Podcast: how Afrofuturism is in black identity and music

Podcast  

Olivia Daigle

Visual and a podcast of how Afrofuturism is in black identity and music

If you look at songs like “Charcoal baby” by Blood Orange, it has an African American artist who writes lyrics like “No one wants to be the Negro swan, can you break sometimes charcoal make it start and make me liked at times.” I find this to be something on the end of power stating because it seems that he’s stating that despite being black, he’s igniting a fire because society has created this stereotype that being the black swan is a bad thing, but being the “charcoal baby” is okay. I like to think about the power dynamic and relate it to the story “Wildseed” by Octavia Butler. In the story, the author created these two traditional African natives with these magical powers. It created a power dynamic for the people by giving them powers to rule. I love this futuristic dynamic of immortality and shapeshifting because it gives the afro-futurist feel to the story, much like the song “Charcoal Baby,” and how it encases self-acceptance and confidence, giving that equal feel of a power dynamic. I feel those who have a high level of self-confidence and self-acceptance exhibit high amounts of power, much like Doro, who was a high and mighty and somewhat cocky man. Between the beats of the music, it has the rhythm and blues vernacular, which is vital to the African American traditions. I find that this relates to Afrofuturism by bringing back those traditional beats and encasing them in a more modern way with more modern problems faced today. Yes, slavery is illegal, but there are plenty of African American men and women who are underpaid because of the color of their skin, which, to me, is a form of modern-day slavery. I find that the artist Blood Orange or also known as Devonte Hynes, finds his black identity by expressing a form of protest for minority groups or for people who are victims of police brutality or injustice through music.

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