“What’s Going On” is MusiQology’s semi-regular news round-up. We curate a selection of relevant news items from across the spectrum of popular culture, adding our own commentary and contextualizing the moments within a broader conversation. In some cases, we’ll be drawing your attention to news items you may have missed; in others, we’ll try and shed a new light on the pop culture moment. With any luck, you’ll be able to spend a little less time browsing the web for what matters. We’ve got you covered.
There’s been a lot happening with the headlining names of popular music in the last few weeks, between Kanye West deleting his social media accounts and the insanity of Ja Rule’s failed festival venture, Fyre. Unlike most WGOs, which are usually newsy items that are smaller-scale than our usual article-length coverage, this week’s is chock full of big names and covering instances that could probably use the full-length treatment. If any of these—or any other MusiQology-appropriate topics—are motivating you and you want a platform, let us know. We’re always looking for more freelance contributors to join the band.
Two Cups of Sugar, The Juice of One Lemon…
Beyoncé Knowles’s recipe for success is like the cronut or a meal at the Four Seasons—it’s one of a kind. And with the announcement of two initiatives, the Formation Scholars program and the How to Make Lemonade box set, the singer (who is still pregnant with twins, mind you) has some new and delectable cultural work for the Beyhive. The inaugural class of Formation Scholars will be four female scholars interested in pursuing creative arts, music, literature, or African-American studies at one of four schools, Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design, and Spelman College. We did the digging to get the information—follow the links to each school name. And while the level of financial aid isn’t being made public, perhaps some of that scholarship cash on the deluxe box set marking the one-year anniversary of Knowles’s Lemonade. Though the price tag ($299.99) is pretty steep, the box set is a pretty substantial set of offerings, including the first vinyl pressing of Lemonade; a 600-page hardcover book including photography, poetry by Warsan Shire, a forward from Michael Eric Dyson, and writings from Knowles herself.
Pop with a Purpose?
One of the things that struck out for the wrong reasons about Katy Perry’s GRAMMYs performance was a pink rhinestone armband that read “Persist,” channeling the ready-memed censure of Senator Elizabeth Warren. But in her recent work, Perry has labeled her pursuit “purposeful pop,” suggesting that she wants her work to be politically motivated in these hard times. The problem is simple: She doesn’t have a coherent or distinct message and, as a result, it looks like a marketing ploy more than a sincere attempt at saying something. Protesting successfully in music is a complicated endeavor: Do it right and the literal chains that hold you to the microphone become a powerful metaphor. Do it wrong and your pink-rhinestone “Persist” armband becomes an empty symbol that looks like capital-izing. Is Katy Perry’s purposeful pop really “Chained to the Rhythm?” Or is she clicking the lock shut herself to sell digital downloads and concert tickets? Particularly given the presence of Skip Marley, the grandson of legendary reggae protest singer Bob Marley, Perry’s silence on specific matters that impact African-American and Afro-diasporic fans seems even more short-sighted. What is she actually fighting for?
Wrecking Ball
Meanwhile, another white artist who has unquestionably attached herself to blackness via hip-hop culture has been Miley Cyrus, who has inspired her fair share of outrage over her appropriative twerking and other choices over the years. In a recent interview, Cyrus walked back her love of hip-hop, gesturing to misogyny she was hearing in the music. I can’t listen to that any more,” she said. “That’s what pushed me out of the hip-hop scene a little. It was too much ‘Lamborghini, got my Rolex, got a girl on my cock’ – I am so not that.” While Cyrus’s too-little-too-late critique is at least defensible, it is ironic coming from someone who was so willing to use the music for her own purposes. As she “matures” and turns away from the Mike-Will-Made-It beats that launched her second act, this is a strikingly unaware moment from Cyrus.
What Summer Sounds Like
The summer concert calendar is as full as ever, with dozens of shows at venues large and small throughout the city. Rick Ross plays the Fillmore on Friday May 26; more ‘technical’ rapper Tech N9neis at the Trocadero May 14. A Jimi-Hendrix experience experience is at World Café on May 30; The TLA has Wale on May 26 and Ginuwine August 11, plus something called “Trap Karaoke” on June 24. But the real winner on the list of Philly venues is South with a jazz calendar that is chock full of artists almost every night of the week. And mark your calendars now—Dr. Guy and MusiQology return on June 2 and 3.
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