I started out reading Kodow Eshun’s article on Afrofuturism with a completely confused and uneducated outlook, then I hit up wikipedia for some answers before returning to the reading.
Wikipedia:
Afrofuturism, or afro-futurism, is an African diaspora subculture whose thinkers and artists see science, technology and science fiction as means of exploring the black experience and finding new strategies to overcome oppression.[1][2][3]
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and an audio mixer. The term was created in 1994 by DJ Supreme to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who actually performs, by touching and moving the records to manipulate sound. The word was never meant to be the actual title of the art form. It was regularly stated as an example, while explaining the need for a new word to describe a newly emerging and totally unique instrumental art form.
Turntablism and Eshun's thoughts concerning Afrofuturism are without a doubt more easily considered with these definitions in mind.
The art of turntablism involves scratching [literally] a new sound which is distinct and unique among all others is clearly exemplary of afrofuturism in that it uses technology in combination with cultural expression overcome/ cope with oppression. This art form was an expression of the black experience which emerged out of a culture which was overwhelmed and overrun with white music and art forms.
Eshun notes in his article, some artists have turned towards “manipulating, mocking, and critically affirming the contextualizing and historicizing framework of institutional knowledge”. In a sense, this is precisely what turntablism, “remixing” and similar sects of African initiated musical trends and styles have strived to assert. These musical arts take preexisting music and equipment and warp/ manipulate the sounds produced by these articles to create something original and authentic, a sound which is distinctive and expressive in an Afrofuturistic way.
Just as the African struggle to overcome oppression and establish a cultural identity was difficult, the emergence of tunrntablism and hip hop was also not an easy accomplishment; this struggle is demonstrated in the movie by the rejection of the new sounds white owned/operated clubs until it became popular and financially profitable to promote.
posted on April 1, 2007 12:19 pM (PST)
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