Black Noise

From MarxWiki

Rose draws on Gramsci (see Ideology and Ideological Subjects and war of position) and Stuart Hall when she contends that:

“Rap’s contestations are part of a polyvocal black cultural discourse engaged in discursive ‘wars of position’ within and against dominant discourses. . . . These wars of position are not staged team dialogues; they are crucial battles in the retention, establishment, or legitimation of real social power. Institutional muscle is accompanied by social ideas that legitimate it. Keeping these social ideas current and transparent is a constant process that sometimes involves making concessions and adjustments.”

In her view, rappers are the unruly stray dogs whose lyrics, image, and musical form `articulates the chasm between black urban lived experience and dominant, 'legitimate' (e.g. neoliberal) ideologies regarding equal opportunity and racial inequality,` inducing Hall’s “ideological dogcatchers” to attempt to muzzle them.

In Black Noise, Rose is careful to historically locate rap music from its musical origins in the South Bronx in the 1970’s when she defines rap music as a musical form that articulates the pleasures and problems of life for urban youth of color.

Rose draws on Dick Hebdige's Subculture: The Meaning of Style to locate the commercialized nature of rap music within the terrain of dominant and subversive ideologies. `Hip hop has always been articulated via commodities and engaged in the revision of meanings attached to them. Clearly, hip hop signs and meanings are converted, and behaviors are relabeled by dominant institutions. . . In 1994, rap music is one of the most heavily traded popular commodities in the market, yet it still defies total corporate control over the music, its local use and incorporation at the level of stable or exposed meanings.” (44-45)

Tricia rose suggests that the study of hip-hop must contain a comparison to James Scot's ideas of power relationships and how they are challenged through social transcripts. This dialogue that exists between “public” and “hidden” transcripts merely represents the idea of interaction between dominant culture ”public transcripts” and subversive subculture ”hidden transcripts”. The way in Scott suggests “hidden transcripts” critique and question numerous aspects of social domination, creates a forum within which Rose is able to dissect and look closer at the music of a subordinate subculture. Tricia Rose presents here idea that rap music in many ways is a perfect example of a “hidden transcript”. Through it’s use of cloaked speech and culturally relative vernacular rap is able to challenge the power inequalities that exist within our society. Rose suggests that much of rap music is engaged in a symbolic and ideological struggle with the institutions and groups that symbolically and ideologically oppress African Americans. In this way it serves as a outlet for powerless and marginalized people to voice their opinion. In this way rappers are able to turn dominate culture on it’s head and act out anything that they wish often subverting dominant culture or “public transcripts”.