Presenting The Sonic Renaissance Ep. 3: Aural Tourism, Or White Presences in Black Sonic Space (Part I)

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D’Arcee and Kimberly are back following the declaration of Juneteenth as a Federal holiday…and we have thoughts about that; and why Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, and the ever omni-presence of country music seems to be in all public spaces, but black sound isn’t. Have you ever wondered why you’ll only hear rap music (even edited versions) in teen stores, or clubs, but movie theatres, restaurants, theme parks and public areas play predominately white music? That’s the subject of discussion in this fascinating two part episode; where we hear from University of Utah History Professor Eric Herschthal about the correlations of nature versus nuture in cultural preference and the identity tourism of the cotton club before it even began. We also talk to PhD student and queer activist Victor UltraOmni, a Women and Gender Studies student at Emory University in Atlanta about the nature of whitness in black spaces and how such concepts reinforce themselves in ways that cause unseen damage. This episode had so much wisdom and great conversation, we actually split it into two, so be on the lookout for the next installment as well.

Listen to the Episode here!

Music from this episode:

I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston

Hypnotize – Notorious B.I.G.

Express Yourself – N.W.A.

Sweetest Goodbye – Maroon 5

Dreams – Fleetwood Mac

Daddy Lessons – Beyonce

Attribution c/o Soundsnap:

Musical Pad 4 – User: 344 Audio

Shuffle Type Groove, Cool side-stick groove, Slow halftime groove, Deep kick beat, – User: Outlaw Music

Song Loop w/bass, beat, scratch, voc sample – User: Andrew Potterton

Big Beat w/claps – User: Trickshot

Tribal Drum Beat – User: Eat Static

Hip Hop Drumloop (Timbaland Style) – User: Quickmix

About Author

D'Arcee Neal

D'Arcee is an English PhD student studying disability and black digital media in Afrofuturism. He believes the future is both accessible, and in Wakanda, forever.

Kimberly Williams

I study sound studies, critical race theory, and social media. Chinchillas are vastly underrated.

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