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?

Cowboy hats, cow prints, rhinestones, and fringed suede jackets.

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.

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.

4) How has the black cowboy aesthetic been reflected by the fashion industry?

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. Furthermore 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.”

5) Read the section on Lil Nas X and Old Town Road. What does it suggest about race and the country music community?

His song reached number 19 on the Hot Country Billboard chart before being removed because it "[did] not embrace enough elements of today's country music" despite featuring the aspects of country music showing the racist beliefs held by the country 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?

Rock and roll, punk, riot grrrl, and electronic music.

8) In your opinion, what do you think has been the driving force behind the Yeehaw movement?

I believe that as awareness of racism and the impact of it understanding American history has grown, the Yeehaw movement has been driven by a desire to pay respect to a forgotten part of history and revitalise its memory.

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 Lil Nas X 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.

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 as it is a work that is created by a Black artist and also directed by Calmatic, who is also a Black man.

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 Lil Nas X 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?

Lil Nas X provides a case study for hooks' theory of intersectionality as Old Town Road features a variety of both Black men and Black women with positive representations.

A/A* extension task:

Media Magazine - This Is America: Music, Politics and Protest
Read This Is America: Music, Politics and Protest in MM65 (p14). You can find this in our Media Magazine archive. This is a great article on the power of music video in American culture.

This excellent Berkeley Political Review article on the Yeehaw Agenda is worth a read, expanding on the issues discussed in the W deep dive above.