Postcolonial theory: blog tasks

​Wider reading on race and Old Town Road 

1.) The visual cues the article lists as links to the western genre are cowboy hats, cow print, rhinestones, fringed suede, etc…

2.) The “Yeehaw” agenda came about through in 2018 through an instagram page in order to reclaim black identity within American history regarding the concept of the “Wild West”.

3.) It has been proven that the black cowboy has been “erased from American culture” through the lack of representation of the black community (and all people of colour) within western media and film.

4.) The black cowboy aesthetic has been reflected as a “major cultural resurgence that blends historical western wear with contemporary luxury and street wear by the fashion industry .

5.) The article suggests that race and the country music community have been inevitably linked by the fashion industry throughout runway and fashion shows during the late 2010’s.

6.) Certain elements of the music video have been suggested to be “authentically” country and western, them being banjos and its singers “southern twang”.

7.) Certain genres of music are suggested by the article to be shaped by black influences like jazz, rap, blues, hiphop, etc…

8.)I think that the driving force of the “Yeehaw” agenda was the need to reclaim historical accuracy within the “Wild West” since in truthfulness there were indeed people of colour within outlaw communities and western medias have not at all portrayed this correctly- this movement allowed for more accurate representations of black individuals.

Applying postcolonial theory to Old Town Road

1.) “Old Town Road” both reinforces and challenged black series types through the two different universes of the Wild West and the contemporary urban setting. The contemporary setting seemed to fit the stereotype of a black community with the young black children playing outside with toy, a young lady dancing with a hiphop style and a few men cooking a barbecue as another holds money in his hand. The video also rejects the theory since the Wild West setting portrays Lil Nas X to be an outlaw whereas in traditional western media outlaws were always portrayed as white males.

2.) We could argue against Gilroy’s theory of double consciousness since Lil Nas X does not necessarily every refer to his black heritage or his ethnic or nationality, this lack of presentation of these themes itself challenges Gilroy’s theory within this music video.

3.) Lil Nas X and “Old Town Road” provide an example of Hall’s theory of race through the fact that Lil Nas X’s identity is not revolving around his race meaning.

4.) Humorous: Chris Rock, exotic: Lil Nas X, 

5.) Lil Nas X provides a compelling case study for bell hook’s theory of intersectionality since whilst Lil Nas X doesn’t not explicitly reference his race, the fact that he represents himself as a black cowboy after western media’s had repressed people of colours representation within “Wild West” film.