Chapter 6
Rice makes the argument that culture has a range of meanings just like cool. It is relevant to our personal thoughts on history race religion, media, and our adaptations. The mainstream borrows from many sources and provides connections through emotions and thoughts. Rice looks at the role of African American culture and the origins of “cool”. How cool is expressed, how the media plays an important role in consumer driven markets, and who is behind the productions is how Rice presents his argument.
Rice introduces Robert Farris Thompson and his discoveries about cool as a writing tool, visual tool, and the heritage of “cool” back to the African culture. He introduces the poet Amiri Baraka and his views on the civil rights movement and how African American people were denied the ability to participate in political and cultural activities. Baraka states that to be cool is to be uninvolved, uninvited, and unable to participate. He details the three levels of oppression that African American’s were submitted to: The cultural level, the economic level, and the political level. Baraka relates cool to a culture that relates identity to adapted ideas.
Chapter 7
Rice attributes popular culture as a culture that includes a producer and a product. Music tends to be of a personal taste and one that brings an emotion and comfort to the listener. Rice provides two distinct examples of music. Hip Hop and how it came about and what Baraka’s book might say relative to its appropriation. He digs up an old band Sugar Hill and the lyrics to a popular song in an effort to explore how sampling began in the 1970’s. Artist like Chic and Grandmaster Flash became very successful and had a huge impact on music. Rice asks the question if race on race would be a problem for Baraka, and how have people dealt with the treatment of appropriation in the present day.
Sampling is a newer form of music. Artists borrow bits of songs and piece them together to make something new and creative. It is wide spread and has created a new audience and inspired new artist. Will Smith revived his career in 1990 with a hit called Getting’ Jiggy Wit It which borrowed from artist Sister Sledge. It seems that sampling is directed to an audience that can identify the lyrics and recognize the samples being used. Rice discussed how sampling and plagiarism can seem very similar and coincide. Plagiarism is directly stealing someone else’s work and fooling others into believing it is yours. Sampling is borrowing something old and creating an emotion with your new ideas. Rice details how MLK used the Bible in order to get his white audience to sympathize with his cause. Rice proves that the audience changes how we write and changes the dynamics and construction of our work. We write according to the audience we wish to attract.
