"Rock Steady, Baby!"
".... Let's call this song exactly what it is..."
This module will run a whole range: from Verzuz battles, DJ D-Nice’s Club Quarantine, Lemonade, Suede the Re-Mix God, Tik Tok dances, to the host of accounts like the Soul Music Society. We are centering the "virality" of Black music, sound, and dance here. Our readings all explore the ways that digital culture amplifies, renews, re-mixes, re-introduces the central role of Black music and dance-- past and present. In parts of the class like this, we are working in two directions: understanding the history of Black culture; understanding new technological affordances.
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(885,212,182 as of February 2023) Official 4KRemastered in 2009 Michael Jackson's 14-minute short film "Thriller" revolutionized the music video genre forever. Hailed as the greatest music video of all time by MTV, VH1, Rolling Stone and others, "Thriller," directed by John Landis, is also the only music video selected to be included in the Library of Congress' prestigious National Film Registry. |
RELEVANT FACTS
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Pertinent Info
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" co-wrote and produced the track when he was just 16, making him the youngest solo artist to write, perform and produce a chart topper. Soulja Boy created this song in one hour on the Fruity Loops computer system. In an interview with HipHopDX.com, Soulja Boy explained how he used the software: "To be honest, it took me an hour to produce the 'Crank That' song - at the most. Sometimes I just sit back... I can make a beat in my hotel room or I can make a beat in my dressing room, while getting ready for a show, and I can send it to Pro Tools, and bam, get it right back recorded on my laptop. Then I can post it for all my fans to hear." |
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"Megan Thee Stallion and Michael Jackson are part of a continuum. They definitely share the same passion and focus of creating extravagant content in their music videos; they are connected in what they choose to share with the world. They both chose to step far outside of the normal boundaries of music of their time and create something untraditional. They both reached several millions of people in unprecedented ways: in the case of Megan, it was through TikTok and a TikTok dance; and in the case of Michael Jackson, it was through his Thriller music video. They both created content that had context, meaning. This is activism in the ways that their art was shared with masses of people in new ways."
~ Rachel, Class of 2025