Counter-Hegemony in Music: Video Essay

After listening to the Week 9 supplementary lecture about how recording technologies can serve as tools to circulate counter-hegemonic knowledge into mainstream media, I feel that a more in depth exploration could make for a compelling final project. Music artists often use their bodies of work to push back against ideologies shaped by dominant voices, and offer alternative knowledge systems that can instead represent marginalized perspectives. For instance, the in- class example of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” shows how she felt a profound sense of liberation in queer spaces after receiving little family support while she navigated her own queer identity. 

Being a former musician myself, I have been deeply exposed to a wide range of popular music genres and have genuine appreciation for what each has contributed politically and culturally. Rather than analyzing individual songs, I plan to examine dominant music genres on a decade-by-decade basis, starting with 80s glam metal and concluding with the recession pop and escapism-riddled dance pop of the 2010s.  Each section will begin with an literature grounded overview of the political context and prevailing hegemonic ideologies of the time followed by discussion about how these ideologies were challenged through song lyrics and the individual expression of various artists. The project will take the form of a video essay, beginning with a short introduction that defines counter-hegemonic knowledge and explains how it is often expressed through artistic practices. Following this, approximately three-minute sections will be devoted to each music genre. To create visual immersion, I will incorporate a combination of stock footage, clips from music videos, and original animations.