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Notebook 2

http://www.copynot.org/Pages/Music%20sampling.htm

Notebook 2

I have decided to make my object more focused. Instead broadly choosing slave songs, chants, and verses, I am now focusing on one particular African American work song called “Rosie.” The trans/national contexts are slightly different. The time period moves up from the beginning of slavery to the recording of this song in 1947 [1]. Though similar in oppression and injustice, the context of the social conditions also moves from slavery to imprisonment (while at the same time being forced to work labor during imprisonment). Through guidance and advice during section, I learned that focusing on one song allows me to make the most of that specific piece while also analyzing that one piece in a more focused intersectional analysis. This helped me realize that intersectional analysis is already quite difficult to perfect alone, and working on multiple objects or songs, chants, or verses will definitely make this project more convoluted and susceptible to not making the best analysis and work out of even just one of the many objects that would have been included.

A stomp starts the song. The lead singer starts with a call, and the group/other workers respond with the second half of the phrase.

Lead Singer's Call: "Be my woman, gal, I'll-"

Group Response: " -be your man." (Ends like a melodic question.) - “Rosie lyrics”[2]

“Yes I'll be your woman Yes I'll be your baby Yes I'll be whatever that you tell me when you're ready Yes I'll be your girl, forever your lady You ain't ever gotta worry, I'm down for you, baby” - “Hey Mama” lyrics [3]

“Alan Lomax went to the Parchman labor prisons in 1947 and 1948, and found the equivalent of a plantation mind-set, with prisoners enduring harsh beatings and other forms of brutal and violent treatment.” [1]

"These songs belong to the musical tradition which Africans brought to the New World, but they are also as American as the Mississippi River … They tell us the story of the slave gang, the sharecropper system, the lawless work camp, the chain gang, the pen." [1]

From the recording entitled “Rosie”, woebegone workers tried to lift their spirits despite the unimaginable situation they were in. This entry is among an anthology of prison work songs, prominently recorded at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, sung by the unfortunate souls subject to horrible conditions and unbelievably racist treatment. [2]

The call and response and the steady rhythm of “Rosie” were methods of unity among the prison workers. While moving at the same speed, no man could be singled out for working below the set standards. As a team, these men worked together, lived together, and sang together, expressing pride in where they were from. [2]

The sickening reality of today’s pop spectrum is simple ignorance. Often times, modern artists try to “bring back the classics” through the means of cover songs. In this case, it’s the misuse of sampling that is the downfall of one pop icon. David Guetta’s foul stench continues to dominate the charts with millions of listeners blissfully unaware of his product’s dark origins. [2]

The national bind that relates to this object is property. David Guetta, as a popular and mainstream French DJ, samples “Rosie” into his song “Hey Mama.” Based on the copyright law cited below, he must obtain permission from the copyright owner, or the publishing company or record label. Created by the imprisoned African Americans, “Rosie’s” copyrights are not of their own property (as they themselves were used as property for labor already) and instead given to the recording label who already was free men and had access to the resources necessary to publishing the song as well as other prison songs. This type of property struggle binds the African American prison workers to not only having their struggles and experiences of oppression ignored but also commodified.

“If you want to use a sample legally, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The copyright owner is usually a publishing company or record label. Remember that you must obtain permission from both the owner of the sound recording and the copyright owner of the underlying musical work.” [5]

“Does having the voices of prisoners in Hey Mama preserve any tradition? Eh. Is this repatriation? Well, no, Minaj and Guetta have no ascertainable connection to Parchman farm. Who benefits from this? The heirs of the prisoners? No, the Lomaxes are the songwriters, so they (the ACE) and Ludlow Music, Inc. get the checks. Why would the ACE approve the sample?” [4]

The most notable ways in which different identities or classifications relate to my object and its trans/national contexts are through race, class, gender and sexual orientation, and geographic location. Located in the context of the American south in the early to mid 1900s, African Americans experienced discrimination through the identification of their skin color or race, while at the same time discriminated to the point of no socioeconomical mobility whereas they could not move up from the lower class due to policies and racial bias, ultimately landing many into imprisonment and labor similar to the oppression of slavery. Taking advantage of the creation of “Rosie” by imprisoned African American men with straight sexual orientation (since the song is of a man calling out to a woman), David Guetta, Nicki Minaj, and writers sample this song and follow it up with responsive lyrics by a woman (Nicki Minaj) that shifts the song into a romantic and even sexual theme. The intersectionality of how the many different identities and classifications of the creator’s of “Rosie” illuminates the way that objects of Blackness can be circulated through the disadvantages of lack of rights and properties the African American prison workers had versus those who are able to profit and take advantage of the African American prison workers’ song and shift the message of hard work and oppression into a different message that can fit into the pop themes of music today.

http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/05/rosie-african-american-prison-work-song.html

http://antidotemag.com/sound-advisory/a-pop-conundrum-david-guettas-gross-misuse-of-sampling/

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/davidguetta/heymama.html

https://bluesnerd.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/nicki-minaj-featuring-alan-lomax-rosie-mey-mama/

[jaywokeafromero-blog]

Roniel Lomahan’s object. “Rosie” is an African American work song that expresses the pain of oppression that many African Americans experienced whether through slavery or through imprisonment. This object relates to Circulations of Blackness in which this song has circulated to popular music today. In this example, “Rosie” has been misused and misappropriated as a catchy insert into the song “Hey Mama.”

[jaywokeafromero-blog]

Notebook 1

ETHN 2 CIRCULATIONS OF DIFFERENCE

Prof. Yang

My “object” for ETHN 2 is slave songs. Slave songs have been circulated from the African slaves to Western nations in hip-hop and other music genres over time and even centuries. 

My object is characterized my chants, hymns, and verses that slaves used during (but not limited to) the period of slavery in the United States most notably as a means of uplifting each other in their work and as communication with other groups entailing warnings and a variety of other messages. [1] These songs either contained details and words that related to their work and helped them get through it or specific codes within the songs that relayed important messages between different people and groups of people. This is related to the theme of circulations of blackness.

In terms of context, there may not be a specific place in which slave songs circulated from since it was used throughout the U.S. during its period of slavery. These songs began circulation from roughly 1619-1865 [2] but can be extended to the civil rights movement as well. In this time period, the United States brought people from Africa to enslave them into hard labor and abuse. As a way to cope and communicate through hardship, slaves utilized slave songs, often called spirituals, to provide a purpose and were one of the only forms of communication allowed yet overlooked by slave-owners [1]. This circulation of blackness circulates centuries later to many current hip-hop, rap, and other genre songs as well. In contextual means, the Western world may circulate songs that appear on the top charts and can be heard across many different countries. Particularly in post 2000s, access to music has become increasingly easier, where artists can find a medium to project their music and perhaps message much more broadly. Although the social conditions of today are relatively better in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement and other progressive reforms, there are still injustices prevalent in society today. Certain artists, through the circulation of those slave chants, reference the conditions of slavery within their words, lyrics, and perhaps even sampling the specific song into their own music [3]. 

In the times of slavery, the “object” of slave songs could be thought of as necessities in light of the harsh conditions they faced. These songs served as a reliable way of not only getting through the day, but communicating undercover from slave masters and whistle-blowers. In the times of the music industry of today, these slave songs are more of a referencing of realities to some (in which they point out injustices and the struggles that they find similarities in) whereas others may use it as a catchy plug into their song (ignoring the purpose and meaning of its origins). [3][4]

1. https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/4844

2. http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery

3. http://blog.umd.edu/musc204/2014/05/16/rap-hip-hop-and-slavery/

4. http://antidotemag.com/sound-advisory/a-pop-conundrum-david-guettas-gross-misuse-of-sampling/