Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Jamaican Dancehall Music

Overview of political economy of race, sexuality, and gender in Jamaican dancehall music. Study of genre’s origins as form of resistance by Jamaican guerilla intellectuals, grassroots performers, disc jockeys (DJs), and producers. Connections are made to broader debates about cultural politics of class, race, gender, and sexuality to globalization and capitalism. Historical overview of Jamaican popular music, with focus on development of dancehall from late 1970s and early 1980s to present. Exploration of impact of neoliberalism in Jamaica, and ways in which dancehall has been used as a tool to resist and critique cisheteropatriarchy, the state, and society. Use of dancehall lyrics and performances from artists such as Koffee, Lady G, Lady Saw, Lexxicon, Patra, Shenseea, Sister Nancy, Spice, and Tanya Stephens, among others; as well as popular media, scholarship, and documentary film. Close attention is given to ways in which race, sexuality, and gender are constructed and contested in dancehall music.

P/NP or letter grading.