Recently, there have been two performances that stuck out on highly watched televised events. Beyonce and her Super Bowl halftime performance, and Kendrick Lamar and his Grammy Awards performance. Both of these performances sent the message about Black Lives Matter and a lot of white people are angry about it. I just finished watching Lamar's Grammy performance, and the statement is a more explicit one. Lamar walks on stage in shackles and cuffed, in a jail setting, with other black men on stage with him. I believe that much like Beyonce's performance, Kendrick Lamar's will, and already has, blown up in the media sphere.
So, with these two both using their voices and platform to send a message, do you think the message will be better heard now since someone else, particularly a man, has also stepped up and did what Beyonce has done? I think right now, it is too early to know, but I do think another person stepping up will help get the message across, obviously. Is it a big deal that Beyonce took the role in what may be many performances speaking on this message? Or does it not matter at all that one of the biggest artists of our generation took the charge in sending this message, and others are and are probably planning to follow?
I think it does and I think it speaks on many levels, but we are just on the brink of another social movement where big stars are going to start using there platform to take direct aim at this movement.
An interesting question. I like your thinking about how gender will play. I think we might also consider how genre will impact things? Hip-hop is in general a genre that people see as more politically activated or antagonistic so that may have some impact?
ReplyDeleteI do not believe gender plays as big of a role as genre does. Beyonce is powerful enough in her own voice that I don't think Lamar being a male makes his message more powerful of the two. However, as professor Marshall asked, genre plays a big role in getting the message out to the people. Their genre is one of the top listened to by African-Americans in pop culture. If these were country singers, their messages would not reach the audience that Beyonce and Lamar are going after.
DeleteI just recently sent Dr. Marshall my thoughts on this topic and I personally do believe that gender plays a big role here. Beyoncé's song and performance received a lot of publicity and controversy in less than the first 24 hours. Now, her super bowl performance set things off just as Kendrick's Grammy performance did, but his song and performance has not reached the magnitude of Beyoncé's still. The only difference between these two situations is gender. I feel that a powerful and influential black women speaking out on behalf of the African- American/Black culture causes a lot of people to worry.
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