Postcolonial theory
Wider reading on race and Old Town Road
Read this W Magazine deep dive on the Yeehaw agenda and answer the following questions:
1) What are the visual cues the article lists as linked to the western genre?
The visual cues associated with what could be classified as western—cowboy hats, cow prints, rhinestones, and fringed suede jackets, to name a few—are certainly not limited to the likes of Kacey Musgraves or John Wayne.
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. Her Instagram account, also called @theyeehawagenda, functions as both an archive and celebration of black cowboy aesthetics in popular culture. It’s
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.
Telfar, another label determined to shake up the homogenous couture landscape, has emphasized the importance of the black cowboy figure by employing this aesthetic on the runway. For Telfar, the “runway” at the fall 2019 New York Fashion Week happened to be a stage, where Ho99o9 and other musicians donned in their finest western accoutrements—including cowboy hats and chaps—and performed while models stage dove into the crowd turned moshpit. The show was appropriately titled “Country.”
Of course, the Yeehaw Agenda is sprawling, meaning it extends beyond the zones of Fashion Week. Solange, a Houston native, dropped her anticipated fourth studio album, When I Get Home, in early 2019, and the accompanying visuals were decidedly western.
5) Read the section on Lil Nas X and Old Town Road. What does it suggest about race and the country music community?
The track climbed toward the top of the Hot Country Billboard chart, and landed at number 19. 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 personally think it is the media and internet and the fans and audience and also mostly a big part was old town road song as it went viral on Tiktok and everywhere on the media and it was introduced to many people who didn't know about it and it as further supported and they made it as a trend again and then was further introduced by fashion shows and other media products.
Applying postcolonial theory to Old Town Road
Revise the postcolonial theories we have studied and apply them to the Old Town Road music video:
1) How does the Old Town Road music video both reinforce and challenge black stereotypes in the media?
The opening of the video reinforces black stereotypes of them being dangerous and involved in crime as we open the video watching Lil Nas X running away from the sheriff after an assumed robbery. However the opening also subverts stereotypes of black people as the sheriff and his subordinates are all black people as well. This trend of subverting stereotypes of black people continues as later on when Nas arrives in 2019 he lands in a stereotypical American dream white picket fence suburban neighbourhood which is commonly associated with white people but instead of that it is filled with black families. We also see how they don't welcome outsiders.
2) How could you argue that the Old Town Road video challenges Gilroy's theory of double consciousness?
The old town road video challenges Gilroy's theory of double consciousness is challenged by Old Town Road as it is a work that is created by a black artist and directed by Calmatic who is also a black man this challenges Gilroy's idea as black audiences are seeing themselves through the eyes of other black people.
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.
The opening of the music video provides an example of Hall's theory as Nas is portrayed as a criminal who robs others to make a living which links to the idea of black people being associated with the lower class and so being more willing to commit crimes to survive. However I believe that the rest of the video does not provide examples of Hall's theory as we see Old Town road in 2019 being a stereotypical white American neighbourhood however instead of being filled with white people it only has black people who are more commonly associated with the city and living in worse conditions in media.
4) Are there any examples of Alvarado's theory of black stereotypes in the Old Town Road video? Why/why not?
The opening of the video features Lil Nas X as a dangerous criminal running from the sheriff, this is then followed up with Chris Rock as the sheriff acting in a humorous manner.
5) How does Lil Nas X provide a compelling case study for bell hooks's theory of intersectionality?
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