Research Catalog

Critical excess : Watch the throne and the new gilded age /

Title
  1. Critical excess : Watch the throne and the new gilded age / J. Griffith Rollefson.
Published by
  1. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2021.
  2. ©2021
Author
  1. Rollefson, J. Griffith,

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FormatTextAccessUse in libraryCall numberML420.J29 R65 2021Item locationOff-site

Details

Description
  1. ix, 223 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.
Summary
  1. "Jay-Z and Kanye West's 2011 Watch the Throne is a self-avowed "luxury rap" album centered on Eurocentric conceptions of nobility, artistry, and haute couture. Critical Excess performs a close reading of the sonic and social commentary on this album, examining how the album alternately imagines and critiques the mutually reinforcing ideas of Europe, nobility, old money, art, and their standard bearer, whiteness. Reading the album alongside Black critical theory and work on the prophetic nature of music, Rollefson argues that through their performance of black excellence, opulence, and decadence, Jay-Z and Kanye West poured gas on the white resentment of the Obama presidency-a resentment that would ultimately spill over into public life, make audible the dog whistling of the Far Right, and embolden white supremacists to come out from under their rocks. Ultimately, Rollefson argues, Jay-Z and Kanye West's performance of what Rollefson calls "critical excess" on this album exceeds the limits of conspicuous consumption and heralds the final stage of late capitalism-"the New Gilded Age.""--
Series statement
  1. Tracking pop
Uniform title
  1. Tracking pop
Subject
  1. Excess (Philosophy)
  2. Jay-Z, 1969-
  3. Rap (Music)
  4. Rap (Music) > History and criticism
  5. Rap (Music) > Political aspects
Genre/Form
  1. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Contents
  1. Introduction. Death Dance for Capitalism : Watch the Throne as Prophetic Critique -- "Welcome to the Jungle" : Essence and the Western Inheritance -- "Lift Off" to Sunday Service : Transcendence, Black Capitalism, Black Rapture -- "After They've Seen Paree" : The Mastery of Form -- "Niggas in Poorest" to "That Shit Creil" : NIP's Realpolitik in the US and France -- "Sophisticated Ignorance" : The Deformation of Mastery -- Conclusion. Black Noise : Re-composition in the Last Gilded Age.
Owning institution
  1. Princeton University Library
Bibliography (note)
  1. Includes bibliographical references and index.