This series chips away at the narrative of toxic individuality that is baked into so many successful artists’ branding, and influences the way we speak, write, and think about the concept of “success” in popular music.
My personal stake in this research, as a queer nonbinary white person committed to lifelong anti-racist learning and activism, is to cultivate an ongoing education and understanding of how white supremacy shapes the commercial music industry, while continuing to clarify how that industry has been designed to give white voices an implicit sense of belonging at the expense of literally everyone else. By doing my part to make it clear, I can work and advocate to shift the values of the commercial music industry to include those who also belong, who have in fact always belonged, long before I ever got here.
As a creative researcher I research how the systems of white supremacy shape the popular music industry, both historically and presently. I’m especially interested in how toxic individuality, a byproduct of capitalism and a core tenant of white supremacy, drives the narrative of how we speak, write, and think about the concept of “success” in popular music, specifically as it pertains to the myth of the “self made” artist/group. I have a deep commitment to democratizing access to knowledge and research, as well as re-contextualizing creative research outside of Academia. Therefore, my research is publicly available in the form of TikTok videos.
THE BAND LAWRENCE IS NOT "SELF MADE"
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_(band)
https://www.dalton.org/admissions/tuition-and-financial-aid
https://finaid.brown.edu/estimate-cost-aid/cost
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Lawrence_(filmmaker)
https://lawrencetheband.com/bio
EDWARD NORTON IS NOT "SELF MADE"
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rouse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Norton
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/19/movies/he-s-hot-but-cool-to-lure-of-fame.html?pagewanted=2
LIMP BIZKIT IS NOT "SELF MADE"
Sources:
https://www.mtv.com/news/jz46q6/limp-bizkit-camp-pays-for-radio-airtime
https://www.mtv.com/news/r0qezk/limp-bizkit-pays-for-counterfeit-play
https://www.vice.com/en/article/64y8y9/a-brief-history-of-american-payola
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Durst
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limp_Bizkit
https://www.billboard.com/artist/limp-bizkit/chart-history/tln/
https://www.billboard.com/artist/limp-bizkit/chart-history/tlp/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Dollar_Bill,_Y'all
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payola
https://www.radiox.co.uk/features/what-fred-durst-said-about-limp-bizkit-woodstock-99/
TAYLOR SWIFT IS NOT "SELF MADE"
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Swift
https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-all-hot-100-top-10-anti-hero-1235163664/
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/22/arts/music/review-taylor-swift-1989-tour.html
http://tasteofcountry.com/taylor-swift-acting-emma-stone/
MARSHMELLO IS NOT "SELF MADE"
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshmello
https://pagesix.com/2018/12/10/marshmellos-family-connection-to-ebay/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcomstock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay_Enterprise
https://techcrunch.com/2011/06/20/ebay-closes-2-4-billion-acquisition-of-gsi-commerce/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-comstock-9589b58
ELON MUSK IS NOT "SELF MADE" PT III
Sources:
https://policyadvice.net/insurance/insights/homelessness-statistics/
https://www.yahoo.com/video/perspective-elon-musk-could-buy-120433747.html
https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/14/23025330/elon-musk-twitter-offer-43-billion
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/10/elon-musk-billionaire-tax-mars
ELON MUSK IS NOT "SELF MADE" PT II
Sources:
https://www.carsguide.com.au/toyota/corolla/price/1977
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Griffin
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-apr-22-fi-spacex22-story.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-spacex-became-nasas-go-to-ride-orbit
https://www.space.com/18853-spacex.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla,_Inc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Tarpenning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Eberhard
https://web.archive.org/web/20080115214844/http://greenwombat.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/
https://www.space.com/25355-elon-musk-60-minutes-interview.html
ELON MUSK IS NOT "SELF MADE" PT I
Sources:
https://www.independent.co.uk/space/elon-musk-birthday-ceo-tesla-b1874017.html
https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/a5380/millionaire-starter-wife/
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-relationships-2017-11
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/elon-musk-the-architect-of-tomorrow-120850/
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/a29663489/maye-musk-memoir-interview-2019/
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/01/elon-musks-mom-worked-5-jobs-to-raise-3-kids-after-her-divorce.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-shivon-zilis-secret-twins-neuralink-tesla
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-grimes-2nd-baby-girl-y-vanity-fair-2022-3
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/teslas-elon-musk-wants-to-be-a-beloved-genius
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/10/elon-musk-family-maye-musk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh45igK4Esw
CHILDHOOD
Apartheid History & Racism 1: https://www.history.com/news/apartheid-policies-photos-nelson-mandela
Apartheid Re: How it was for Musk: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/world/africa/elon-musk-south-africa.html
Diamond 1: https://www.businessinsider.co.za/elon-musk-sells-the-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2
Diamond 2: https://www.insidehook.com/article/history/errol-musk-elon-father-myths
Family Tree: https://www.famechain.com/family-tree/43909/errol-musk
Musk School 1: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/trending/443832-the-big-lie-about-elon-musks-south-african-school-days.html
Musk School 2: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/world/africa/elon-musk-south-africa.html
Errol Musk 1: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5513787/Billionaire-space-pioneer-Elon-Musk-branded-father-evil.html
Errol Musk 2: https://www.insidehook.com/article/history/errol-musk-elon-father-myths
Musk Family Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musk_family
YUNGBLUD IS NOT "SELF MADE"
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungblud
Yungblud father owned fake Marshall amp shop:
http://www.davidjpym.com/page459.html
Yungblud went to ArtsEd which costs 20k EU a year
https://artsed.co.uk/day-school-and-sixth-form/fees-and-funding/
https://nypost.com/2019/10/10/english-punk-rocker-yungblud-leads-a-youth-movement/
https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/gallery-doncasters-lost-music-shops-293654
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Izjodl2gIY