On Pharrell’s “Happy”
This is a cross-post from Cyborgology. I find Pharrell’s massive hit “Happy” really, really irritating. And, for that reason, I love it. In the same way that The Sex Pistols were Malcolm McLaren’s massive joke on us, this song is,…
Rihanna’s Melancholic Damage
Here is my looong, unedited, still-in-process post on Rihanna, “Look, I Overcame!” Gaga Feminism, goth damage, and multi-racial white supremacy. Unlike most people who talk about Rihanna, Breezy, feminism, & race, I will actually discuss her MUSIC–chords, compositional and performance…
Scream: On Kelis, Human Capital, & Music
Recently, there have been a few EDM-pop songs about screaming: Usher’s “Scream,” will.i.am & Britney’s “Scream & Shout,” and Kelis’s “Scream” (which is older than these former two, but only by a year or two). I’ve written about “Scream &…
From Gucci Gucci to the Thrift Shop: white rappers & black culture
I was in the car this morning running some errands when (unsurprisingly) Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” came on the radio. Stuck in a bit of traffic, I actually listened to the lyrics this time. It had always been obvious to me…
Neoliberalism & Transnational Black Masculinities in Taio Cruz’s “Hangover”
Here I rework my earlier reading of Taio Cruz’s “Hangover” to show how neoliberalism actively cultivates transgression, producing what I call a “faux-gression” that gets fed back into neoliberal means of production, augmenting privilege, hegemony, etc. I cut this from…
Rihanna’s Unapologetic Shadow Feminism, part 2
As always, this is pretty raw, first-draft stage material. I welcome your feedback 🙂 Thanks to everyone who has read and given feedback on part 1 of this series! The continued outcry and worry about Rihanna and her album clearly…
Ludacris’s “Rest of My Life” and Neoliberalism
On 11/11/12, Ludacris (feat. Usher & David Guetta) posted a video for his single “Rest of My life” to YouTube. Interestingly, and awesomely, this video all but explicitly posits the main claim of my article on EDM and neoliberalism in…
Two Meditations on Beyonce, Race, & Queerness
These are two polished-up versions of analyses that have already appeared here. I needed a 1k word writing sample, and nothing from my recently-in-print work could be cut to stand on its own. I’m using this material in manuscripts I’m…
Roman and Raymond: Or, Nicki, Usher, and the Gendering of (Black) Genius
Because I intend, eventually, to weigh in with my own take on Roman Reloaded, I’ve been reading up on all the excellent feminist writing on Nicki Minaj. As I was making my way through the articles/blog posts/etc., the fabulous Ann…
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