For our project, Chris Taylor and I will be looking into the effects on culture that "combination" music has. Examples of this music are Run DMC and Aerosmith's "Walk This Way", Jay-Z and Linkin Park's album "Collision Course", and Dj Danger Mouse's "The Grey Album". We will try to examine the blurring of genre lines and look into the reactions of either culture to this type of music. We will focus mostly on the combination of the rap and rock genres in our study.
For our study of "combination" music we will interview people who identify solely with one genre or another. We will ask them questions in order to find out how they think and feel about the music, and what they think about the other genre after hearing a "combination" song. Through the study we will try to ask the question if the combination music starts its own genre or does it just join either one of the genres it came from. We will also try to ask the question is this type of combination music targeted at one of the genres rather than the both of them at the same time.
Sounds like a good fun topic. I wonder if any of these combination pieces are done to promote another artist or genre, or if they are solely created for entertainment purposes. Are these songs primarily rap focused or rock focused? It should be interesting to see which subculture fans of these albums identify more with and if they listen to the incorporated music (such as the White album or Meteora) by itself for entertainment.
ReplyDeleteI think the topic sounds like it will be a pretty amazing presentation. I am always fascinated by the combining of rap and rock and the sound it produces. Will you all be looking at how this particular facet of both genres is received by the followers of those particular genres? I think it'll be interesting what you'll come up with.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting idea -- I'm looking forward to seeing you two work through "combination music" as a genre heading that might include some kinds of mash-ups and remixes as well as crossover tracks like "Walk This Way." Since Liam is writing his dissertation on mash-ups at the moment, you should really set up a meeting with him to discuss this topic and some strategies for approaching your ethnographic fieldwork.
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