tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/jay-z-12853/articlesJay-Z – The Conversation2018-12-06T11:45:42Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1082832018-12-06T11:45:42Z2018-12-06T11:45:42ZJay-Z’s $200-million clothing battle could be game changer for black lawyers the world over<p>Millionaire rapper Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z, has proved yet again why he is larger than life. He is embroiled in a contractual dispute over the US$204m (£159m) <a href="https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/jay-z-cashes-in-with-200-million-rocawear-deal/">sale of</a> his clothing brand to Iconix Brand Group a decade ago. </p>
<p>In a twist that has now thrown the world of arbitration into a frenzy, Jay-Z recently <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/nov/29/jay-z-logo-lawsuit-racial-bias">won a temporary decision</a> from a New York court to halt the process on the grounds there aren’t enough black arbitrators to settle it fairly within the terms of the contract. If this argument ultimately carries the day, it will require a severe reorganisation and opening up of the arbitration profession, one of the most cliquish corners of the legal business – and not just in America, but around the world. </p>
<p>Like many business contracts, the original Jay-Z/Iconix deal agreed that any disputes would be settled by a commercial arbitration process. The contract stipulated that the parties would use arbitrators provided by the American Arbitration Association (AAA). </p>
<p>But as part of a dispute over intellectual property rights, Jay-Z’s lawyers are arguing that the arbitration clause is invalid because they could not “identify a single African-American arbitrator on the ‘Large and Complex Cases’ roster” provided by the association. Even when the AAA went through its expanded list of 200 potential arbitrators, it could only identify three African-Americans – one of whom was ineligible to come on board because they work for the law firm representing Iconix. </p>
<p>Jay-Z’s lawyers argued before the New York Supreme Court that white arbitrators exhibit “<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-z-lawsuit-roc-nation-iconix-racial-bias-761299/">unconscious bias</a>” towards black defendants; and that the AAA’s lack of racial diversity consequently “deprives litigants of colour of a meaningful opportunity to have their claims heard by a panel of arbitrators reflecting their backgrounds and life experience”. The procedure, they went on, “deprives black litigants … of the equal protection of the laws, equal access to public accommodations, and mislead consumers into believing that they will receive a fair and impartial adjudication”. </p>
<p>The New York Supreme Court’s decision to grant a stay on the back of these arguments is unprecedented and will become legendary within the profession. And unlike traditional courts, where judges are usually only bound to follow decisions within the same jurisdiction, arbitration <a href="https://www.uncitral.org/pdf/english/texts/arbitration/NY-conv/New-York-Convention-E.pdf">is essentially</a> one global system. If New York decides that these are the rules, the effects will be felt around the world. </p>
<h2>The exclusion problem</h2>
<p>What the case has highlighted is that arbitrators in the US, but also in most Western societies, <a href="https://www.transnational-dispute-management.com/article.asp?key=2242">are disproportionately</a> white, male and aged. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/mar/28/judges-ethnic-sex-diversity-judiciary">same is true of courts</a>, but more is arguably expected from arbitrators as the field of recruitment is wider – with less emphasis on legal training and professional qualifications. </p>
<p>This situation is hardly surprising given that big law firms are the incubation beds for commercial arbitrators. The chances of being appointed by businesses to settle highly complex matters like Jay-Z’s case increase exponentially if the arbitrator works in the so-called golden circle of law firms, and this is where the shortage begins. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249023/original/file-20181205-186079-gc43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249023/original/file-20181205-186079-gc43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249023/original/file-20181205-186079-gc43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249023/original/file-20181205-186079-gc43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249023/original/file-20181205-186079-gc43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249023/original/file-20181205-186079-gc43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249023/original/file-20181205-186079-gc43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249023/original/file-20181205-186079-gc43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Not what enough lawyers look like.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/burden-proof-moodily-lit-legal-law-335237585?src=1PXkQPwlN-aOJ3TACJS82A-1-40">BCFC</a></span>
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<p>Don’t tell anyone this, but the law firm representing Jay-Z, Quinn Emanuel, itself <a href="https://www.quinnemanuel.com/attorneys">has a big diversity deficit at partner level</a>, with only three African-American partners listed in a list of almost 300. Even if the firm were allowed to supply black arbitrators to handle Jay-Z’s case itself, it wouldn’t be able to. If black partners are this scarce, you might as well look for black unicorns to fill arbitration panels. </p>
<p>The shortage is just as problematic in complex international arbitrations. In 2013, around a third of the parties to the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration <a href="https://store.internationaltradebooks.org/icccourtofarbitrationbulletin25-1.aspx">were from</a> Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Since then, just 15% of appointees were from those regions. Meanwhile, appointments of African arbitrators at the <a href="https://pca-cpa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/175/2017/07/Current-List-Annex-1-Members-of-the-Court-update-20181127.pdf">Permanent Court of Arbitration</a> and black judges at the <a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/en/current-members">World Court</a> are proportionately very low. </p>
<p>There are few renowned non-white arbitrators in international petroleum negotiation – despite the fact that nearly 60% of petroleum <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/269076/distribution-of-global-oil-production-since-2009/">is produced</a> outside Europe and North America. There are even fewer developing-world experts in international boundary disputes. Arguably developing countries <a href="https://www.euppublishing.com/toc/ajicl/13/2?cookieSet=1">are constantly</a> shortchanged in international justice as a result. </p>
<h2>What to do</h2>
<p>How do we address this issues? We could throw the burden back on the likes of Jay-Z by saying he should have fought for diversity in arbitrators at the drafting stage of his sales contract. That may well be what the court ultimately does in his case, but what then? </p>
<p>It is generally accepted that contractual specifications about arbitration cannot violate national laws. These would include race discrimination laws, though the limits of this were shown in a relatively recent UK judgement, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2010-0170-judgment.pdf">Jivraj v Hashwani (2011)</a>. Here, the contract stipulated that arbitrators had to be respected Muslim members of the Ismaili community. When challenged as racial discrimination, the Supreme Court decided that the relevant UK laws only applied to employees and not to arbitrators because they were not employees. </p>
<p>But if that left the likes of Jay-Z free to push for African-American arbitrators as part of business contracts, there is still the problem of a general dearth of them. If he does ultimately lose his case in New York, it will still have highlighted this gap in the market. Perhaps in future, black dealmakers will insist on any arbitration taking place somewhere with more black arbitrators. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that we need recruitment programmes to encourage black arbitrators now, and to recognise that those in place should be more frequently offered for appointments so that they are experienced enough to handle large complex cases. And to fix the current shortage, we also have to address the diversity issues in the legal profession as a whole.</p>
<p>Too often at present, we’re kidding ourselves. The American Arbitration Association has <a href="https://www.adr.org/higginbothamfellowsprogram">a programme</a> to mentor diverse young arbitrators, and <a href="https://www.adr.org/RosterDiversity">promises</a> lists of arbitrators of at least 20% diversity, for example. But it is only able to offer this proportion by lumping together all diversity including gender, age and ethnic background – and 20% is hardly a great achievement anyway. If demand for more black representation rises and centres for arbitration like New York and London don’t offer enough people, new rivals may well step up to the plate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108283/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gbenga Oduntan teaches International Commercial Arbitration and is affiliated as a member of OGEMID-Transnational Dispute Management (TDM). </span></em></p>If Mr Beyonce wins his argument that an arbitration clause should be struck down for lack of diversity, the barn door will be blown off the whole profession.Gbenga Oduntan, Reader (Associate Professor) in International Commercial Law, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/985632018-06-20T15:09:36Z2018-06-20T15:09:36ZBeyoncé and Jay-Z: the world is going APES**T for their vision of black culture<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223762/original/file-20180619-126553-2yqd7c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">beyonce</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Anyone who is familiar with Beyoncé’s work knows that every outfit, song sample, visual reference and album cover art contains a deeper, more significant meaning behind its mainstream pop culture sheen. Now that Beyoncé has added her relationship with her husband Jay-Z and her passion for art to her vast repertoire, the symbolic and literal depth of her own work has an added resonance.</p>
<p>From the On The Run Tour II tour poster which references and pays homage to the 1970’s classic African film, <a href="https://www.criterion.com/films/28412-touki-bouki">Touki Bouki</a> to the surprise release of the joint album <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/how-beyonce-jay-z-made-joint-album-everything-is-love-w521642">Everything is Love</a>, which takes a direct swipe at the white dominated high culture palace of the Louvre, Beyoncé and Jay-Z as reigning global megastars are turning their joint attention to celebrating black culture and highlighting historical and contemporary inequalities.</p>
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<p>The On The Run II tour images offer a direct reference to the 1973 Senegalese film written and directed by <a href="http://newsreel.org/articles/mambety.htm">Djibril Diop Mambéty</a> in Wolof, a native language of Senegal, and its title loosely translates to “The Hyena’s Journey”. The story of Touki Bouki follows a young couple from Dakar, who steal and scheme to acquire the money to travel to their dream city of Paris. The lead characters are reminiscent of Bonny and Clyde, whom Beyonce and Jay-Z have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm0Xba8eFTg">previously referenced</a> in their work. </p>
<p>This homage, though celebrated by many fans and cultural commentators, was not entirely welcomed by Mambéty’s family (the director passed away in 1998). <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/monicamark/beyonce-jay-z-on-the-run-ii-tour-touki-bouki?utm_term=.srz6oJG1P#.tbV78yeEl">Buzzfeed News reported</a> they were somewhat critical of the press tour material, which was unveiled on social media. </p>
<p>Mambéty’s son, Teemour Diop Mambéty, <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/monicamark/beyonce-jay-z-on-the-run-ii-tour-touki-bouki">told Buzzfeed</a>: “We must welcome any creative exchange respecting the integrity of the works and their authors.” Despite this, for many, this referencing is important in that it highlighted an African film that, on release, <a href="http://amper.ped.muni.cz/%7Ejonas/knihy/vizualni_antropologie/questioning%20theories%20of%20an%20authentic%20african%20cinema.pdf">generated intense political debate</a> about colonialism and heritage.</p>
<h2>From pop to politics</h2>
<p>As two of the most prominent African-American musicians in pop culture, Beyoncé and Jay-Z have played increasingly visible political roles – from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/jay-z-beyonce-raise-money-for-obama/2012/09/18/7a8e1190-01f7-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_story.html?utm_term=.00380c704b22">campaigning for former president Barack Obama</a> to championing the <a href="https://twitter.com/Blklivesmatter">Black Lives Matter</a> movement. </p>
<p>Beyoncé, in particular, has referenced the richness of African culture in recent years. In her visual album Lemonade, Nigerian influences were woven through with <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/siahlwilliams/6-african-gods-you-can-find-in-beyonces-lemonade-2bk2e">numerous references to Oshun</a>, the Yoruba mother deity, whose colour is yellow. Oshun is the goddess of beauty and love who unleashes her wrath when provoked. </p>
<p>Bricolage – or the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of cultural references that happen to be available – is keenly at work in the scope of Beyonce’s artistry. She has an astute ability to plunder high and low culture to make her own output appear completely fresh and relevant. This became even more apparent with the surprise release of Everything is Love, which dropped during the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/beyonce-jay-z-on-the-run-2-tour-review-london-stadium-tickets-setlist-grenfell-tribute-a8402081.html">universally praised</a> On The Run II tour, which itself offers a paean to African American identity. </p>
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<p>Black Effect, which opens with a monologue about self-love, references being in love with your own blackness and becoming a symbol of black wealth. Jay-Z raps: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Shit I am the culture<br>
I made my own wave, so now they anti-Tidal.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here he explores his own contribution to capitalism, which both he and Beyoncé celebrate – but he is equally aware that as a black man, this comes with much public criticism.</p>
<p>He also name-checks <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/trayvon-martin-6488">Trayvon Martin</a>, the 17-year-old African American shot dead in 2012 by a neighbourhood watchman in a Florida gated community – and, in a twist on arena performers call and responses for crowd gesticulation: “Get your hands up high like a false arrest.”</p>
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<h2>Occupying ‘white’ space</h2>
<p>The couples plundering of almost the entire canon of art history for maximum effect is no more on display that in the video for APES** T. This is perhaps the most direct statement concerning the redressing of an oppressive, exclusive power structure that the power couple have ever made. They literally occupy a white space with images of black love and black unity – understanding that it was the institutional exclusion of these images that allowed a pervasive white-dominated narrative to govern the collective consciousness. That narrative being that blackness does not belong in galleries, that black art does not hold the same value structures. </p>
<p>The video, which was directed by <a href="http://rickysaiz.com/">Ricky Saiz</a>, who previously directed the “Yoncé” video, and produced by Iconoclast, intersperses close-ups of the Louvre’s most famous artworks – most prominently Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Jacques Louis David’s Consecration of Emperor Napoleon and Coronation of Empress Josephine. </p>
<p>Shot in a way that allows Beyonce and Jay-Z to almost obstruct the globally renowned works behind them – kneeling, swaying and smiling in the process – images of black bodies directly challenge the limited portrayals of blackness that audiences are used to seeing in museums. This invites the audience to take in an entirely new narrative, one that is direct and beautiful in its celebration of an (often intensely capitalist) sense of the many virtues of blackness.</p>
<p>It is abundantly clear that the power couple are effectively inserting themselves into the Western art canon and deftly highlighting the importance of a diversity of representation in such traditionally hallowed halls. What is so brilliantly relevant is that the pair have claimed white spaces and hosted their own black cultural moment that <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/what-it-means-when-beyonce-and-jay-z-take-over-the-louvre">has the world talking</a>. Art as an explicit metaphor for power has never seemed so present.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsty Fairclough does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teeming with references to African culture and experience, the couple’s latest work places ‘blackness'at the heart of the Western canon.Kirsty Fairclough, Associate Dean: Research and Innovation, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/811782017-07-30T23:31:39Z2017-07-30T23:31:39ZHip-hop’s vulnerable moment: Jay-Z sets his emotions free<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179904/original/file-20170726-7204-1eyl431.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jay Z, Beyoncé and daughter Blue Ivy sit court side at a basketball game in New Orleans in Feb. 2017. Jay Z opened up about his relationship with Beyoncé on his new album, "4:44." </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://listen.tidal.com/artist/7804">Jay-Z</a> has cemented himself as a teacher and a leader in popular culture. He sparks conversations every time he releases a project, whether a <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8425806-decoded">book</a> or an album. His 13th album, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/4-44/id1256675529"><em>4:44</em></a> (Roc Nation), an intimate collection of 10 songs, is no different. The conversational album tells the story of love and survival in a racially charged society and provides a jumping-off point for thinking and talking about Black masculinity.</p>
<p>The structures of oppressive racism have led to many Black men and women to interpret vulnerability as a sign of emotional weakness and male bravado as a sign of strength. Therefore, invulnerability has become an emotion to practise. </p>
<p>This performed masculinity runs rampant through mainstream hip-hop culture. Jay-Z and executive producer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_I.D.">No I.D</a> challenge these traditional notions of invulnerability and egocentric masculinity and confront themes of racism and Black love through their lyrics and their selection of <a href="http://ca.complex.com/music/2017/06/jay-z-444-album-samples">R&B and reggae samples</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The album 4:44, a collection of 10 songs and Jay-Z’s 13th studio album was released in June.</span>
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<p>Jay-Z is having a conversation with other Black male rappers on this album as he asks: “Y'all out here still takin’ advances, huh?” Here, he’s implying rappers are attached to the industry of music. By doing this, he’s asserting his independence, and consequently his ability, to take artistic chances. He’s not beholden to anyone and can therefore construct his own image and discuss issues that aren’t necessarily popular. </p>
<p>In a followup video to his album, <a href="http://www.spin.com/2017/07/jay-z-444-footnotes-video-kendrick-lamar/"><em>4:44 Footnotes</em></a>, Jay-Z unpacks his lyrics by talking about their meaning. He does this with a group of Black artists and athletes. He is not obscuring his target audience. </p>
<p>Jay-Z draws and benefits from the groundwork laid by feminist writers like <a href="https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/bell-hooks/">bell hooks</a>, <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/When-Chickenheads-Come-Home-to-Roost/Joan-Morgan/9780684868615">Joan Morgan</a> and <a href="http://www.triciarose.com/hip-hop-wars.html">Tricia Rose</a>. These scholars have worked to explain and uncover how corporate influences, deeply rooted racism and the long-term impact of economic, social and political disempowerment have affected Black hip-hop artists. </p>
<h2>Hip-hop: One-dimensional image of Black men</h2>
<p><em>“Like the men before me, I cut off my nose to spite my face” -4:44</em></p>
<p>Bar by bar throughout <em>4:44</em>, Jay-Z peels off his confident, invulnerable mask, revisiting Shawn (he was born Shawn Corey Carter) and revealing the moments that have defined his past in the hopes of changing his future. </p>
<p>Hip-hop is the most <a href="https://www.vibe.com/2017/07/hip-hop-popular-genre-nielsen-music/">popular genre of music in the United States</a>. At the same time, hip-hop is a microcosm of hegemonic ideals, promoting physical and financial supremacy. Within popular hip-hop imagination, the rapper has been the embodiment of Black masculinity, figured as the cis-heterosexual hero. As these images emanate throughout social discourse, they perpetuate ideas about gender, sexuality, race and identity. For this reason, Black men are not often afforded the privilege to make mistakes and rebuild or self-criticize without being scrutinized by society.</p>
<p>That means there are limited options for what the Black male can represent: “rapper,” “menacing gang member,” “hustler,” “master of (heterosexual) sex.” As these labels pervade and populate hip-hop culture, male rappers effectively get portrayed as <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02692077">machismo spectacle</a>,“ according to scholar Anthony Lamelle Jr.</p>
<p>Within the culture itself, this masculinity gets positioned in stark opposition to femininity, which is closely associated to vulnerability and emotion. But the inability to be vulnerable, according to feminist scholar <a href="https://twitter.com/bellhooks?lang=en">bell hooks</a>, means there is an inability to truly connect with other people. </p>
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<span class="caption">In this Feb. 2016 file photo, Beyonce and Jay Z attend a basketball game in Los Angeles. The couple were married on April 4, 2008, in a private ceremony at their Tribeca apartment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)</span></span>
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<p>Progressively, through his lyrics, Jay-Z attempts to redefine his own masculinity. But he struggles with overcoming his own egomania. In his track <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXXxUNJ23uk"><em>Bam</em></a> he explains that ego, as a survival strategy, is hard to shed. He admits to lying and cheating. He also attempts to confront his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM7lw0Ovzq0">destructive consumption patterns</a>. </p>
<p>Though he is aware of the inherent racism and sexism woven into neoliberal capitalism, Jay-Z reveals in <em>The Story of O.J.</em> and <em>Legacy</em> that, like many, he is still attached to traditional notions of wealth and accumulation. He addresses the impact of <a href="http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2017/07/jay-z-444-footnotes-video/">toxic masculinity</a> that permeates people’s lives — especially those marginalized by their race, gender and class.</p>
<h2>Hip-hop’s cool guy pose leaves others behind</h2>
<p><em>"I promised, I cried, I couldn’t hold. I suck at love, I think I need a do-over” - 4:44</em></p>
<p>Bell hooks has been calling for the interrogation and redefinition of Black masculinity throughout her career. In her 2004 book, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52740.We_Real_Cool"><em>We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity</em></a>, she explains how Black masculinity is viewed: fearless, insensitive, egocentric and invulnerable: therefore any emotions that interfere with this “cool” pose get blocked out.</p>
<p>The cultural devaluation of vulnerability in hip-hop is damaging, because hip-hop’s common themes continue to reinforce things like dominance and sexual prowess over women instead of romantic love and relationships. Also, the “cool” pose leaves women and queer people behind.</p>
<p>Jay-Z’s surprising displays of vulnerability can be seen throughout the album. Jay-Z apologizes to his wife, Beyoncé, on the title track, <em>4:44</em>. He raps: “<a href="https://genius.com/Jay-z-4-44-lyrics">I apologize, often womanize/ Took for my child to be born/ See through a woman’s eyes …</a>.” He shows his acceptance of his mother Gloria’s sexuality on <em>Smile</em>: <a href="https://genius.com/Jay-z-smile-lyrics">“Cried tears of joy when you fell in love, don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her.”</a> Jay-Z is telling us, and especially young male consumers of his music, that the inability to be vulnerable means an inability to feel. In her book, bell hooks explains: “If we cannot feel, we cannot truly emotionally connect with one another.” Stuck in this mindset, love becomes an unknown. Jay-Z is also working to redefine himself as a rapper by imagining new spaces to exist whereby committed relationships and self-growth are also part of the “cool” pose.</p>
<p>At 47, Jay-Z has emerged as the leader in the progression of hip-hop, constantly opening up new possibilities for where rap can go.</p>
<p>As hip-hop grows into its mid-40s (its approximate birth date is 1973), hopefully there will be others who continue to re-imagine what “cool” looks like. In doing so, they might disrupt the limited notions of what Black men can represent in popular culture and society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tamar Faber does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In 4:44, his 13th album, Jay-z gets confessional and socio-political, challenging traditional notions of Black male bravado and masculinity.Tamar Faber, PhD Student, Communication and Culture, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/644532016-08-31T10:17:19Z2016-08-31T10:17:19ZWhat’s the deal with exclusive streaming deals? Frank Ocean, Beyoncé and Universal’s mooted ban<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135657/original/image-20160826-17847-1n8x9wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GongTo/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Frank Ocean released his <a href="https://theconversation.com/frank-ocean-is-driving-his-fans-crazy-and-hes-a-genius-for-doing-so-63463">long-awaited new album</a> earlier this month to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/25/frank-ocean-blonde-review-a-baffling-and-brilliant-five-star-triumph">rapturous critical acclaim</a>. Despite this, many fans will have found it difficult to listen to, as the album is currently only available to stream on Apple Music. </p>
<p>Similar limits applied to Beyoncé’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-beyonce-matters-58542">Lemonade</a> earlier this year: first listening required subscribing to <a href="https://theconversation.com/jay-zs-tidal-may-be-a-revolution-for-the-rich-recording-artists-39617">Tidal</a>, another relatively new streaming platform, part owned by Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Albums this year by Kanye West and Drake were also launched – at least initially – under exclusive deals to one platform. </p>
<p>Streaming services are now a key battleground for commercial dominance, with <a href="http://www.ifpi.org/news/IFPI-GLOBAL-MUSIC-REPORT-2016">digital having overtaken physical sales</a> and <a href="http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/riaa-streaming-downloads-cd-revenue-2015-1201736441/">streaming edging ahead of downloads</a> in the US. These exclusive deals – a relatively recent phenomenon, appearing with the launch of new platforms – constitute attempts to attract new customers by siloing those artists with the biggest fan bases.</p>
<p>But this trend, necessitating multiple subscriptions to different streaming platforms if one is to keep up to date with new releases, may be unsustainable. At least it looks like parts of the industry think so. Lucian Grainge, chief executive of Universal Music Group, has called time on the practice of offering exclusive deals on albums to specific streaming platforms in an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/23/universal-streaming-exclusives-frank-ocean-release">email</a> to the labels under Universal’s umbrella. And as Universal is the world’s largest record company, Grainge’s salvo appears to throw a spanner in the works of a strategy to drive up streaming subscriptions.</p>
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<h2>Against the flow</h2>
<p>There may be some pique involved in this. Ocean’s album was technically a self-release, coming immediately after the “visual album” <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2016/08/guide-to-frank-oceans-endless-visual-album.html">Endless</a> which, <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/67748-frank-ocean-no-longer-on-def-jam-blonde-was-self-released/">it is claimed</a>, fulfilled his contractual obligation to Def Jam, a Universal label. </p>
<p>But there’s also a bigger picture. While the appeal of exclusive deals for artists and managers is obvious – a large upfront payout – there are qualms about the long-term viability of the model. Exclusive deals, the argument goes, alienate fans and therefore, importantly from a business perspective, run against the flow of how music is consumed. Industry pundit <a href="http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2016/08/21/frank-ocean-exclusive/">Bob Lefsetz argues</a> that access is everything and music should be available to all – not just diehards with deep pockets – if sustainable careers and audiences are to be built. As such, the current debate reveals longer standing faultlines in the recorded music market. </p>
<p>At the heart of this is the issue that has bedevilled the recording sector since widespread digitalisation – scarcity. Value accrues from scarcity (diamonds are worth more than quartz, which is worth more than limestone). This was relatively easy to regulate when music was carried on physical products, but file compression and increasing bandwidth made music instantly replicable and distributable, removing scarcity. The arrival of Napster and peer-to-peer downloading services caused a massive disruption in the late 1990s and early 2000s, effectively acclimatising generations of listeners to free recorded music. </p>
<p>Exclusive deals could be seen as an attempt to create scarcity again, and hence monetary value for the product. But this may be a misreading of the wider context. Streaming was initially a way of reintroducing a generation of listeners who had grown up accustomed to free recorded music to a payment model or, via advertising, at least one that remitted money to rights-holders. The “freemium” model – like Spotify’s free tier with paid access to ad free content – helped drive the initial success of such services, although large revenues like Spotify’s can still prove <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/spotify-profitable-2015-revenue-doubles-music-streaming-service-still-red-2373020">difficult to turn into profits</a>. </p>
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<p>Exclusivity certainly isn’t unique to the music market. TV and online services like Netflix and Amazon Instant employ it and Sky sports, for instance, uses access to live events to drive subscriptions. But fans’ relationship with music is different to, say, a football match or film. The mode of consumption is different and rests on multiple repeated listens. So constant access to a vast catalogue of music was needed to replace the older model of “owning” the recordings. </p>
<p>In fact, fans never really “owned” the music, only the storage medium – like the CD or record – and the right to play it. But the experience was the same. Streaming services, especially once aligned with the convergence of music playback devices with the phones that everyone carries with them, recreated that sense of ownership, or access at will. Having content in silos across different platforms may thus be untenable in the long term. In any case, few can afford multiple subscriptions to Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal. They will opt for one. Or, some fear, opt out altogether.</p>
<h2>Content or data?</h2>
<p>So Grainge’s diktat could be seen as an attempt to pull the situation back on track. It could also, however, be viewed in the context of other shifts in industry dynamics. <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Popular-Music-in-a-Digital-Music-Economy-Problems-and-Practices-for-an/Anderson/p/book/9780415890632">Tim Anderson has described</a> the recorded music market as moving from selling content to selling a service. There has been a broader shift of power from traditional record labels like those operating under Universal’s umbrella to newer players in the entertainment ecosystem, which evolved from the IT market – the likes of Apple and Google.</p>
<p>The history of both industries is one of convergence and incorporation – from Universal’s acquisition of smaller labels to Apple’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/28/apple-buys-beats-dr-dre-music-streaming">purchase of Beats music</a> before launching its own streaming platform. Across this terrain, data acquisition is a key driver – demographic information about fans, and their purchasing habits which, as Anderson points out, can be sold on in aggregate. Exclusive deals may cut record labels out of this loop in the bigger picture. </p>
<p>Also worth remembering is that the current debate mainly concerns the kind of “tentpole” artists who are able, in the first place, to leverage exclusive deals. Smaller players have less clout with either record companies or streaming services. For many, giving music away – even if as a loss leader to drive concert ticket sales – and maximising availability, is still often a reality. So while Grainge’s policy might be good news for fans in the short term, it ultimately represents shots fired in a larger battle, with major labels trying to protect their investment in blockbuster commercial releases, which are ever harder to come by.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64453/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Behr has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council</span></em></p>By offering single platforms exclusive rights for their new albums, some musicians are streaming against the tide.Adam Behr, Lecturer in Popular and Contemporary Music, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/587412016-05-05T19:50:45Z2016-05-05T19:50:45ZFriday essay: the quest for legacy – how pop music is embracing high art<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121344/original/image-20160505-19838-5y4f78.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Beyonce's baseball bat wielding spree in Lemonade, left, bears more than a passing resemblance to the work of Swiss video artist Pipilotti Rist.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Left, still from Lemonade (2016), right, still from Ever is Over All (1997) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From stadiums to galleries, the new frontier for today’s mega pop star is high art. Mass popularity has its charms – sales, world tours, legions of followers – but the legacy-conferring power of art is now the ultimate sign of one’s status within Western culture.</p>
<p>The rallying cry of “witness me, the artist” is the new mantra of pop royalty – from Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Lady Gaga to Kanye, and even Rihanna. Still, is this embrace of high art a phenomenon worth celebrating? Or, might it be seen more cynically, as a case of superstars using art to bestow credibility on their work in defiance of their own mass appeal?</p>
<p>Admittedly, there has never been a clear, dividing line between the pop and art world – and why should there be? Some of the most creative musicians in recent memory – David Bowie, Keith Richards, David Byrne, Brian Eno to name a few – began to study or pursued training in the visual arts. </p>
<p>In Australia, members of the 80’s band Mental as Anything met at art school in Sydney and Nick Cave studied painting before pursuing his music. More recently, Sia, the daughter of Adelaide artist and art lecturer, Leone Furler, has become recognisable for the giant wigs that cover her face, her remarkable voice and her artful music videos featuring various dance collaborations. </p>
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<p>Nor can we overlook the phenomenon of art rock that emerged in the sixties. Some of the most remarkable turning points in music history have been credited to the artistic turn in the work of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds (1966), The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), and The Velvet Underground & Nico’s eponymous (1967) album under the influence of Andy Warhol’s New York Factory scene.</p>
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<p>While the emergence of the concept album took hold in the 70s, the pioneers of the music video age – Madonna, Michael Jackson and even Prince – understood the visual possibilities of the pop song better than many of their contemporaries. Their work endures for its blend of powerful music and evocative storytelling through videos such as Like a Prayer, Thriller, and When Doves Cry.</p>
<p>But today, the story is different. A song, mostly, is not enough. This is not to say that image is everything, but rather that one’s stake in the pop world depends on musical and visual novelty. For today’s pop leaders, this increasingly means sidestepping the boardrooms of marketing professionals in search of the artistic underground.</p>
<h2>Making art out of Lemonade</h2>
<p>Beyoncé’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyonces-lemonade-tell-all-or-fizzy-soap-operatic-art-object-58513">high-concept visual album Lemonade</a>, for instance, takes listeners on a bold new form of musical storytelling in the style of Prince’s Purple Rain (1984), Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker (1988) or, perhaps more recently Kanye West’s 35 minute film Runaway (2010) and Lana Del Rey’s Tropico (2013).</p>
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<p>For years, Beyoncé has been consciously attempting to shed herself of her Destiny’s Child/Top 40 persona. Lemonade accomplishes that. Equal parts high-art and high-profile, it tackles the personal and the political, solitude and sisterhood and the emotional wounds of infidelity against the backdrop of race in America today.</p>
<p>A tapestry of song, visuals and locales, Beyoncé plays the survivor, a women-in-healing, trying to come to terms with the emotional aftermath of a love gone wrong. With cinematic grandeur, the album swims in evocative visuals of nature’s mysterious powers (which have drawn <a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/criticwire/a-lot-of-people-are-comparing-beyonces-lemonade-to-terrence-malick-20160425">comparisons to the work of Terrence Malick</a>), and spoken word narratives, including <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/27/entertainment/warsan-shire-beyonce-lemonade/index.html">the poetry of London-based, Kenya-born Somali writer Warsan Shire</a>.</p>
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<p>References to high art abound. Beyoncé infamous <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3555858/Beyonce-smashes-car-baseball-bat-debuts-new-music-Lemonade-visual-album.html">baseball bat wielding sequence</a> in the song Hold Up pays homage to the work of Swiss artist <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a56RPZ_cbdc">Pipilotti Rist, whose 1997 video installation Ever is Over All</a> featured a woman walking down a street smashing car windows. Some have accused Beyoncé
of appropriation rather than <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/beyonce-accused-of-stealing-swiss-artists-work-for-fiery-hold-up-video-clip-20160503-gokwvq.html">homage</a>. </p>
<p>Last year, such concerns were expressed about Drake’s video for <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/10/22/drake_s_hotline_bling_video_resembles_james_turrell_s_light_installations.html">Hotline Bling</a> which was strikingly similar to the light installation pieces of American artist, James Turell.</p>
<p>Beyoncé also collaborated with <a href="http://www.okayafrica.com/news/beyonce-lemonade-laolu-senbanjo-sacred-art-of-the-ori/">Nigerian visual artist Laolu Senbanjo, whose sacred body painting</a> features in the film.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121335/original/image-20160505-19736-1w7m7x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121335/original/image-20160505-19736-1w7m7x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121335/original/image-20160505-19736-1w7m7x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121335/original/image-20160505-19736-1w7m7x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121335/original/image-20160505-19736-1w7m7x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121335/original/image-20160505-19736-1w7m7x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121335/original/image-20160505-19736-1w7m7x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121335/original/image-20160505-19736-1w7m7x9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1025&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Beyonce on the cover of Garage Magazine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Garage</span></span>
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<p>Observant Instagram followers of Queen Bey, meanwhile, will have noticed signs earlier this year of her increasing contact with the high art world. In collaboration with Swiss-born, New York-based Urs Fischer and Garage magazine (<a href="http://garagemag.com/beyonce-interview/">Spring/Summer 2016 edition</a>), Beyoncé offered her thoughts on art via the magazine’s app. On its cover, she was photographed with cornrows, amidst a thick swirl of pastels painted by Fischer. In the interview, she discussed Andy Warhol and her interest in modern art, name-dropping some of her favourite artists (Tracey Emin, Kara Walker, Aaron Young and Donald Judd).</p>
<p>What’s interesting about this new period of Beyoncé’s work is that she has reinvented herself as the Benjamin Button of the pop world – apparently becoming younger, less bourgeois and more defiant with age.</p>
<p>While most have certainly embraced her newly, empowered voice, other fans, however, wonder if the less complicated, <a href="http://www.gigwise.com/blogs/106621/beyonce-new-album-lemonade-review-no-hit-song-rihanna-kanye-west">radio-friendly Beyoncé</a> will ever return.</p>
<h2>Yellow Basquiat in my kitchen corner</h2>
<p>In his own plea for artistic cred on his 2013 album, Magna Carta, Holy Grail, Beyoncé’s husband Jay Z’s hyper-capitalist dreams come to the fore. In the song Picasso Baby, Jay name-drops icons of the art world (Rothko, Bacon, Basquiat etc).</p>
<p>In homage to the reigning queen of performance art herself, Marina Abramovic, Jay adapted her (2010) MoMA installation, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/arts/design/31diva.html">The Artist is Present</a> – in which she sat six days a week, seven hours a day in a chair for a “silent opera”.</p>
<p>Jay did a <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/51474-jay-z-performing-picasso-baby-for-six-straight-hours-today-apparently/">six-hour performance</a> of his Picasso Baby at at Pace Gallery in NYC. In the video of this, directed by Mark Romanek (who also did his “99 Problems” video and is one of the directors of Beyoncé’s Lemonade), Jay raps to a room full of carefully selected artistic and cultural leaders ranging from actor/director Judd Apatow to filmmaker Jim Jarmusch to artist Andreas Serrano to Abramovic herself.</p>
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<p>Both Jay-Z and Abramovic were on good terms, until in <a href="http://www.spikeartmagazine.com/en/articles/i-will-never-do-it-again">an interview with Spike magazine,</a> she accused Jay of not meeting his end of the business deal – namely, a sizable donation to her new Marina Abramovic institute of performance art in upstate New York. The mutually-contrived deal turned into <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/may/20/jay-z-substantial-donation-maria-abramovic">an awkward PR debacle for both camps</a>. (Jay-Z’s people later confirmed that a donation had, in fact, been made and Abramovic apologized for the oversight.)</p>
<p>What’s unique (but slightly predictable) about Jay’s celebration of the art world is how he fantasies about it. Picasso Baby is less homage to great art for art’s sake, more reverence of the reckless spoils of the “good” life. Art is worshipped as a sign of cultural power and extreme wealth:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Yellow Basquiat in my kitchen corner <br>
Go ahead lean on that shit Blue, you own it.</p>
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<span class="caption">Jay-Z is a noted collector of street artist Jean Michel Basquiat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump, 1982</span></span>
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<p>While some might argue that Picasso Baby is a “gateway hit” that opens younger fans up to the history of art, ultimately, the song never really embraces it as anything other than “art consumed by consumerism,” as one NPR commenter suggested.</p>
<p>We are not far away here from 19th century British cultural critic Matthew Arnold’s observations about the elitism of high culture. It is valued, he wrote, out of,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>sheer vanity or else as an engine of social or class distinction separating its holder like a badge or title, from other people who have not got it.</p>
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<h2>From Queen Bey to Rhi Rhi</h2>
<p>Recently, Barbadian bad-girl Rihanna has also thrown herself into the art game. On her latest effort, Anti (2016), the art partnerships are numerous: Israeli-born artist <a href="http://www.roynachum.com/">Roy Nachum </a>and poet <a href="http://www.etonline.com/news/173552_rihanna_unveils_groundbreaking_new_album_art_featuring_childhood_photo_is_it_called_anti/">Chloe Mitchell</a> worked on the liner notes, and there were enough producers and writers to staff their own soccer team.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121331/original/image-20160505-19765-njhrrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121331/original/image-20160505-19765-njhrrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121331/original/image-20160505-19765-njhrrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121331/original/image-20160505-19765-njhrrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121331/original/image-20160505-19765-njhrrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121331/original/image-20160505-19765-njhrrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121331/original/image-20160505-19765-njhrrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121331/original/image-20160505-19765-njhrrp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Album art for Anti (2016).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The lead single, Work, was highly anticipated and ultimately a head scratcher. Her canoodling with Drake in the song’s video was predictably sexy but missed the feverish mystery suggested by the very powerful Antigone/Oedipal hallucination of <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rihanna-cover-artist-on-how-he-crafted-groundbreaking-anti-imagery-20151020">the cover art</a>. (On the album, a young Rihanna – eyes covered by a crown too big for her head – holds a balloon and is smothered by a blood red stain that she cannot see).</p>
<p>With songs like Woo and Work there’s a blatant disconnect between the music and imagery. Arguably, Rhianna appears to be swimming in artistic waters well over her head and not satisfying her <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/what-to-listen-to/rihanna-anti-album-review-rihanna-without-the-hits/">Top 40 fan base either</a>.</p>
<p>Still, the recently released video for Needed Me, (directed by indie art renegade <a href="http://www.gagosian.com/artists/harmony-korine">Harmony Korine</a>) has a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2101441/">Springbreakers</a> meets <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086250/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Scarface</a> meets Viceland in Miami documentary feel to it, making Korine the perfect accomplice to Rihanna’s nihilistic turn. With a simple, yet devilishly dark storyline, Rihanna plays the elegant, savage murderess, taking care of business the only way she knows how.</p>
<h2>Pablo does Picasso</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121334/original/image-20160505-19779-51no1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121334/original/image-20160505-19779-51no1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121334/original/image-20160505-19779-51no1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121334/original/image-20160505-19779-51no1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121334/original/image-20160505-19779-51no1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121334/original/image-20160505-19779-51no1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121334/original/image-20160505-19779-51no1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121334/original/image-20160505-19779-51no1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kanye West dances during his the presentation of his fashion collection during the 2016 New York Fashion Week, which was also a listening party for his ‘The Life of Pablo’ album.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">REUTERS/Andrew Kelly</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then there’s Kanye. The insufferable “think” pieces on his latest album, The Life of Pablo (2016), the Twitter meltdowns and ego-mania have reached peak decibel level, but it should be noted that as a former art school student, Kanye embodies the “child-like curiosity” that German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche discusses so fondly in many of <a href="https://philosophynow.org/issues/94/The_Twin_Souls_of_Oscar_Wilde_and_Friedrich_Nietzsche">his aphorisms on art and creation</a>. </p>
<p>In interviews, it would appear that he can’t get his dreams on paper – or into the factory – fast enough. He has also suggested that the paintings of Picasso, Matisse have inspired his work. In a 2013 interview <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/arts/music/kanye-west-talks-about-his-career-and-album-yeezus.html">Behind Kanye’s Mask</a> with The New York Times, discussing his recent love for the history of architecture, he refers to himself as “a minimalist in a rapper’s body.”</p>
<p>West’s art idols are a unique blend of European and American artists/innovators (Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, George Condo, Pablo Picasso, Marco Brambilla, Vanessa Beecroft, just to name a few – and let’s not forget his collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami during his Graduation period either).</p>
<p>For a recent collaboration with filmmaker Steve McQueen, West opened up about <a href="http://www.artnews.com/2015/07/27/kanye-west-would-trade-his-grammys-to-be-in-an-art-context-the-rapper-discusses-his-new-steve-mcqueen-directed-video-at-lacma/">having his work seen primarily as art</a>, adding:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I would trade all my Grammys – or, maybe, two Grammys – to be able to be in an art context.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For his new album, he collaborated with relatively unknown <a href="http://www.thefader.com/2016/02/11/who-is-peter-de-potter-the-artist-behind-kanye-wests-new-album-cover">Belgian artist Peter de Potter</a> for the cover art. West’s artistic influences, fashion tastes (Givenchy, Balmain, Raf Simons) and interests in design, (The UK’s Daily Mail <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3482281/Kanye-West-visiting-Ikea-base-Sweden.html">caught him returning from a meeting with IKEA in Sweden earlier this month</a>), suggest an explorer’s spirit and a sense of genuine creative experimentation.</p>
<p>Vanessa Beecroft, one of West’s collaborators for his recent fashion/performance pieces, (the Adidas Yeezus fashion shows, the Yeezus tours, and some Art Basel projects) has spoken positively of the <a href="http://www.highsnobiety.com/2016/03/16/vanessa-beecroft-working-with-kanye-west/">artistic freedom he allows on their projects</a>. Indeed American fashion has been revitalised by his street style alone. Consider the <a href="http://ca.complex.com/sneakers/2016/03/adidas-yeezy-boost-march-line-up">week-long lineup</a> outside any store releasing new editions of his Adidas Yeezus shoes.</p>
<p>West’s tireless quest for artistic perfection and new forms of visual expression is a welcome wake-up call to the increasingly blasé world of both high art and mainstream rap. Even if he raps about anal bleaching and “fame-thirsty” New York models, his obsession with garnering high-art legitimacy has generated some of the most interesting fusions of art, fashion and music in recent years.</p>
<h2>When Koons met Gaga met Botticelli</h2>
<p>Of course it would be impossible to discuss recent pop/high art collaborations without mentioning Lady Gaga’s undervalued 2013 release ARTPOP. The album’s cover art featured a prominent collaboration with Jeff Koons, with fractured pieces of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (1484-6) spliced into the background.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121337/original/image-20160505-19747-1biq2ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121337/original/image-20160505-19747-1biq2ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121337/original/image-20160505-19747-1biq2ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121337/original/image-20160505-19747-1biq2ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121337/original/image-20160505-19747-1biq2ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121337/original/image-20160505-19747-1biq2ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121337/original/image-20160505-19747-1biq2ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121337/original/image-20160505-19747-1biq2ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Album art for ARTPOP (2013).</span>
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<p>In interviews, Gaga appears to be highly articulate on the subject of artistic processes and influences.</p>
<p>She cites Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet as a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/understanding-lady-gaga/2011/02/14/AByv3jH_story.html">major source of artistic inspiration</a> and has a quote of his about the necessity of making art tattooed on her upper left forearm. With ARTPOP, her intention was to <a href="http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/132-lady-gagas-artrave-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-extravagant-album-launch/">bridge the world of pop and art</a> in ways that mass culture has never seen before.</p>
<p>Her powerful and unique songs, such as Artpop and Venus realised the goal. However, sales were lacklustre. Critics questioned whether her <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/11/artpop-review-lady-gaga-s-album-wants-to-be-everything-but-is-nothing-at-all.html">“art game” was as strong as her marketing prowess</a>, with some all-too-literal songs such as “Donatella” and “Fashion”.</p>
<h2>Legacy building</h2>
<p>Artistic legacy is clearly pop’s new watchword. Still, today’s pop stars might want to pay heed to Aristotle, whose observations about the process of artistic creation still ring true. “The aim of art,” he wrote, “is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance”.</p>
<p>History teaches us that many artistic experiments flourish and fade. The true artists of our day (regardless of the medium) create works that connect with the complexities of the human soul in ways that crass materialism and persona-mongering cannot. </p>
<p>No amount of artistic referencing or posturing will take the place of original, inspired and soul-searching work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58741/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blair McDonald does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From Beyoncé and Lady Gaga to Kanye and even Rihanna, pop royalty is crazy for high art. Is this a phenomenon worth celebrating or are pop stars mining the art world to gain credibility?Blair McDonald, Lecturer in Journalism, Communications and New Media, Thompson Rivers UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/583962016-04-27T10:07:29Z2016-04-27T10:07:29ZFrom generations of infidelity and pain, Beyoncé makes ‘Lemonade’<p>Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But apparently a woman scorned is also the foundation of a creative tour de force. </p>
<p>On HBO this past Saturday – in a time slot generally reserved for feature films – Beyoncé released “Lemonade,” a series of music videos compiled into a short film that’s both eclectically cinematic and starkly personal. The songs and accompanying visuals are laced with poetry; each offers historical and psychological codes for hurt, betrayal, depression and renewal.</p>
<p>The story begins with her suspicions of a cheating husband. By the next vignette, we know he’s been untrue. </p>
<p>As a professor of representations in media, I get to spend my days diving into popular culture, and picking apart why it inspires and entertains us. </p>
<p>In “Lemonade,” Beyoncé contrasts her life as a deity with the struggle of being a black daughter, wife and mother. At a time when race, gender, sexuality and politics are merging in her public life, they are also colliding inside of her home. In Beyoncé’s case, this collision leads to familial strife ending in hard-fought reconciliation.</p>
<p>Where Prince had “Purple Rain” and Michael Jackson had “Thriller,” Beyoncé, with “Lemonade,” now has her own authentic, self-reflective masterpiece. </p>
<h2>A gift from mother to daughter?</h2>
<p>In “Lemonade,” betrayal chips away at Beyoncé’s self-identity and, at points, sanity. Who is in the house when she’s not there? What secret is her husband hiding? Who is this bifurcated man – a good father during the day who, in the middle of the night, contributes to his family’s demise?</p>
<p>In one of the vignettes, she says she knows he’s been cheating because she sees him behaving in the same suspicious ways her father did <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/09/18/beyonce-matthew-knowles-love-child_n_5845276.html">when he cheated on Beyoncé’s mother</a>. </p>
<p>Although some might critique Beyoncé for airing her dirty laundry, others could argue she’s using “Lemonade” as a teaching tool for her daughter, Blue Ivy.</p>
<p>In one sense, Beyoncé is telling a story of recognition and rebirth to her daughter in the best way she knows how – through song. </p>
<p>In another, she’s surrounding her daughter with a support system that all women need as they navigate becoming women. In “Lemonade,” tennis icon Serena Williams, <a href="http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/uchclf1989&div=10&id=&page=">intersectional</a> feminists and actors <a href="http://www.bustle.com/articles/108133-the-hunger-gamess-amandla-stenberg-has-a-new-feminist-comic-niobe-she-is-life-and-we">Amandla Stenberg</a> and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/zendaya-feminism-flare_us_5638d383e4b079a43c049928">Zendaya</a>, and <a href="http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2016/04/25/beyonces-new-album-fueled-by-fire-from-young-somali-british-poet/">Somali-British poet Warsan Shire</a> make appearances; all have stories to tell of being broken, experiencing a rebirth and emerging stronger.</p>
<p>While women of all races can relate to stories of infidelity, “Lemonade” isn’t made for them. Instead, it is a mature lyrical epic of the journey black women take – the attempt to triumph in a world that frequently tells us we are not enough. </p>
<p>Within black families in America, <a href="https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/more/resources/family-values/">a legacy of struggle is passed from one generation to the next</a>. A dominant trope is that the mothers in this community are the ones that make the sacrifices. They are the ones that must stay, persevere, and succeed – even when their fathers or husbands mistreat them or leave. </p>
<p>This is the story Beyoncé is telling. And by interweaving these confounding societal structures, it makes her husband’s betrayal all the more poignant. </p>
<p>As images of a contented black women flicker across the screen, <a href="http://mic.com/articles/141642/here-s-the-malcolm-x-speech-about-black-women-beyonce-sampled-in-lemonade#.d1mUNK5Vn">an excerpt from a Malcolm X speech</a> tells viewers:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Their smiles convey resilience in the face of nearly insurmountable odds. </p>
<h2>For black men, society cultivates insecurity</h2>
<p>While Jay Z’s suggested infidelity isn’t excused, the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown and Eric Garner appear in “Lemonade” to remind viewers that the black man, too, has been literally broken and beaten.</p>
<p>Their sons, killed for simply looking or acting suspiciously, now symbolize the <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/trayvon-martin-son-black-male-code-135710728.html">pervasive fear black male persons feel</a>. The toll this takes has been highlighted by social work scholars Christopher Salas-Wright and Trenette Clark, who have <a href="http://www.universityherald.com/articles/11494/20140922/discrimination-mental-health-african-americans-caribbean-blacks.htm">shown</a> how the disrespect and hostility of racial discrimination negatively impacts mental health of black men.</p>
<p>How could any man – even a man as wealthy and famous as Jay Z – retain his psychological security in a world that cultivates his insecurity? </p>
<p>Of course, it is from “Becky with the good hair” (the other woman, according to Beyoncé). What more does a man who has everything need? More validation of his masculinity, of course.</p>
<p>By the end of the piece, it does appear that Beyoncé has forgiven her husband and father, deciding to let love heal the familial wounds. </p>
<p>Her decision to forgive – but clearly not forget – is her choice. This is significant, too: Beyoncé’s black feminism celebrates the ability of black women to choose out of love, not necessity. </p>
<p>The story of Beyoncé healing her black family is one of those rare moments where an artist ascends to icon status. </p>
<p>And by telling her truth, Beyoncé takes what is bitter and gives it new life, setting herself, her mother and her daughter free.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade.’</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58396/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naeemah Clark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Prince had ‘Purple Rain.’ Michael Jackson had ‘Thriller.’ And now Beyoncé has her own self-reflective masterpiece.Naeemah Clark, Associate Professor of Communications, Elon UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/396172015-04-01T11:56:43Z2015-04-01T11:56:43ZJay Z’s Tidal may be a revolution – for the rich recording artists<p>Artists including Beyonce, Daft Punk, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Kanye West and Madonna recently joined Jay Z in New York to <a href="http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/jay-z-launches-tidal-streaming-music-service-1201462769/">launch Tidal</a>, his artist-owned streaming service.</p>
<p>Their two targets, poor audio fidelity and a loss of artist control, indicate a dissatisfaction with the way that consumers are treating music. The Tidal revolution hopes to convince consumers that music and creativity can be better in the age of digital streaming. Yet within a day of the announcement there has already been significant backlash. </p>
<p>The internet is awash with scepticism of Tidal’s revolutionary claims. Though judgement should be reserved for a year or two, first impressions don’t look good. For many music fans, Tidal presents an elitist call to reverse the more democratic music revolution of the early 2000s.</p>
<p>Whilst <a href="http://tidal.com/gb?gclid=CLqPtOXf1MQCFYrJtAodtwgAmA">Tidal’s website</a> places focus on music fidelity, its publicity has veered more towards a story of revolutionary social justice for the arts. Tidal is framed as streaming service owned by artists. Their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYYGdcLbFkw">videos</a> subtly rail against the use of their music as something to encourage advertising revenue or the sale of a new gadget. This publicity implies that consumers are getting music wrong. They’re listening at too low a quality, they’re paying too low a price and they’re consuming in spaces owned by the wrong people. As a result the “sanctity” of music has been lost and creativity is under threat.</p>
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<h2>Holy melody</h2>
<p>Admittedly, the sanctity of music has taken a beating over the past two decades. The explosion of music piracy in the late 1990s lead to the dismantling of the album retail model with iTunes, and the development of music as a service via <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/spotify">Spotify</a>. What was lost was the framing of music as a high-value commodity object. Many blame these industry outsiders, Spotify in particular, for the financial and cultural devaluing of music, where artists are paid a per-stream pittance while album sales are cannibalised.</p>
<p>Tidal’s aim is to wrest back artists’ control over music from the current streaming model, reclaiming lost industry territory.</p>
<p>Which sounds good. But Tidal is built around a centre of <a href="http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/tidal-16-superstars-grab-equity-in-jay-zs-united-artists-of-music/">16 “top-tier” artists</a> – those present at the launch – who receive the highest proportion of royalties. And for many commentators, this makes Tidal a very suspect kind of artists’ commune. Their new way of consuming music may have the desired old-world values but it looks like it has old business interests too. Less like a grass-roots movement – and more a revolution of the rich. </p>
<p>So far Tidal’s only concrete commitment to its “artists-first” philosophy is the top-tier’s stake in the company. This is a commune shaped around the creativity of its members. Details on how “lower-tier” artists will also share in Tidal’s wealth and influence haven’t been made public. For many, the current model indicates that industry status is likely a key factor. All this talk of “tiers” also seems to mean the commune will be hierarchical.</p>
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<h2>Was piracy positive?</h2>
<p>The digital distribution of music via the internet fundamentally altered the music industry. Old models fell away as it was forced to merge with tech companies to survive. Consumers demanded new ways to listen to music outside of industry remit, and the industry was forced to comply. </p>
<p>Yet more importantly, digital distribution meant alternative channels for distribution too. Digital distribution supported a new ecosystem for independent artists to produce, distribute and promote their work without the labels. Artists were handed a degree of control and possibility that would not have existed had the CD remained king.</p>
<p>Paradoxically, for many, piracy in the 2000s represented a pro-artist position. Piracy sought to topple a model that was inherently restrictive and exploitative. Top-tier artists were considered complicit in that restrictive model –and high-profile artists began vocally and legally attacking their fans. Piracy was an encouragement to challenge the necessity of music as commodity and the vast disparity between music superstars and the struggling artist. </p>
<p>Consumers pirated the top hits, complaining about price-fixing and industry fat cats. Alongside, a host of direct artist-to-fan experiments began to lay the groundwork for an alternative, revolutionary music economy. Digital distribution wasn’t just about free music or streaming, it was a fundamental shift in creative power.</p>
<p>Those that Tidal is working against arguably better represent “artist-first values”. Though not a streaming service, <a href="https://bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> embodies the potential of a democratised and participatory cultural industry. The platform offers artists control over their own corner of the site where they can sell their own music and merchandise. Artists control the minimum price, though fans are given the opportunity to over-pay. There is no standing charge or contracts. Artists only pay fees after they’ve begun to make money and anyone can sign up. Revenue from sales goes direct to the artists, with Bandcamp making its 10-15% by occasionally taking the full revenue of a sale to clear an accrued debt. </p>
<p>Sites such as Bandcamp make music that would be unprofitable to a record label, profitable to the artist. They foster creativity of niche genres and experimental forms, and provide artists control rather than loans and contracts. Admittedly artists aren’t offered a stake in the company, but with Bandcamp paying out <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/09/indie-music-bandcamp-100m-payments-artists">$100m to artists since 2008</a>, it may not need to. </p>
<p>So if Tidal’s top-tier believe the music industry needs a real revolution, perhaps they should drop their label and join Bandcamp instead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Allen-Robertson has received funding from the ESRC for his research. He is a member of the Open Rights Group. The views expressed in this article are his own.</span></em></p>The latest streaming service is artist owned, which sounds great unless a group of 16 “top-tier” artists receive most of the royalties.James Allen-Robertson, Lecturer in Media and Communication, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/314732014-10-13T19:18:38Z2014-10-13T19:18:38ZWhy the Grey Album still matters – in black and white<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61499/original/w9r5r52n-1413160613.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Danger Mouse's 2004 album belongs to a decades-long chain of musical practice.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Grey Album</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early 2004, I downloaded The Grey Album, created by a then unknown producer named Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse). Like many others I did so as a result of the <a href="http://firstmonday.org/article/view/1180/1100">Grey Tuesday</a> protests sponsored by cyber liberties group Downhill Battle. </p>
<p>The protests saw hundreds of websites go grey to protest the cease and desist letters sent to Burton and his distributors by lawyers for Capitol Records. The album was a mash-up of Jay-Z’s The Black Album with rearranged, unauthorised samples from The Beatles’ so-called “White Album”. It briefly became a lighting rod for a debate that struck at the legitimacy of a long-recognised and valued form of artistic creativity: the interpretation of the work of one artist by another. </p>
<p>Ten years ago, it seemed to many that works such as The Grey Album were fighting the good fight for a free and open internet. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61496/original/sn4562jn-1413160034.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61496/original/sn4562jn-1413160034.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61496/original/sn4562jn-1413160034.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61496/original/sn4562jn-1413160034.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61496/original/sn4562jn-1413160034.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61496/original/sn4562jn-1413160034.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61496/original/sn4562jn-1413160034.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61496/original/sn4562jn-1413160034.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">thom</span></span>
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<p>Ten years later, it’s hard to imagine the events of Grey Tuesday being repeated. “Free” music is ubiquitous and the long-standing practices of producers and remixers are seen for what they are: equal parts artistry, technique and publicity. </p>
<p>But while the landscape for digital music has changed dramatically, it hasn’t necessarily changed in the ways many people once thought it would. The fight for an open internet into which The Grey Album was drafted, has shifted to equally important, but far less emotive issues. </p>
<p>We have become heirs to what ANU academic Peter Drahos has <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Pkl7HNzhXgoC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=the+quiet+accretion+of+restrictions&source=bl&ots=3ttuqDTvoB&sig=LemNSOxPbmVhHsOZJ9hexhnUrE8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qyA7VJORL8P98QWAzoAo&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=the%20quiet%20accretion%20of%20restrictions&f=false">called</a> “the quiet accretion of restrictions”, the result of a debate that has receded behind what he aptly describes as a wall of:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>technical rule-making, mystifying legal doctrine and complex bureaucracies, all papered over by seemingly plausible appeals to the rights of inventors and authors.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Music fans have been converted, according to cyber liberties scholar <a href="http://communication.tamu.edu/html/bio--pburkart.html">Patrick Burkart</a>, into “music ‘users’ who lack property rights to their recordings and even rights to ordinary consumer protections”. These debates appear set for a long grind and, at the moment, do not promise anything like an egalitarian ideal of internet access or use. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61497/original/drsj28hx-1413160152.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61497/original/drsj28hx-1413160152.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61497/original/drsj28hx-1413160152.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61497/original/drsj28hx-1413160152.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61497/original/drsj28hx-1413160152.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61497/original/drsj28hx-1413160152.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61497/original/drsj28hx-1413160152.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61497/original/drsj28hx-1413160152.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jazz Guy</span></span>
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<p>Remarkably, there was one crucial thing at the heart of The Grey Album controversy that was never really addressed: the music. Specifically, few seemed to think that the aesthetic tradition of which this album is a part mattered to the debate over its legitimacy. But there is little question that it matters more than anything else. </p>
<p>Much of the commentary about The Grey Album in particular and mash-ups in general linked these musical forms rather lazily to the big idea of the early 21st century: newness. We were told by a whole range of digital “visionaries” and hangers-on that we were suddenly in the throes of a new world and this new world had to have a new art, a new commerce and a new media. </p>
<p>A lot of the writing about The Grey Album sought to transform it into a kind of rabblerousing street pamphlet for the digital age. It was nothing of the kind. The Grey Album was a crucial link between the past and the present. It still stands, not as some harbinger of our once inevitable future, but a link in a long chain of musical practice that stretches back to the late 1960s. </p>
<p>The aesthetic lineage that produced The Grey Album includes cornerstone forms such as dub, hip-hop and electronic dance music. It is drawn from the long, rich history of the musical manipulation of recorded sound in hip-hop and a multitude of different forms of electronic dance music. </p>
<p>This is a musical tradition that has been practiced for decades through the use of recorded sound as the grist for the seemingly endless configuration, amalgamation and juxtaposition of myriad samples, loops and drops of familiar and unfamiliar music. This complex and expansive musical lineage has had an enormous influence all over the world.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61463/original/64mkbqrq-1413074593.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61463/original/64mkbqrq-1413074593.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61463/original/64mkbqrq-1413074593.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61463/original/64mkbqrq-1413074593.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61463/original/64mkbqrq-1413074593.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61463/original/64mkbqrq-1413074593.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61463/original/64mkbqrq-1413074593.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61463/original/64mkbqrq-1413074593.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Grey Album</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Yet many of its practitioners have long been subjected to damaging campaigns of legal and economic harassment not only over the legitimacy of their music, but over the tools, techniques and materials they have used to make it. And it is in specific relation to these fights over the use and reuse of existing musical materials that The Grey Album is particularly important. </p>
<p>It presented us with musical practices, emergent at the time and taken for granted today, that make it an important marker of the intense and persistent struggles over the production, distribution and consumption of popular music. </p>
<p>None of the skills Danger Mouse brought to bear on this album were new. He listened to his source materials in ways DJs had for decades. He dismantled and reconstructed his sources in ways that would have been at least somewhat familiar to musical practitioners going back decades. </p>
<p>The Grey Album represented a collision between the supporters of that tradition and outsiders who simply had no real understanding of what they were dealing with. Most importantly, it was the widespread recognition of Danger Mouse’s skill and his mastery of his tradition that made his supporters shape their resentment into the blunt and largely successful force of civil disobedience.</p>
<p>The aesthetic legitimacy of The Grey Album, as with other works in this musical tradition, does not depend on how clever its producer is or how faultless the manipulation he enacted on his source materials might have been. Nor does it depend on how artistically successful it might be. Its aesthetic legitimacy depends on it being recognised and accepted as a part of an identifiable and living tradition of artistic practice. </p>
<p>The sooner those with an interest in the law, technology and music take an interest in this the better. </p>
<p><br></p>
<p><em>Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album by Charles Fairchild <a href="http://www.bloomsbury.com/au/danger-mouses-the-grey-album-9781623561598/">is published</a> by Bloomsbury.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31473/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Fairchild is the author of Danger Mouse's The Grey Album, published by Bloomsbury.</span></em></p>In early 2004, I downloaded The Grey Album, created by a then unknown producer named Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse). Like many others I did so as a result of the Grey Tuesday protests sponsored by cyber…Charles Fairchild, Associate Professor of Popular Music, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.