Design as a Conversation in Popular Culture Part 1: Music

In class last week, Professor Housefield showed us a video of Lady Gaga singing with Yoko Ono as a example of design as a conversation. This led me to think of music in general as a conversation. Many musical artists, from the Dixie Chicks to Nas, use their music as a medium for political and cultural discourse, or even as a conversation between rival artists. Just as many artists use their art to send a message to its audience, musical artists use their music to do the same.

The first topic I bring up is music as a medium for political and cultural discourse. Here, music as a conversation towards its audience can hold a lot of power within society. For example, rock and roll was once deemed as “music of the Devil” and many parents and adults did not want their kids to be influenced by rock and roll because they believed it would lead them to a life of violence and crime. The parents believed that the conversation between rock and roll artists and their audience would corrupt the innocent youth of their generation. This eventually led to stricter censorship guidelines and parental advisory labels on albums deemed too “explicit” for children under seventeen.

Another conversation held within music can be seen between “rival” artists, such as Nas and Jay-Z and Mariah Carey and Eminem. Here, conversations are held between artists as a means to “diss” the other, or bring the other down, while bringing your own reputation up. The feud between Nas and Jay-Z involved many internal and external factors, which ultimately helped in record sales for both artists due to this “conversation.” The rivalry between Mariah Carey and Eminem was a result between an alleged relationship and were the fuel to several songs between both artists. We see, here, that conversations between artists can be used to restore/destroy a reputation, increase record sales, and a means of publicity.

All in all, the conversation within music can involve a variety of factors and can also have multiple results. Music as a conversation, just like design as a conversation, has a larger affect on society and pop culture than one may realize. We see, then, how these conversations are pertinent in keeping the culture alive and allowing artists to voice their own opinions.