Pop Culture Music - Free Essay Example

Music is an integral part of society, it entertains us, and therefore it is an excellent platform for discussions on cultural matters. Concerts are especially useful because artists have the chance to access huge crowds. For cultural messages to take root, they must be accepted by vast amounts of people, and people are more expected to receive these messages if their peers do. Popular culture has the power to entertain and, also, educate. Peoples perceptions and knowledge of an issue will be influenced by pictures and messages contained within customary representations. According to cultural constructionism, the farther a person is removed from our day-to-day lives; the more valuable second-hand knowledge grows in shaping perceptions. I most definitely disagree that mainstream disapproval ultimately is needed for women and ethnic/racial minorities to move political agendas forward?. (Davidson, 2016 p. 115) While I support the spotlight on social issues, I do not believe they are entirely effective. If anything, they raise awareness which in part allows for more people to be aware of what charities and causes to donate money to. Black movement has been about since the period of slavery. It defined as the means that black women have attempted to see their positionality within organizations of oppression, as illustrated in Sojourner truths famous words, aint I a Woman?, which was presented in 1851 in the womans meeting in Akron, Ohio. Black womens position in organizations has not only been oppressed, but seen as less than or lower than their white male counterparts. For a black woman to continue to move forward and succeed in a society that favors the white male voice, they need mainstream approval to move forward. Beyonces Super Bowl performance had us all getting information. Beyonce paid homage to Black America. A lot of people was not happy because her performance made references to Black Lives Matter movement, Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. Beyonces performance may have turned a few heads however it got people talking thats why it is so vital to have mainstream approval. Beyonces halftime show exposed that little covert discrimination that lives deep within people subconscious mind. Many didnt realize that it was or still festered in their minds until Beyonce began showing, talking, and acknowledging her blackness. Beyonce performance brought light to severe issues, valid concerns, and real-time situations. Award shows and sporting events provide particularly substantial venues where highly regarded performers have a few well-publicized minutes to use their celebrity to create social change (p.g 118). Kendrick uses music as the means to convey societal injustices and refer those injustices to societies daily lives. For instance, Lamars song The Blacker The Berry, which tackles hate, discrimination, and hypocrisy head-on when tackling the issue of Trayvon Martin what he is saying is that the darker a person is, the most likely you will be shot by police. Throughout his music, i.e., To Pimp a Butterfly, he calls inner conflicts within the African-American Community, black Americans killing other black Americans in the face of white America killing black Americans. Kendrick Lamar is one of those few artists that is utilizing his music as the act of protest. Minority groups have made mainstream culture feel uncomfortable for many years. The United States is becoming very diverse moving into the twenty-first century so is the racial makeup. Having a platform in mainstream media, it can help to move the racial-profiling controversy from its current rhetorical into a reasoned argument. The good news is that people are more comfortable with these topics, and hopefully, biphobic, discrimination, homoph obic, and transphobic behaviors will become less common in the future.