identity and music

In Stuart Hall’s article “ETHNICITY: Identity and Difference,” his main thesis was that identity is complex. Labels such as class, race, gender, and nation create it. These labels help people to understand themselves and the people around them. However, identity is also made up of less stable ideas like emotions and personality. Stuart Hall’s argument of his idea of identity relates to music because it to is complex. It is made up of all genres labeled as rock, rap, contemporary, gospel, etc. Music is not static, and the type of music that different age groups listen to changes with the years.

Both labels of identity and labels of music cannot be applied to every single person or song. Some songs are a combination of different genres and are difficult to label. Christian rap music is a good example as to why this way of organization cannot be applied to all songs. The lyrics are about Christianity similar to the words in hymnals, but its beat and style is of a rap song. The question arises as to whether this song is a Christian song or a rap song. In most situations, it wouldn’t be label as either but instead a whole new category of music would be created called “Christian rock.” This process is also used in the creation of different individuals’ identities. The expansion of labels of identity will be seen on the 2010 census when the choices of ethnicity will be larger than on the previous censuses.

Similar to identity, music is made up of emotion. Every song can be interpreted differently by those that listen to it, which can differ from the artist’s intended message. Discussing songs with friends is always interesting because everyone seems to find a certain part of the song more interesting and important than everyone else. This is the same in identity. Someone can be a mother, wife, daughter, sister, cousin, dancer, etc., but what she finds to be the most important part of her identity may be different than what others would think and may change over time.