for the two poles of an outmoded binarism: a “classical” music defined by control of teleology and delayed gratification, and a “popular” music defined by a liberating feeling of groove in an endless present. Soul music and culture, steeped in the aspirational drive of the black middle class, falsifies this view of African American popular music. Drawing on more recent analytical work on grooves (Butler, Danielsen), a model of rhythmic teleology is developed and then tested on two seminal tracks produced by Norman Whitfield and sung by the Temptations. In both “Cloud Nine” (1968) and “Runaway Child, Running Wild” (1969), Motown's signature “four on the floor beat” functions as a rhythmic tonic. Reception study supports the proposition that Whitfield's control of rhythmic teleology, combined with socially conscious lyrics about drug use and the counterculture, represent a powerful intervention in favor of goal direction and delayed gratification at a pivotal moment for the African American middle class.
“At This Age, This Is Who I Am”: CeCe Winans, Exilic Consciousness, and the American Popular Music Star System
