Graduation Year
2019
Date of Submission
4-2019
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Reader 1
Cándida Jáquez
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2019 Saif Saigol
Abstract
Janelle Monáe is a pop superstar whose Afrofuturist art is paving the way for a new revolution of popular music. An investigation into her oeuvre reveals an artform that relies on technological aesthetics and science-fiction narratives as a critical lens through which capitalism and its racist, sexist, homophobic, and hegemonic tendencies are clearly revealed. Monáe displays a masterful understanding of social hierarchy and power imbalances, and uses her music as a form of resistance to those heterosexist, white-supremacist institutions that attempt to reduce Monáe to the profitability of her body and culture. Situating herself as a visible and celebrated queer black musician and activist, Monáe uses her voice to provide political commentary on present-day America, through imagined future dystopias. Her seamless synthesis of black music genres and aesthetics allows for a unified musical project that is accessible, socially informed, powerful, and impactful.
Recommended Citation
Saigol, Saif, "Musical Activism: A Case Study of Janelle Monáe and Her Digitized Revolution of Love" (2019). CMC Senior Theses. 2117.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2117
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.