#147: A Whole New World
A Whole New World
I’m Todd L. Burns, and welcome to Music Journalism Insider, a newsletter about music journalism. I highlight some of the best stuff I hear, read, and watch every week; publish news about the industry; and interview writers, scholars, and editors about their work. My goal is to share knowledge, celebrate great work, and expand the idea of what music journalism is—and where it happens. Questions, comments, concerns? You can reach me anytime at music.journalism.insider@gmail.com. And if you’re not already subscribed to the newsletter, you can do so at musicjournalisminsider.com.
Today in the newsletter: Interviews with queer hip-hop scholar Lauron J. Kehrer; musicologist and historical keyboardist Rebecca Cypess; and early rap radio expert John Klaess. Plus! Reading recommendations, a doc about The New Romantics, and more! But first…
We’re All Scrubs In This Economy
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Reading List
- Clara Scholl profiles punk professor Vivien Goldman
- Brandon Hill wonders whether The RAP Act goes far enough
- Andrew Daly chats with music journalist Elise Krentzel
- Miguel Otárola celebrates the power of music loops
- George Varga profiles musicologist / musician Amy Cimini
- Julian Lucas explores the history of the kora
- Yvette Montoya celebrates music journalist Jennifer Mota
- Jay Nordlinger discusses the preservation of classical music
- Consequence of Sound looks back on 15 years
- Jayson Buford ponders the mediocrity of white boy rappers
Lede Of The Week
“Since rap is founded on Black men dazzling listeners as they bring the opportunities and dissension of American livelihood to life, it constantly befuddles me that fans latch on to white rappers like they’re a slap-hitting shortstop.” - Jayson Buford
Q&A: Lauron J. Kehrer
Dr. Lauron J. Kehrer is Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology at Western Michigan University. Their new book is Queer Voices in Hip-Hop: Cultures, Communities, and Contemporary Performance. Lauron has published articles on queer identity and women’s music, white rapper Macklemore, and Beyoncé in journals like American Music, the Journal of the Society for American Music, and Popular Music and Society. In this excerpt from our interview, Lauron explains why they wanted to write their new book.
As a queer person, I’ve always been interested in how queer identities are expressed in and through popular music. My master’s thesis was on women’s music and lesbian communities, and while doing fieldwork for that project at the now-defunct Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, I observed the dedicated day stage for hip hop performance. Seeing all queer women performing hip hop made me question the way that hip hop had always been framed to me as misogynistic and homophobic, and I wanted to know more about queer artists (and audiences) in the genre.
I also was interested in the ways that race, gender, and sexuality intersect in hip hop performance specifically, so I began seeking out other openly queer artists, particularly queer rappers of color. I wanted to know in what ways artists articulate queer subjectivity in a genre in which they are often assumed to be anathema. In the process, I began tracing longer lineages of Black queer music making and making connections to Black queer cultural practices. I wanted to resituate how we think of queerness and hip hop starting at the very beginnings of the genre.
Read the full interview with Lauron here.
A Cause Worth Supporting
From Lauron J. Kehrer:
I’d like to advocate for the Bail Project, and specifically rapper Lil Nas X’s initiative through the project, the Bail X Fund. The cash bail system in the U.S. perpetuates racial and economic disparities in the criminal legal system. The Bail Project seeks to combat mass incarceration by providing free bail assistance and advocating for bail reform.
Check out all of the causes highlighted by folks I’ve interviewed.
For The Birds Of Paradise, For The Yellow-Rumped Warbler In Ypsilanti
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Podcasts!
- Alt.Latino has returned with new co-host Anamaria Sayre
- The Listening Service explores the connection between music and magic
- Vikki Tobak was the latest guest on Imma Let You Finish
- Eldritch Priest chats about Earworm and Event: Music, Daydreams, and Other Imaginary Refrains on New Books in Music
- C Squared Music discusses how to listen to music critically
Q&A: Rebecca Cypess
Rebecca Cypess is a musicologist and historical keyboardist, as well as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Music at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Her latest project is Women and Musical Salons in the Enlightenment, a book that focuses on musical salons in Europe and North America between about 1760 and 1800 and the women who hosted them. But Rebecca’s interests extend far beyond that, as you can see in our full interview. In this excerpt, Rebecca describes what she loves most about her work.
It’s the opportunity to merge performance and scholarship. I view this work as part of the field known as “artistic research” or “arts-integrated research.” Rather than confining my sources of knowledge to what can be found in the written record (whether historical or modern), I try to use period instruments and historical performance practices to uncover some of the practical questions of how music was made and what music meant to people.
My favorite example of this is the harpsichord-fortepiano duet. The combination of harpsichords and fortepianos in duet performances was something practiced across the European continent in the 18th century; since keyboard instruments were especially associated with women and domestic performance, the combination of harpsichords and fortepianos in the late 18th century was a practice that women cultivated. This was not a “public” practice and it was rarely recorded in writing, but there is evidence that Sara Levy was one of those women who played such duets—often with her sisters. (I published a commercial recording followed by a co-edited book of essays centered around Levy, a Jewish woman who lived in Berlin and who was involved in both Jewish life and musical practice.) Using Levy’s collection of scores to explore this practice was a real thrill.
I have had the great fortune to perform and record harpsichord-fortepiano duets with my friend Yi-heng Yang, a world-class performer and such a generous collaborator. As we have practiced and prepared duets for performance, I feel like a whole new world of knowledge and sounds has been opened for me.
Read the full interview with Rebecca here.
A Cause Worth Supporting
From Rebecca Cypess:
In 2017, my husband and I became monthly contributors to the ACLU. There are many reasons—both deeply personal and very public—to support that and similar organizations these days.
Check out all of the causes highlighted by folks I’ve interviewed.
Stuff You Gotta Watch
Stuff You Gotta Watch celebrates music journalism in video form. This week’s column is by Ana Leorne, talking about the 2001 documentary The New Romantics.
Everything new hates what came before it. If punk (as a style) was essentially a carefully crafted fad catering to a revolt-fueled youth market, then it’s easy to understand the New Romantics, an underground subculture whose eccentric visuals drew their main inspiration from British dandyism. Musically, the inspiration was mod and glam. And just like those two, the New Romantics swept away what came before: synths largely replaced guitars, and artists such as Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, The Human League, Culture Club, and Visage quickly took over the charts.
Though the movement centered around the club scene, its role in the Second British Invasion can’t be neglected. Even the recently-launched MTV joined the party, helping to promote a glamour that felt simultaneously superficial and revolutionary. Good looks, which this documentary delightfully calls “Byronic,” were no longer optional. Camp became an art form. The New Romantics discusses all these elements in a succinct yet clear manner. Touching all the different aspects—society, culture, gender—that defined the movement, the documentary features first-person narratives from the likes of Steve Strange, Boy George, and Adam Ant, as well as testimonies from DJs, journalists, and club owners who played a key part in shaping those exciting times.
How Do You Do, Fellow TikTokers?
- @name3songs wonders why so many underestimate women over 30
- @abigyesandasmallno explores a Beethoven myth
- @sonnybabie talks about hip-hop leaks
- @patrickhicks82 chats about the origin of jazz
- @xlninjadan puts to rest the mystery of Kelly Rowland texting via Excel
Trivia Time
What beloved children’s poet wrote a song that landed a band on the cover of Rolling Stone?
Bits, Bobs
- Tone Madison is soliciting donations
- Rolling Stone‘s Jann Wenner has a new memoir out
- Hugo Reyes has started a blog called Chicago Emo Archive
- Drake is feuding with Anthony Fantano
- Worldwide FM will be pausing new broadcasts and shows at the end of October
It’s Transcendent
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Q&A: John Klaess
John Klaess is a Boston-based writer working in product education at a manufacturing technology startup. His new book is Breaks in the Air: The Birth of Rap Radio in New York City. It’s an essential history of one of the most important platforms for early hip-hop. Without the support of radio, it could be argued, hip-hop would never have grown as it did. In this excerpt from our interview, John explains what the book is all about.
In the early 1980s, hip-hop had just started to transition from a local music rooted in live events into a national and international commercial music. By the late 1980s, the genre had matured sonically, found widespread commercial support, and was listened to by audiences around the world. The main argument of the book is that radio made this rapid musical, commercial, and social transformation possible.
Radio functioned as a sonic laboratory where artists played out their experiments converting live hip-hip into broadcast programming for a live audience. New audiences coalesced around broadcasts and interacted with each other and the music through requests, shout-outs, and letter writing. And record companies eagerly started following rap radio shows as both the source of new artists, and as outlets for their wares. Throughout the book, I profile 3 radio stations and unpack how different aspects of rap music evolved over time as artists, program directors, and station staff adapted the music for broadcast.
Read the full interview with John here.
A Cause Worth Supporting
From John Klaess:
For music, I support nts.live. I’ve found it to be the best—and if not, close—resource for music on the internet.
For charitable giving, I’m a fan of supporting local food banks. For me, that’s the Greater Boston Food Bank.
Check out all of the causes highlighted by folks I’ve interviewed.
Academic Stuff
- Call for Papers: Christian Congregational Music: Local and Global Perspectives Conference (Due December 14)
- New issues: Nineteenth-Century Music Review and International Journal of Music in Early Childhood
- Call for Papers: Videogame Music and Sound - Approaches from Latin America (Due December 31)
- Call for Papers: Music in Non-Digital Games (Due October 31)
The Closing Credits
Thanks for reading! And thanks to Miranda Reinert for her help with this edition of the newsletter. In case you’ve missed any special features, I’ve published a number of them in the newsletter, including articles about music journalism history, what music journalism will be like in 2221, and much more. You can check out all of that here.
I also do a recurring column in the newsletter called Notes On Process. The premise is simple: I share a Google Doc with a music journalist where we go into depth on one of their pieces. It hopefully provides an insight into how music writers do their work. You can check out all editions of Notes On Process here.
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Trivia Time Answer
Shel Silverstein wrote “The Cover of Rolling Stone” for Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, which resulted in a Rolling Stone cover featuring a caricature of the band in 1973.
A Final Note
Thanks for reading! I make playlists from time to time. Check them out if you’re interested. And full disclosure: my day job is at uDiscover Music, a branded content online magazine owned by Universal Music. This newsletter is not affiliated or sponsored in any way by Universal, and any links that relate to the work of my department will be clearly marked.
Feel free to reach out to me via email at music.journalism.insider@gmail.com. On Twitter, it’s @JournalismMusic. Until next time…