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" Black Chosen Lives: The Formation of Music Communities among Black Professionals in Atlanta, Georgia, 2004–2010 "
Hadley, Fredara Mareva
Reed, Daniel
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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1052752
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| Doc. No
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TL51869
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| Main Entry
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Hadley, Fredara Mareva
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| Title & Author
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Black Chosen Lives: The Formation of Music Communities among Black Professionals in Atlanta, Georgia, 2004–2010\ Hadley, Fredara MarevaReed, Daniel
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| College
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Indiana University
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| Date
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2019
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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2019
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| Note
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231 p.
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| Abstract
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This dissertation explores how hip hop generation Black professionals in Atlanta, Georgia engage with popular music to establish community. These communities are a form of Black counterpublic, a subaltern institution that exists to forge and affirm cultural needs among a population of college educated, upwardly mobile African Americans for whom maintaining social relationships remains important. Two primary communities exist among them: the Young Urban Professional (YUP) community and the Indie Soul community. Both are heavily influenced by hip hop music, but the former remains closely aligned to the genre trends of the music industry, while the latter privileges its affinity for soul music above industry trends. The setting of the present study, the city of Atlanta, is significant in that Black mayoral leadership intended for the city to be a “Black mecca,” which attracts Black transplants with policies that support African American entrepreneurship and the entertainment industry. Both communities are an outgrowth of these initiatives and serve as a social outlet for newly arrived Black professionals to the city. In this ethnographic study, I consider how Atlanta community participants, promoters, and DJs navigate changing tastes in music, availability of space, and their own musical philosophies. Interlocutors’ perspectives reveal a complex web of musical priorities and networks that allow each community to evolve or stall. The ongoing concerns of both communities are further endangered by Atlanta City Hall’s complicated relationship with the rise of hip hop, which has helped attract young Black professionals to the city. Despite the challenges, organizers, DJs, and participants create integral spaces in which Black professionals, many of whom work in predominantly White settings, can engage with Black popular music and connect with others who share their musical affinities and socioeconomic status. I use these Black musical counterpublics to examine larger issues of class, Black cultural identity, and the necessity of cultural refuge among post-Civil Rights African American professionals.
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| Descriptor
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African American studies
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Music
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Reed, Daniel
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Indiana University
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