Author

Jakilah Mason

Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Zamsky, Robert

Keywords

Jimi Hendrix, Bob Kaufman, Ofwgkta

Area of Concentration

Music

Abstract

Jimi Hendrix, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, and Bob Kaufman are black artists working within predominantly white milieus. The public histories of each case exemplifies the continued marginalization of black culture within the mainstream. As pop cultural commodities, Hendrix and OFWGKTA's appeals to white audiences have resulted in discourses that divorce them from the black cultural traditions in which their work is grounded. A poet whose work was mostly done in public performance rather than publication, Bob Kaufman was more resistant to capitalist mechanisms, and until recently was excluded from literary history almost entirely. As a result, the African-American perspective that informs his poetry is all but forgotten within the public history of the Beats. This thesis re-grounds Hendrix and OFWGKTA's music within black traditions and re-engages with Bob Kaufman life and work, illuminating the processes by which such traditions become marginalized.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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