Marshall Blog

In Wayne Marshall's blog entries, he describes many aspects, both musical and historical, of reggaeton. He mentions different beats, instrumentation, artists, and Fruity Loops, a digital audio workstation. Marshall discusses how reggae started spreading and through new technologies like the internet, morphed into reggaeton. By utilizing the internet, different cultural musical practices and ideologies were able to intermingle and fuse together to create a unique genre. Because of this, there was a shift from "musica negra" towards "reggaeton latino". There is debate about the specific origins and whether all Latin cultures can subscribe to reggaeton. The genre soon caught on in America because of the large Latino population.

Discussion Question:
The blog also mentions that reggaeton is popular in other places like Japan, where there isn't a large Latino community. What is it about reggaeton that it is able to accommodate different cultures?

Field Notes Part II

This past Saturday, I attended a Bears Necessities (all-male) a cappella concert at Brown University. I’ve been at Brown for over seven months, yet, surprisingly, I have only been to two Bears concert, so it was a nice diversion from work. It was held in List, an Art Gallery that is equipped with a large auditorium. It is a usual place for a large, formal a cappella concert, as opposed to one of the arches around campus which are more for informal “arch sings”.

The majority of the audience was made up of college-age students, although there were a few older attendants. This minority may have been parents of some of the members of the group or perhaps people from the Providence area who enjoy a cappella. I did notice one peculiarity in the make up of the audience: there were many more women than men. This anomaly reminded me of part of the conversation I had with “Angie”:

Brady: What would you say your main fanbase is?

Angie: I think… I don’t know…our friends obviously, first and foremost and then more girls, and then maybe some guy-pals. And then maybe some theater people. It’s not like a completely solidified fanbase. Guys have more fans

B: so you said there were a lot of girl fans, is it true that they are better fans?

A: Girls? Yeah, I think so.

B: You also said male groups have more fans, so is [girls’ being better fans] a reason?

A: Oh, so like, “Hey check out those hotties.” I don’t think so. Most of them are gay anyway.

B: [laugh] I guess that’s true.

A: I just think guys sound better and they put on a way better performance than girls.

I don’t know if I fairly agree with that statement, but I can admit that the Bears put on a spectacular show. As a member of the audience, I was always acutely aware of their vocal prowess. It might have something to do with their unique sound. Each person in the group is a superb soloist and when they come together as a group, they don’t change their sound to blend (as is usually customary for the background singing in a cappella); they all sing in a belting tone. However because they are all male, their voices naturally meld together into some sort of quasi-blend. It’s an exceptionally beautiful wall of sound that completely fills the entire space.

The songs performed were mostly oldies, some ballads, a few more contemporary songs, and one Disney song just for good measure. The background singers surrounded the soloist in a double arch shape and the vocal percussionist a little off to the side. The different soloists put on quite a show, but the most exciting numbers were when the group sang more as a whole. This was when the group utilized choreography.

Boogaloo

Chapter 5 in Juan Flores' From Bomba to Hip Hop: Puerto Rican Culture & Latino Identity describes the birth of the Boogaloo, a dance-fad type music that arose in the 50s and 60s. The Boogaloo emerged from a New York melting-pot culture where African and Puerto Rican identities intermingled. This type of music very quickly shut out the popular Latin music, mambo. The mambo band leaders were infuriated that young, less talented musicians were becoming extremely famous. However, the trend went as quickly as it came, and soon salsa replaced the boogaloo.

Discussion Question:
Is this type of overnight fame that quickly dissipates something that happens in every decade? 70s: disco, 80s: hair metal, 90s: boy band/pop

New Ethnicities and Urban Cultures, Part II

Chapter 8 finishes with the author detailing the breakdown of racial barriers in the black music scene in London. He first sets up reggae in the 70s as a predominately, almost exclusively, black genre then contrasts it with soul which was more racially mixed and run by white people. As the years pass, the line between soul and reggae become increasingly hard to define. Through this blurring of boundaries, reggae became more diverse. In the 90s a new genre came out of this more ethnically diverse culture: Jungle.

Discussion Question:
Did the same mixing of races happen in the U.S. through Hip Hop and its relationship with R&B?

New Ethnicities and Urban Cultures, Part I

In the first half of chapter 8 of Les Back's New Ethnicities and Urban Cultures, entitled "'Inglan, nice up!': black music, autonomy, and and cultural intermezzo", the author gives a fairly detailed historical backdrop on the begginings of reggae music in London's black urban neighborhoods. He develops reggae as an interweaving of many different musical influences that is assembled through a sound system, fusing different styles of the African diaspora. Going on, he also discusses the issues of gender and sexuality and the apparent mysogeny of some artists' lyrics.

Discussion Question: Is the subjugation of women a response to the black community's subjugation by the white community? Is it a form of displacement where black men cannot fight back against the oppression and so oppress women as a less threatening or more socially acceptable alternative?