Critical Review: “Mexican Ballads in the Modern Age”

According to Wald, the corrido has been the common newspaper of the border region since the mid 19th century, a “proletarian adjunct to the middle class press,” if you will. They have acted as a sort of musical literature for the working class community, much like ballads in medieval Europe, and have added commentary and demonstrated a shared political viewpoint not expressed by the official media.

The corrido can be seen as a cultural mixture, as it adopted European rhythms of waltz and polka, vocal styles of the region’s native population, and the shifting instrumental fashions and technologies of the day. Combine all that with lyrics portraying the attitudes of a culture plagued by ethnic conflict and war, and you get the corrido. Although corridos have been written about many subjects, the most prevailing have been violent romantic engagements, horses, outlaws, and heroes.

During the period of the Mexican revolution, corridos became the “folk history book,” but there was a fear that they would die out and be replaced by print, radio, television, and more romantic genres of Mexican music. The 1970s brought the corrido back to life in a new form: the narcocorrido, modern pieces that were more upbeat and danceable. New forms of corrido accompaniment such as norteno, conjunto, and banda also became popular. These narcocorridos had a sort of tabloid sensationalism in the lyrics that mixed truth with fiction. Still, much of the news and cultural information they offered was mostly true. Today’s corridos most discuss the world of the border drug trade in a sensationalist fashion. These drug lords are discussed much like the outlaws of the old days. The act of smuggling is seen as “morally neutral.” These people are simply poor Mexicans who follow the demands of the United States officials who power the trade. Drug lords are sometimes even depicted as heroes, using their riches to build schools or help their native villages. Other corridos include social commentary, crime stories, stories of immigrant experience, and discussion of political problems. This has caused many scholars to compare narcocorridos to “gangsta rap” because they speak about poor and disenfranchised population. There is also a fear that corridos, like rap, have the tendency to lead youth astray. Many of these newer hits also don’t fit the strict academic definition of the corrido because they do not relate a series of events. “The music itself” makes them corridos, however, as they are sung to the same rhythms as the corridos of old. Were it not for the drug related component of the lyrics, corridos would not be compared to rap in the same way. Though they celebrate outlaws, corridos can also be seen as an assertion of Mexican heritage. Even with the changes in lyrics, the music itself and idea surrounding the purpose of the corrido has truly stayed close to their original roots.

Discussion Question: Wald claims that “a great artist is more powerful than any politician.” As we have seen over the course of this class, music is often used to transmit a political message. How are the political statements made in corridos similar or dissimilar to those found in punk music (especially that of the Riot Grrl movement), rap, and metal?

Critical Review of Various Entries on the "Wayne and Wax" Blog

The Wayne and Wax blog brings up many critical issues surrounding the history of Reggaeton and its place as a current musical genre. When Wayne Marshall first encountered Reggaeton in the early 2000s, it was called “Spanish Reggae.” The name was just a precursor to the cultural debate it would later ensue.

Marshall discusses a little of the “music itself” background as it pertains to Reggaeton. The most important aspect is the snare drum, and many of them. The basic aspects of Reggaeton are “bombastic synth textures, plucky melodies, 4/4 kicks...and that good ol’ dancehall-reggae 3+3+2 syncopation” played on the snare, a mark of many caribbean music genres. Reggaeton producers will often change the sound of the snare every 8 to 16 bars by changing the sample, thus causing a change in the timbre. Marshall describes Reggaeton as “digital music par excellence.” Even with the use of multiple snare sounds, it is clear that Reggaeton is truly the product of a world of digital sampling technology.

Reggaeton has changed over the years. Marshall compares dancehall reggae from the late 80s with the Reggaeton of today. This was probably due to the growing popularity of Reggae in the 80s, and especially dancehall Reggae in urban areas. Therefore, hispanics in Panama, Puerto Rico, and New York began to listen to and produce their own version of Reggae, which later became Reggaeton. The growing Reggaeton scene among New York latino communities helped Reggaeton catch on in Puerto Rico. It has gone on to become popular in many Latin American countries, Japan, and the UK. As Marshall describes, “New York nurtured a musical conversation among its post-colonial peoples.”

Although Reggaeton is responsible for the joining of cultures, it has also drawn sociocultural lines. Fans of Reggaeton often argue about “who started it.” Has the music, in Marshall’s terms, shifted from “musica negra” to today’s “reggaeton latino?” Many bloggers argue over whether Reggaeton ‘belongs’ to people from Panama, Puerto Ricans, or all Latinos in general. One Mexican fan claims his right to fan-dom because he is Latino and tries to assure everyone that being Mexican does not make his love of the music any less legitimate. Although Reggaeton is able to represent many things to many people and is emerging as a “mainstream, pan-Latino genre,” it still draws lines between cultural groups because of competing ideologies and modes of nationalism.

Discussion Question: Marshall describes Reggaeton as a “digital music.” Although he uses this term to explain the way it is produced, the use of the internet has also aided its wider dispersal across the globe through blogs, Youtube, and Myspace. One would imagine that this sort of international recognition would aid the coming together of many Latino groups under the common bond of Reggaeton. Yet, there still seem to be wide dividing lines caused by arguments over Reggaeton’s origins. Has the internet only aggravated this disagreements, or would the rifts between the groups be even wider without the widespread dispersal of Reggaeton that the internet provides?

Second Set of Fieldnotes

Since the last time I posted a set of fieldnotes, I have conducted two more interviews with members of the Higher Keys, attended two A cappella concerts, and spoken to many other people involved in A cappella less formally about their experiences. Already I feel like I have learned a lot about what it means to be in an A cappella group to different students around campus, and the perception of these groups by A cappella fans and non-fans alike.

I conducted one interview with a female senior from the Keys and one with a male junior from the Keys. I knew both of them very well because we were in a show together, and this may have contributed to the openness of their answers. In the scope of the A cappella community, everyone I interviewed thought of Brown’s a cappella community as unique because of its warm and inclusive vibe. They felt as though there was a true “a cappella culture” at Brown. Both interviewees noted the “Midnight Meeting,” when all the a cappella groups come together to choose new members, is one of their favorite times of the year because all the members can interact as this one community, something that doesn’t happen at any other time in the year.

All of the people I interviewed has similar ideas about which groups portrayed which style of music. Because I was interviewing Keys, which is perhaps the most unique of all the groups musically because of their Jazz-based repertoire, the members were proud to separate themselves from the other groups on campus. They also tended to lump all the other groups together into the “contemporary music category,” although the male picked out some particular differences in the sounds of the other male groups, though he did not have enough knowledge to speak on the female groups. One of the most interesting things I found is that both Keys had a similar image of the personalities of the other groups. The Keys are thought to be more formal and “sexy” while the bears were described as “peppy,” “silly,” and “fun.” The Jabberwocks, in contrast, are thought to be the egoists of the a cappella community, and portray a “we’re tight and we’re awesome” aura. Perhaps the most interesting thing I noticed, however, is that neither the male or female I interviewed mentioned the girls groups without my asking about them first. Perhaps it is because the Keys do not interact with members of girls groups as much as with the boys groups, or perhaps it is because girl’s a cappella is not seen to be as legitimate as all male. Whatever the reason, the defining factor for both members’ choosing of the Higher Keys was the fact that it was coed. Although the Jazz music of the Keys appealed to both members, they made it clear that they each wanted to be in a Coed group going in to auditions because of the full sound and the warm community vibe.

For members of the Keys, music is perhaps the most important factor in a performance. Both students noted being “musically on point” as the number one thing to strive for. When I asked them whether they attended other groups’ performances, they gave very different answers. The straight male I interviewed said he hardly ever went to other a cappella performances, saying that he “doesn’t really enjoy [a cappella music]” unless he’s making it himself. The female, on the other hand, said she often went to other groups’ concerts, both to watch the concert itself and to see her friends perform. This brought up an important issue about the fanbase of a cappella. The male I asked told me frankly that “if you’re not in a group and you’re a guy, but you go to a cappella concerts anyway, you’re probably gay.” According to his perspective, most of the Keys fanbase (and the fanbase of Brown a cappella in general) is “girls or gay men.” The female I interviewed agreed with this statement. “Most of the people that come to our shows,” she stated, “are the musical theatre community” (a notoriously gay scene) “and our roomates.” “Girls are very supportive of the scene,” she continued. “That’s why male groups get more people to come to their concerts.”

I asked about the common stereotypes associated with each group and both Keys gave me similar answers. Here is a short breakdown:
Male= Arrogant, cooler, funnier, more popular. Have less advanced arrangements.
Coed= The Keys have an arrogance because of their musical style. Hard to get things done because a lack of communication between males and females.
Girl= Catty, sorority, less of a full sound. Neither Key could verify these rumors.
Although some of these stereotypes had played out in front of the interviewees, many, such as the “Jabberwocks are all assholes and the Bears are all gay” rumor, had not. Everyone I interviewed believed it to be true, however, that male groups are the most popular on campus.

Another interesting thing I found out from the Keys I interviewed was that they really don’t consider Harmonic Motion (the other Coed group on campus) a threat at all. The two groups do not often perform together. Because HarMo is Brown and RISD, they do not perform on Brown’s campus as often as the Keys. This might be the cause of the lack of animosity between the groups. Although none of the Keys had witnessed it first hand, they did believe there to be more competition among all-female and all-male groups.


When I went to the Bear Necessities-Higher Keys Flip Flop Arch Sing and the Grillin’ and Chillin’ concert featuring the Bears, Derbies, and a girl group from Smith College, I was intrigued how all the things I had learned from the interviews would come into play. I began to look with a more subjective eye at the inner workings of the concerts. For example, I started listening to the syllables that the different groups used. The Keys did tend to use more open syllables, while the Bears had a more blasting “ber ner ner” sound. The Keys also seemed to be keeping their composure while the Bears were all over the place, running and jumping around to get a crowd reaction. I surveyed the crowds at both concerts. For the Arch Sing, it really was mostly girls and the musical theatre community. The Grillin’ and Chillin’ concert, however, seemed to be a bigger event for these groups, as there were many older people there I assumed to be parents or relatives. There were also more males present in the audience at this concert, and a large number of people I had never seen before at a cappella concerts or at musicals. I can hypothesize that less publicized, more intimate a cappella performances are most often attended by close friends, other a cappella members, and members of the theatre scene (I was there, for example, with my entire girls a cappella group), while bigger and more formal concerts attract a more diverse crowd. One generalization I can make, however, is that a cappella crowds are vocal crowds. They cheer and scream for their friends and are not afraid to shout out when they hear something they like.

For further research, I plan to interview a Keys sophomore to get a broad range of classes, and also to interview both fans and haters of a cappella to get their perspectives on it.

Critical Review: "Drum 'N' Dhol" by Rajinder Dudrah

Dudrah’s article emphasizes the role of bhangra as a an important aspect of culture that encapsulates the meanings of British South Asian identity formation. Although Bhangra remains a marginalized song and dance genre, it began to be discussed as an aspect of British culture that should be studied in the late 1990s (though Dudrah believes the social and aesthetic aspects that constitute the music itself are largely ignored in studies of Bhangra). Dudrah surveyed existing approaches to the study of Bhangra and South Asian identity, did his own research and interviews, and also looked at Bhangra’s lyrics to see how they influenced South Asian identity formation.

British Bhangra took shape in the 1980s by mixing traditional bhangra with new technology. Though they continued to have varied tastes in music styles, many South Asian youth incorporated Bhangra into their musical spectrum. From then on, Bhangra became almost an “affirmative movement” of Asian identity. British Bhangra describes life in British cities and the struggles for minority cultural expressions that determine identity. Bhangra was also important, however, in starting a musical dialogue of sorts between British Blacks and British South Asians. Because Bhangra is a hybrid of different musical styles, lyrics, and cultural identities (such as the mixing of the dhol drum with basslines often found in Black music styles), possibilities were opened up for people to identify themselves in a number of different ways. Instead of being either Asian, Black, or British, you could suddenly be a collection of all three. Bhangra helped to set up opportunities for the connection of different social and cultural groups about their relationships to music and stood as a common ground between Black and Asian Brits.

Dudrah also explores the lyrical themes of Bhangra music. To Dudrah, Bhangra lyrics are an important part of urban cultural politics for South Asians that can be read as a “diasporic text.” The lyrics reveal facets of political meaning sand pleasures inherent in urban British South American lives, and also explores themes about life in general. For example, one song tells South Asians to rise up against poll taxes. Many fans of Bhangra believe that the lyrics of the song help connect them to India, even if they were not born there. Issues of caste and gender also come up because of Bhangra’s lyrics. Women are often spoken about as objects of pleasure in Bhangra songs, and caste preferences towards the jat, or landowning class, are often revealed. Dudrah’s research showed, however, that this does not negatively impact many youth’s views on Bhangra music. Instead, they think of it as a way to have a good time and interact with their families and friends. Some traditional bhangra songs are even brought back and remixed, bridging the gap between generations and increasing cultural identity. Today, British Bhangra is informing the reception of Bhangra all across the world and has become a benchmark for Bhangra in North America.

Discussion Question: Dudrah does little to address the contesters of Bhangra music. Why do you think this factor has been ignored? If Bhangra speaks about such political messages as rising up against governmentally instituted taxes, why has it not gotten as much negative press as, say, punk music? Is it just the nature of Britain versus America? The popular music scene in Britain? Or something else?

Critical Review: Excerpts From Walser's "Running With The Devil"

In Robert Walser’s Introduction and Chapter 1, he outlines the history of Metal music and some of the misconceptions, stereotypes, and intricacies associated with it. He first compares metal musicians to classical musicians studying in a conservatory. Metal, however, has had the largest backlash of any musical genre, marking it as “an important site of cultural contestation.” Many of the sociological studies conducted about Metal have failed, in Walser’s opinion, because they do not take into account the feelings of identity and community involved in the scene. Instead, when conducting his study, he tried to integrate musical analysis, ethnography, and cultural criticism, as well as studying the genre from all aspects. He tried, in particular, to pay attention to the music itself in order to examine it as a “social signifying system rather than an autonomous set of stylistic traits.” The chapters in his book, Running With the Devil, focus on the similarities between heavy metal and classical music, issues of gender in heavy metal and the ways in which it has recently become more gender balanced, and the aura of violence and mysticism associated with heavy metal. Walser focused on metal in the 1980s because that’s when the genre was at its most popular and evolved the most.

He begins Chapter 1 by offering up definitions for the term “Heavy Metal” itself, and provides a short history of its uses. The term was adopted to describe the music by which it is know today because of its association with power, as “the loudness and intensity of heavy metal music visibly empower fans.” Even the band names and the phrase “power chord” evoke an image of power. Walser next discusses the commercialization of metal. Although fan magazines try to apply the term “heavy metal” to a broad number of bands, fans are often pickier with their specific tastes. While one fan may consider a particular band to be the epitome of the genre, another may not consider them to be metal at all. Even musicians considered to be heavy metal by their fans may not refer to themselves as heavy metal.

Walser then discusses the history of heavy metal (both the musical genre and when the term came to describe the genre). Usually, the start of heavy metal is attributed to British musicians who copied urban blues styles, thus defining the heavy drum, virtuosic and distorted guitar, and growly vocal style that came to be associated with metal music. In 1970, the release of albums by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple created the true sound of heavy metal, a sound that espoused speed, power, dissonance, and mysterious tones (both with organ and vocals). The second generation of heavy metal (which included Kiss and AC/DC) toured, building the metal audience of the 1970s. Though metal’s popularity slumped in the late 70s, it rose again in the 1980s with the new wave of British heavy metal, which featured shorter and catchier songs with higher technical standards. Metal’s popularity only increased, especially because of its support by Billboard and MTV. As a result, metal’s fanbase expanded. This also led to its fragmentation, as some metal fans considered the new metal to be poser music, and instead turned to Thrash metal, a more violent subgenre. By the end of the 1980s, metal’s influence could be heard everywhere, from Michael Jackson albums to jingle ads for the US Army.

Walser, like Weinstein, discusses the fanbase of metal. He describes them as active, white, blue collar and upscale, and more balanced in gender than Weinstein’s account described. According to his research, metal music is central to many fans’ social lives. Lyrics also seem to be comprehended by fans. To these audiences, the attraction to metal is mainly the “intensity and power of the music, its impressive guitar solos, the relevance of its lyrics, and its truth value.” Walser believes heavy metal has rarely been taken seriously in the scholastic world, and sociologists such as Weinstein lack the objectivity and concern with the music itself that is necessary to truly understand a genre and its scene.

Discussion Question: Walser describes Thrash Metal as both a subgenre adopted by people who attempted to maintain a marginal status separate from the “Lite Metal” promoted by MTV, and as a subgenre that successfully challenged the mainstream and redefined it. Trash bands even began to headline arena concerts and appear on MTV. Does this not seem hypocritical? If Metal fans turned to Thrash to escape the commercial rise of Metal, how did they deal with the rise of “their” music in the mainstream?