21M.294
Popular Musics of the World
Examines select popular music genres from around the world through audio-visual materials, reading assignments, and classroom discussion. Considers issues of globalization, appropriation, and the impact of social media. Case studies include bhangra, Latin pop, Afropop, reggae, Kpop, and global hip-hop. Limited to 25; preference to Music majors, minors, concentrators. Admittance may be controlled by lottery.
Spring 2005
Topics
- Preliminaries; Overview of Course
- World Music and Globalization: Current Perspectives
- Artists Gone International: Youssou Ndour and the Rise of Senegalese mbalax
- Music and Protest: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Afro-Beat; Mbira and Chimurenga Music of Zimbabwe
- Music as a Tool for Humanitarian Aid in Africa
- The Politics of Globalization: Paul Simon’s Graceland
- Rap and Hip-hop in Africa
- Hip-hop in Korea
- Guest Lecture by Benjamin Herson ( Nomadic Wax )
- Rap and Hip-hop in Japan: Guest Lecture by Ian Condry
- Catch-up Session
- Suggested Local Event: Performance by Orchestra Baobab
- The Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum
- Suggested Local Event: Intercollegiate Festival of African Music and Arts @ Tufts University
- Techno, Rave, and Youth Culture
- Beloved Crooners of Canto-pop; Karaoke in East Asia
- Karaoke Outing
- Ska, Reggae, and Dancehall: A Historical Overview
- The Bob Marley Legacy
- The Globalization of Reggae
- Suggested Local Event: Performance by Lamine Touré and Group Saloum
- Final Presentations
- Conclusions
Readings
- There is no required textbook for this course. Readings from various sources will be assigned for each class session.
- Taylor, Timothy. Global Pop . New York, NY: Routledge, 1997. ISBN: 9780415918725.
- Manuel, Peter. Popular Musics of the Non-Western World . New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780195053425.
- Stokes, Martin. “Globalization and the Politics of World Music.” In The Cultural Study of Music . Edited by M. Clayton, T. Herbert, and R. Middleton. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003. ISBN: 9780415938457.
- Garofalo, Reebee. “Whose World, What Beat: The Transnational Music Industry, Identity, and Cultural Imperialism.” Word of Music 35, no. 2 (1993): 16-32.
- Tang, Patricia. “Senegal.” In The Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. Vol. 6, Africa and Middle East. Edited by John Shepherd, et al. London, UK: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. ISBN: 9780826474360.
- ———. “Negotiating Performance in Senegalese Popular Music: Sound, Image, and The Ethnomusicologist as Exoticized ‘Other’.” Journal of Popular Music Studies 17, no. 3 (December 2005): 275-300.
- Stewart, Gary. Breakout: Profiles in African Rhythm . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780226774060.
- Collins, John. West African Pop Roots . Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780877229162.
- Turino, Thomas. Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780226817026.
- Meintjes, Louise. “Paul Simon’s Graceland , South Africa, and the Mediation of Musical Meaning.” Ethnomusicology 36, no. 1 (Winter 1990): 37-73.
- Feld, Steven. “Notes on World Beat.” In Music Grooves: Essays and Dialogues . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780226429564.
- Mitchell, Tony, ed. Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop outside the U.S.A . Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780819565020.
- Herson, Benjamin. Fat Beats Dope Rhymes and Thug Lives: Youth, Politics and Hip-Hop in Dakar . Undergraduate Thesis, Hampshire College, 2000.
- Morelli, Sarah. “Who is a Dancing Hero? Rap, Hip-Hop and Dance in Korean Popular Culture.” In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop outside the U.S.A . Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780819565020.
- Condry, Ian. “A History of Japanese Hip-Hop.” In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the U.S.A . Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780819565020.
- ———. “Japanese Hip-Hop and the Globalization of Popular Culture.” In Urban Life: Readings in the Anthropology of the City . 4th ed. Edited by George Gmelch and Walter Zenner. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 2001. ISBN: 9781577661948.
- Wong, Deborah. “‘I Want the Microphone’: Mass Mediation and Agency in Asian-American Popular Music.” The Drama Review 38, no. 3 (Fall 1994): 152-167.
- Danielson, Virginia. The Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic song, and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780226136127.
- Huq, Rupa. “Raving, Not Drowning: Authenticity, Pleasure and Politics in the Electronic Dance Music Scene.” In Popular Music Studies . Edited by David Hesmondhalgh and Keith Negus. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780340762486.
- Sylvan, Robin. “The Dance Music Continuum: House, Rave, and Electronic Dance Music.” In Traces of the Spirit: The Religious Dimensions of Popular Music . New York, NY: New York University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780814798096.
- Chang, Kevin O’Brien, and Wayne Chen. Reggae Routes . Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1997. ISBN: 9781566396295.
- Potash, Chris, ed. Reggae, Rasta, Revolution: Jamaican Music from Ska to Dub . New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1997. ISBN: 9780028647289.
- Taylor. Chapter 1, pp. 1-37.
- Tang (2005).
- Tang. (December 2005): 275-300.
- Feld. Chapter 8.
- LEC #: 9 · TOPICS: Hip-hop in Korea · Readings: Morelli.
- Condry. Global Noise .
- Condry. Urban Life .
- LEC #: 15 · TOPICS: The Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum · Readings: Danielson. (Excerpts)
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: None U (Fall) 3-0-9 units. HASS-A
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2005
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.