Background and cultural contexts
Read this Vox feature and podcast transcript on Lil Nas X and Old Town Road. Make sure you read the whole thing - including the podcast transcript - then answer the following questions:
1) What is the big debate regarding Old Town Road and genre?
Whether his western rap hybrid genre is really country music.
2) What do you learn about the background of Lil Nas X and Old Town Road from the podcast transcript?
- He is 20 years old
- He is from Atlanta
- His actual name is Montero Hill
- He joined SoundCloud on July 24th 2018
3) What is the Yeehaw agenda?
A online activist movement started by Bri Malandro about reclaiming black identity in cowboys and the overall western aesthetic.
4) How did the story become a debate about race in America?
Billboard removing the song made people question whether this was because he was black or really because the song lacked country elements.
5) How does Charlie Harding sum up the whole thing in the final part of the podcast transcript?
That Lil Nas X is now recognised as a country artist with the help of Billy Ray Cyrus.
Now read this Salon feature on Lil Nas X and LGBTQ+ identity. Answer the following questions:
1) How did Lil Nas X announce his sexuality on social media?
He posted artwork of him with a cowboy hat whilst riding a horse towards a building with rainbow light.
2) Why does the article describe Old Town Road as 'genre-blurring'?
The song harnessed both hip hop and country sounds and conventions.
3) How has country music demonstrated the social change taking place in American culture and society?
The ride of mixing genres has shown how society has moved away from set, controlled ideas and challenges these conventions.
Old Town Road textual analysis
Watch the video again and answer the following questions. Use your notes from our in-class analysis to help you:
1) How are narrative features used in the music video? Apply narrative theory here.
1) Propp's:
- Hero = Lil Nas X
- Helper = Billy Ray Cyrus
- Villain = man with a gun
2) Non linear narrative as there is time travel.
3) Todorovs:
- Disequilibrium = Running from the sheriff
- New Equilibrium = modern world in the bingo hall
4) Binary opposition of old vs modern and western vs rap
2) What examples of genre conventions and intertextuality can you find in the video?
Genre: Western and hip-hop - hybrid genre which links to bricolage and post modernism.
Intertextuality to western movies (Neale: repetition and difference) and use of star power.
3) How are technical codes used to create meanings in the video? Analyse camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene and make specific reference to moments in the video.
- Editing is fast paced and uses montages
- The camera work features an establishing shot for us to understand the basis of the narrative. There are also close ups when introducing the characters.
- Costume: The entire video features cowboy attire which changes to something more glamourous in the modern world.
- Lighting: Natural lighting from the sky helps to convince us of this hyperreality meaning
- Actors: Many celebrity cameo appearances (Youngkio, Vince Staples, Billy Ray Cyrus, Rico Nasty, Diplo and Jozzy).
- Makeup - Not much makeup is used
- Props - Money bag, cars, gun, phones suggest a modern world being fused with a older time period
- Setting - A deserted area to a urban, city area
4) How are representations of race and ethnicity constructed in the video?
Black men are represented in a positive manner e.g. sheriffs who are black and Lil Nas X giving a performance to the elderly. This subverts negative stereotypes.
5) What other representations can you find in the video? You may wish to comment on gender, sexuality or America/American culture.
Gender is constructed as a spectrum as we see Billy Ray Cyrus in a pink suit although he's a straight man. We also see how American culture works e.g. car races and dance battles.
Old Town Road Media Factsheet
Finally, read Media Factsheet #262 - Old Town Road. You'll need to log in to Google using your Greenford Google account to access this. Read the factsheet and answer the following questions:
1) Who are the celebrities that appear in cameos in the video?
Youngkio, Vince Staples, Billy Ray Cyrus, Rico Nasty, Diplo and Jozzy.
2) Choose three of the key terms defined on the first page of the factsheet and write the definitions here. Focus on terms you are unfamiliar with.
Archetypal: A representation that is very typical of a person, place or thing
Mytheme: Small units of narrative in cultural products; such as theme, character and action, the study of which can reveal the dominant ideas and values of culture
Cultural Myth: Deeper ideologies that have been shaped through cultural coding through connotations over time.
3) How did Lil Nas X use social media to boost his own popularity and the success of the video?
Using memes, viral threads, engagement bait and running a Nicki Minaj fan page on twitter.
4) Look at the video analysis on page 3. What conventions of the western can be found in the video?
- Bank robberies
- Chased by a sheriff
- Deserted rocky road setting
- Opening credits in a western serif font
- Horse showdowns (but against a car which are binary oppositions)
5) How does the video begin?
The video starts with opening credits, a western movie convention, which then introduces the characters (featured music artists). The opening scene is of Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus running from a sheriff after stealing as Lil Nas X is holding a bag of coins.
6) What does the factsheet suggest regarding the modern-day part of the video?
The video ending with Lil Nas X hugging a old white lady shows modern day cultural conviviality whilst breaking negative stereotypes about young black men.
7) How can the video be read as a reinforcement of capitalism and the American dream?
The montage of clips which include the Maserati car, dollar signs and gemstones reinforce consumerism of the capitalist world and shows how the American dream can take you from rags to riches.
8) How does the factsheet suggest the video creates a hyperreality?
The message about cultural conviviality is a hyperreality of what would happen as realistically cowboys wouldn't be preforming at a bingo event.
9) How is masculinity represented in the video?
That masculinity is fluid. We can see this as Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus change from typical, masculine cowboy clothes to cowboy suits which are glamourous which shows how gender is on a spectrum rather than two distinct sides.
10) Look at the final page. What theories are suggested for this CSP and which do you think are the most useful?
Judith Butler’s theory effectively to the video as it draws attention to the performative nature of gender. Stereotypical
feminine gender codes, such as the pink suits and flowers, highlight that “the inner truth is a fabrication.” Lil Nas X and Billy
Ray Cyrus do not “perform” like conventional cowboys.
Paul Gilroy’s idea of double-consciousness could be applied through the idea that Lil Nas X has openly stated he’s struggled
with his own sexuality and Christian background, as well as being a black artist trying to break out in the white-centric genre
of country and western music. Furthermore, sub-genre concept of hybridity in music create through African American influence is clear in how Lil Nas X is forging a type of country music.
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