Music, Culture, and Identity Lecture Notes

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Latino punk, identity theories, Asian-American musical history, K-pop global movements, LA gangsta rap, and country music themes based on lecture notes.

Performance

An act that transforms the relationship between performer and audience, turning spectators into active participants and potentially creating or symbolizing community.

Punk Music

Fast, aggressive, and abrasive music characterized by freedom of expression and styles like colored hair, mohawks, and tattoos.

Ethnic Estrangement

The feeling expressed as “No soy de aqui ni de alla” (‐I am from neither here nor there”) experienced by Latinx youth and immigrants denied a social voice.

Los Crudos

A radical Latino punk band formed in 1991 by Martin Sorrondeguy that used codeswitching and opposed homophobia and Proposition 187.

DIY (Do It Yourself)

A philosophy that rejects materialism and consumerism, where artists produce and distribute their own music, posters, and merchandise.

Rasquachismo

A term reclaimed by the Chicanx arts movement meaning “creating the most from the least” using simple or crude materials.

Alice Bag

A musician, activist, and author of the book Violence Girl who founded The Bags in 1977 and promoted Mestizaje.

Mestizaje

A concept promoted by Alice Bag that involves challenging gender, ethnic, and sexual borders.

Passing

Being accepted as a member of another racial group, often to gain social privileges or escape anti-Black racism.

Korla Pandit

Originally known as John Roland Redd, he reinvented himself as a foreign “other” and claimed to be Indian royalty to perform on television.

Harry Kitano

A Japanese American interned during WWII who changed his name to Harry Lee to pass as Chinese.

Segmented Assimilation

A theory describing how immigrants adapt to the U.S. in different ways, such as into the white middle class, downwardly, or with economic success while preserving original culture.

Ethnic Hip Hop

Hip hop made by Indians for Indians that uses South Asian instruments, codeswitching, and focuses on “brown-centered” dance floors.

Racialized Hip Hop

A form of hip hop that appeals to mainstream audiences and discusses broader racial and political issues.

Model Minority

A stereotype of Asians as hardworking, studious, and assimilated, which is often used to compare them against other minorities.

Third World Liberation Front

An organization involved in Black and Asian unity movements seeking liberation and social change.

Hallyu (Korean Wave)

The global spread of Korean culture including music, film, and fashion, serving as an example of “soft power.”

ARMY

The fan base of BTS that matched the band's $1 \times 10^{6}$ dollar donation to Black Lives Matter within $24$ hours.

Clicktivism

A form of social media activism characterized by online support that lacks real-world action.

Gangsta Rap

A music genre connected to local neighborhoods that critiques police brutality and racism while using “badass” identities to resist power.

Dr. Dre

Founder of Aftermath Entertainment and NWA, who sold Beats to Apple for $3.4 \times 10^{9}$ dollars and helped create G-funk.

Anti-Drug Abuse Act

A law from the $1980s$ that punished crack more harshly than cocaine, leading to mandatory minimum sentencing and increased prison populations.

G-funk

A sound perfected in The Chronic that utilizes Parliament samples and focuses on freedom, money, and lifestyle over institutional critique.

Post Soul Space

A cultural state marked by Black neoliberalism where community empowerment is replaced by “hustling” and materialism.

Bling Era

A period in rap history characterized by over-the-top consumption and wealth imagery.

Corridos

Romance ballads that evolved into political songs near the border to communicate stories of labor exploitation and immigration.

Ill-Literacies

Forms of literacy outside of schools, such as reading body language or coded neighborhood signs, used to communicate social critiques.

Narco-Corridos

Songs about cartels and trafficking that critique capitalism and exploitation, though they are often criticized for violence.

Whiteness

A socially constructed identity that holds privilege and power, which can be reinforced by both white and non-white people.

Twang

The distinctive sound of country music produced by instruments like the banjo, mandolin, and dobro, often tied to a Southern accent.

The Good Old Days

A theme of nostalgia in country music reflecting a longing for simplicity and tradition, often linked to pre-civil rights America.