Hall-elujah

Stuart Hall has a great deal of insight when it comes to the subject of identity. He criticizes the views of some that identity is in any way a stable position in a world whose change and transformation overwhelms them. He argues that the great pillars of the notion of identity—race, class, gender and nation—are anything but stable; he believes that they are in constant flux and threaten to undermine any ideas of stability in identity at any time. His experience as Jamaican immigrant in a Great Britain that is simultaneously inclusive and exclusive testifies to the ways that identity is fragile. For example, his son’s take on “color” is very different from his own. If a singular concept of race is not able to be successfully passed down a generation—something that even sweaters of the poorest workmanship are able to accomplish—any hope of any type of stable, singular identity must be thrown out the window.
The ways in which such ideas of identity transfer into the world of music is by no means a coincidence. Like people, music is a noun that many try to categorize and label. A brass section, guitar, piano and drum kit is a jazz band. Rhyming words over a melody is hip hop. The public is told not to mind that bands like the Roots are able to both mix and transcend these types of categories. Whenever a new sound emerges, it is immediately the business of critics and commentators to put it in a box. What is it? What is it not? As soon as those questions are answered and the music is boxed, it then becomes a product to be sold. Rock music has white people in the commercials. Hip hop has black people in the commercials. The box is politicized in order to let the consumer know that purchasing it is culturally acceptable. The public is told not to mind that rock ‘n’ roll was once the domain of almost exclusively black audiences or that people of all races regularly buy hip hop (although the public is becoming increasingly aware that white people can buy and listen to whatever they want without fear of social stigma).
Music is an integral part of the identities of many people. It provides a means of expression that can alert the world to a particular set of experiences and worldviews. Certain types of music are more synonymous with certain identities. Like identities, however, musical genres are rarely the catch-all descriptors that some would wish for them to be. Instruments can be played in several different genres and be a big part of each. Genre and identity are constantly in flux and hesitant to be stable for any stretch of time.

Melvin Backman