Popular Music Research Articles

Ukrainian Popular Music in Times of War: National Identity, Transnational Projections and the Musician as Grassroots Ambassador

This article investigates the ways in which Ukrainian independent popular music after February 2022 has contributed to domestic nation-building and international nation-branding. Taking as case studies six artists who have extensively toured abroad with their musical projects, the article traces the evolution of the internal imaginings and external projections of Ukrainian identity enabled via musical activity. The article shows that the war has generated a reconfiguration of the relationship between the artist and their social responsibility, in which music has become a fundamental weapon to raise transnational awareness of the Ukrainian struggle and to materially influence Ukraine’s defence. This reconfiguration has prompted the performers to take the role of grassroots cultural ambassadors and create DIY networks of solidarity, largely outside of state initiatives. In this process, ideas about Ukraine did not adhere to a standardized framework for the purpose of articulating unity, but rather reflected Ukraine’s unity in cultural diversity.

Back in the U.S.S.R.: Russian Popular Music in the Times of Military Censorship

The article deals with the field of popular music in Russia in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion on 24 February 2022. It focuses on the changing public perception and governmental response towards Soviet music stars as well as younger generation of musicians who have taken an anti-war stance. The article also analyses the efforts of state ideologists to create a patriotic music scene that can silence dissenting voices. The framework used juxtaposes contemporary tactics with Soviet-era practices. The author analyses the current official critical discourse on Russian popular music, exploring the work of modern music censorship, the primary mechanism governing the Russian popular music market since the full-scale invasion began.

"Karabakh or Death, no Other Way!": Hip Hop and War in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan

In post-Soviet Azerbaijan, hip hop is the main musical genre that articulates the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that escalated into two wars (1992-94; 2020). The creativity of hip hop artists is a prime example of intertextuality as they reference, quote, and remake texts of previous Azerbaijani hip hop songs, thus offering accounts of the way the conflict unfolded throughout history. Yet their creativity goes further than providing narratives: it becomes a powerful tool to promote nationalist imagery and inspire patriotism. In this paper, I rely on interviews and first-hand experience while doing fieldwork in Azerbaijan when the Second Karabakh War erupted, and analyze popular hip hop songs, focusing on discourses that arise as part of hip hop’s generic intertextuality. Specifically, I focus on the figure of the martyr that continuously reappears to accentuate the topic of sacrifice and to trigger affects at the core of mobilization and patriotism.

Going Native/Viral in Russian Popular Music: Aesthetic Populism, Patriotic Anti-racism, and the Quest for Hip-Hop Authenticity in Timati’s Teymuraz Music Video Trilogy

This paper critically analyzes the 2010s’ viral music video trilogy featuring Teymuraz, a stage and video persona of the Russian/Tatar/Jewish hip-hop artist Timati. Using hyperbolized stereotypes of a racialized taxi driver from the Caucasus/Central Asia, the hybrid aesthetics of Teymuraz fuses the elements of New East style, post-Soviet cultural recycling, social critique, and appropriates the voices of the subaltern. Contextualizing Teymuraz as a strategy of racial translation of US hip-hop and as a part of the Russian cultural trend of aesthetic populism, I analyze the work of racial signification in the trilogy that relies on multimodal racial metonymy. I read the trilogy as a peculiar Russian patriotic anti-racist project with contradictory implications. Having been haunted by the accusations of ‘copying’ US rappers throughout his career, Timati negotiates the stigma of imitation, transgressing it in Teymuraz, exploiting his own ethnoracial ambiguity, chronic hip-hop inauthenticity, and the aesthetic populism trend.

“Once We Found Our Groove, . . .”: A Study of Preservice Music Teachers Engaged in a Popular Music Education Experience

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to examine the perceived benefits and challenges of implementing informal learning practices through popular music education for preservice music teachers. Specifically, we sought to understand why and how preservice music educators would perceive benefits and challenges from their experiences in a modern band. We conducted a study with five preservice music teachers in a modern band outside of the curriculum in a music teacher education program. We collected the data for 9 weeks, gathering multiple interviews, participants’ written responses, artifacts, and researchers’ field notes. Three overarching themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) a self-navigating process of aural-based learning, (b) autonomy with freedom, and (c) reflective educators. Our findings indicated that the ultimate goal of informal learning practices in music teacher education may not be limited to mastering musical skills but should include improving problem solving and classroom decision making.

Exploring Spotify's Music Popularity Dynamics and Forecasting with Machine Learning

Abstract. Spotify, one of the largest music streaming service providers, boasts a vast user base and an extensive music catalog. To gain a deeper understanding of Spotify users' music preferences and behavioral patterns, this paper conducts a thorough analysis and explores the correlation between music features and user behavior. It collects Spotify users' music listening data and extracts various music features such as energy, danceability, valence, and beats per minute (BPM). These features not only reflect the musical style and rhythm but also potentially correlate with users' preferences and listening habits. Then we employ two machine learning models, Decision Trees and Random Forests, to model and analyze Spotify users' behavior data. Through these models, we can accurately identify potential relationships between music features and user behavior. The experimental results indicate that music features such as energy, danceability, valence, and BPM have a significant impact on users' music selection and preferences. By analyzing the most popular songs on Spotify over different time periods, we discover that songs with high energy, danceability, and valence tend to be more popular among users. This finding not only validates the correlation between music features and user behavior but also reveals the user preferences and market demands behind music trends. For music streaming service providers, understanding users' music preferences and behavioral patterns is crucial. By deeply analyzing user data, music streaming services can better satisfy users' needs, enhance user experience, and stand out in the fiercely competitive market. These findings have important practical implications for music streaming service providers and provide new insights and methodologies for the research and development of the music industry.

Reform Strategies for the Popular Music Public Course Based on Key Competences

This study aims to explore the application potential of international music teaching methods in the reform of public basic courses of popular music in Chinese universities. Using mixed research methods, the applicability of Dalcroze, Kodaly, and Orff teaching methods was systematically evaluated through expert interviews, teaching material development, and a quasi-experimental design. The study found that these methods have high overall applicability in the Chinese higher education environment (average rating 4.183/5), but require localization adjustments. Based on this, the innovative textbook "Fundamentals and Applications of Popular Music" (IOC value 0.920) and a 12-week teaching plan (IOC value 0.880) were developed. The results of the 16-week teaching experiment showed that the students in the experimental group were significantly better than the control group in terms of music theory knowledge, appreciation ability, creative ability and learning interest (p<0.01). This study proposes a curriculum reform strategy that integrates innovation, technology empowerment, and interdisciplinary integration, providing theoretical basis and practical guidance for improving the quality of popular music education in colleges and universities. Future research directions include expanding the sample scope, conducting long-term follow-up studies, and deepening cross-cultural comparative analysis.

Blue Öyster Cult’s “Godzilla”: An American Kaiju Anthem

In 1978, the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult released the song “Godzilla” as the first single from the fifth studio album Spectres. Despite not registering on popular charts, it would eventually evolve into an iconic song of its era. “Godzilla” continues to receive airplay on classic rock stations, and it remains a staple of the band’s touring performances. In 2019, a cover of the song, more than forty years after its release, made its film debut in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Though the song is primarily a tribute to the Japanese monster from which it gets its name, “Godzilla” also reflects the nuclear fear and paranoia of the 1970s Cold War era. “Godzilla’s” cultural impact, the song’s lyrics, the Cold War context in which it was written, and its connection to the kaiju films featuring the famous monster are examined. While this is the most popular and well-known song dedicated to Godzilla, it is not the only one. Other compositions have, but they have failed to achieve the iconic status that Blue Öyster Cult’s version has attained. This song has evolved into an unofficial anthem for the great monster.

Rockin’ the Regime: Mormon Missionaries, American Popular Music, and the Fading of Spanish Fascism

ABSTRACT In 1972 a group of Mormon missionaries in Spain formed a band known as Los Salt Lake City. Playing primarily folk and rock music, they toured the country, gave radio and press interviews, and released two albums and an EP. Their experience is recounted and assessed in relation to the musical context of Spain at the time, including the social, religious, and political implications of the musical context.

On the Possibilities of Poetry Turned into music. Experiences with Authors, Part of the Required and Elective Training Program

The proposed article examines the relationship between verse and music in the context of the popular Bulgarian song and the lyric poetry itself. Its aim is to offer a way of incorporating poetry in the classroom using one of the media for realisation of the language. The object of the analysis are poetic texts written by authors who are part of the required and elective school program. Thus, the proposed way of learning literature expands not only the spectrum of dimensions of seeing the arts but also the knowledge about the poets themselves.

Woke country: conceptualizing the tune of race-conscious postracialism

ABSTRACT This essay examines new iterations of postracial discourse that can be expressly observed through American country music songs released in the year 2020. Noting that their distribution and reception are largely connected to an era of postracial disruption, I attend to three popular songs that reveal how hollow race-conscious language, popularly labeled “woke,” functions to conflate postracialism and antiracism. By employing explicit recognition of racial difference to frame (the) country as progressive and exceptional relative to its racist past, such rhetoric – which I call race-conscious postracialism – indicates another mode by which whiteness is upheld, even amidst demands for transformation.

토속민요에 대한 1960년대 라디오 프로그램의 인식 -다큐멘터리 시리즈 『민족의 향기』(1967~1968)의 사례 연구-

From the Japanese colonial period to the early 1960s, most of the Korean folk songs broadcast on South Korean radio were popular folk songs. It was natural that radio, as a mass medium, favored popular folk songs that suited the public’s taste. However, in the late 1960s, radio began to pay attention to indigenous folk songs being passed down in rural areas. As the most widespread medium in South Korea during this time, radio exerted significant influence over both public and private spheres. In this regard, it is necessary to study how radio programs during this period perceived indigenous folk songs. This paper examines how the documentary series Minjok-ui Hyanggi, broadcast on the Dong-A Broadcasting System (DBS) from March 1967 to October 1968, approached indigenous folk songs and evaluated their value. The documentary series aimed to establish a national ideology and contribute to the development of national culture by exploring Korea’s traditional culture and the spirit embedded in it. Accordingly, this program examined various tangible and intangible heritages of Korea with special emphasis on folk songs. Initially, the series sought to trace the origins of popular folk songs and explore their meaning in relation to regional identity. After several unsuccessful attempts, it shifted its focus to indigenous folk songs, featuring songs from Wido, Gochang, Jeju, Haenam, Jindo, Somuuido, Andong, Goseong, and Yeongsan from July to October 1967. This program discovered a positive and resilient attitude toward life, warm-heartedness, and unique music untainted by foreign influences in the folk songs of these regions and shared their significance with listeners.

A Gisaeng who Appeared in the Lyrics of Popular songs in the 1930s

A Gisaeng who Appeared in the Lyrics of Popular songs in the 1930s

Exploring the Boundaries of Digital Popular Music Education in Kenya

With technology enhancement and digitalisation of teaching and learning, creative arts and performance are evolving daily. Additionally, the empirical review indicates that Kenya has already embraced these developments even though much must be done. Music education, which relies on creative arts and performance is among the benefactors of digitalisation of learning and teaching. Therefore, the digitalisation of popular music enhances the genres as instructional tools; facilitating access would help improve pedagogical contexts, easing learning and teaching. This study investigates the implementation and impact of Popular Music Education (PME) in Kenya, addressing the challenges and opportunities inherent in integrating digital technologies into the PME curriculum. Using a qualitative research approach, with phenomenological design through the pragmatic paradigm, the research assesses the effectiveness of digital tools in enhancing musical skills and knowledge among students while considering infrastructural and socio-economic barriers. Findings reveal that the digitalisation of PME holds significant potential for improving access, delivery, and quality of learning and teaching but is constrained by resource limitations, connectivity issues, teacher development, and digital teaching and instructional tools. This study contributes to understanding how digital advancements can be tailored to fit the unique context of poorly developed counties in Kenya to offer 21st-century PME. The study is limited to the availability of contextualised data in Kenya that can depict the exactness of digital capabilities in the teaching and learning of popular music in Kenya.

Rude Citizenship: Jamaican Popular Music, Copyright, and the Reverberations of Colonial Power, by Larisa Kingston Mann

Rude Citizenship: Jamaican Popular Music, Copyright, and the Reverberations of Colonial Power, by Larisa Kingston Mann

“The Sun Doesn’t Shine Like in ’85”

Abstract The legacy of Yugoslav music re-emerged in Serbia and in the wider post-Yugoslav cultural space during the 2000s, as the historical distance and growing dissatisfaction with capitalism led artists to reach out to the Yugoslav socialist past. This has taken many directions, from the reigniting of fandom of ex-Yugoslav music stars and the creation of tribute bands, to the renewal of interest in songs from World War ii and the composition of new music echoing Yugoslav memories and re-framing Yugoslav popular songs in the broader field of contemporary artistic practices. Most socio-musical formations and cultural scenes that have been fashioned after the break of Yugoslavia either rearticulated and incorporated particular sound legacies strongly associated with Yugoslav socialism or emulated its ‘ethos’ by contrasting the present with ideas and practices of Socialist Yugoslav society. The author will focus on female performers and authors, as well on the smaller socio-musical and artistic contexts related to the feminist movement. By acknowledging, comparing and interpreting the contributions of female and feminist artists / activists in Serbia who use music as a tools for social critique, the article offers an insight into a complex intersection between gender, ideology, and politics of remembrance ‘after Yugoslavia’.

What Mamá Gallina Can Teach Literacy Educators about Healing Biliteracies

AbstractIn this Action & Learning article, we describe the connections between the popular Spanish nursery song “Los pollitos dicen” (The Little Chicks Say) and Aesop's fable's “The Fox and Hen” with the literacy teaching of bilingual Latinx students. In this metaphor, the bilingual teachers represent the Mamá Gallina (Mother Hen) and their students represent the pollitos (little chicks) in their care. Then, we detail the teaching context from three elementary classrooms with bilingual Latinx students that spurred the metaphor for Mamá Gallina taking care of her pollitos in the classroom. These classrooms suggest how teachers could act as the “Fox” and perpetuate white English hegemony and the “Mother Hen” who mobilized their biliteracies to metaphorically feed and clothe their “baby chicks” with cariño (often translated as “care”). The rest of the article centers on how the metaphor of Mamá Gallina serves as a compelling vision for the healing practices of bilingual teachers themselves, before detailing principles for healing biliteracies in the classroom. These tools include: personal connections, cultural practices, linguistic relevance, and bilingual/biliterate pride. Ultimately, this metaphor illustrates how emancipatory pro‐Latinx teaching must attend to dual purposes: responding to the harm to bilingual teachers and students' biliteracies while also nurturing their dynamic beauty.

Guest Editorial: What Engineers Should Know About the Expanding Generative AI Toolkit

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is the art of creating new things inspired by the old. To understand what generative AI does, ask yourself what you would do if you wanted to create a new hit song. You wouldn't want to start from scratch. Instead, you'd listen to 100 popular songs, analyze the rhythms, melodies, and chord progressions. You would learn how these elements are structured and combined. Then, with this knowledge you would use your creativity to mix and match them in new and exciting ways—resulting in a fresh, original song that may be the next big hit. That's essentially what generative AI does. It devours massive amounts of training data, whether it's music, images, text, or scientific data. It learns the underlying patterns and relationships within that data. Then, it uses this knowledge to generate entirely new content that shares characteristics with the training data, but with a unique twist. Generative AI operates like a master mimic, following a three-step process to create entirely new content. 1. Find the building blocks. As mentioned, generative AI begins by analyzing vast amounts of training data. The goal is to identify the underlying building blocks and structures that define the data. For example, different rooms in a house contain different objects—kitchens have different items than bedrooms. Think of it like understanding the grammar of a language or the architectural styles that make up different cityscapes. For example, generative AI trained on cat images would learn to recognize distinct features like ears, whiskers, and fur patterns. 2. Decipher the unwritten rules. Next, it calculates the conditional probability distribution of these structures. In other words, it finds the order and relationship between various structures and the building blocks. Imagine that kitchen again. We know that knives are more likely to be found near cutting boards than, say, pillows, and that a sofa is typically found in front of a TV in the living room. Generative AI quantifies such relationships which allows it to then understand the underlying rules of how likely certain elements are to co-occur and in what order. 3. Perform a bold and creative remix. Finally, armed with this knowledge of building blocks and the rules of their order and structure, generative AI can create entirely new samples. It combines the learned structures and their conditional probabilities in novel ways, producing something entirely new yet rooted in the representations extracted from the training data. This could be a photorealistic image of a cat with unique markings, a catchy song inspired by popular hits, or even a compelling scientific hypothesis based on existing research.

Jazz Press in Serbia from 1953 to 1965

The aim of the paper was to introduce the specialized press oriented towards jazz music and its practitioners that was published from 1953 to 1965 on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. The marked period was chosen for consideration since it represents the most fruitful stage in the development of the press of a specific thematic profile, but also because of the significant changes in the entire Yugoslav society. These changes, as it was possible to show, influenced the complex processes that shaped the press of the time, as well as the attitude towards this musical genre and its practitioners. The processes in question include, first of all: certain internal political movements that consistently modeled the cultural policy of the time, within which jazz attempted to obtain a favorable position; integration of the former socialist state into polarized international currents that implied the use of jazz as a means of affirming the foreign policy orientation of Yugoslav society; and the creation of the operational power of artists for self-organization and the acquisition of certain labor and social rights within the Association of Jazz Musicians. The association was founded in 1953 in Belgrade with the aim of advocating for the rights of contemporary musicians, while at the same time initiating the publication of the first newspaper Jazz: Journal of Popular and Jazz Music (Jazz. List za pitanja zabavne i džez muzike). Under this name, the journal was published from 1953 to 1954, and during the publication period from 1957 to 1958 it changed its name to Bulletin of the Association of Jazz Musicians (Bilten Udruženja Jazz muzičara). After that, in Novi Sad, in 1962, Rhythm – Yugoslav Review of Jazz and Popular Music (Ritam – Jugoslovenska revija za džez i zabavnu muziku) began to be publish by NIP Dnevnik, and later changed its name to Rhythm – Yugoslav Review of Popular Music (Ritam – Jugoslovenska revija za zabavnu muziku), under which it continued to be published until it ceased publication in 1965.

A Tune of Two Cities

In the worst of times, the best of tunes. Or so might say singer Kim Hae-song (1910–195?), whose 1938 hit recording “Flowery Seoul” (“Kkot sŏul”) arguably offered more than a mere tongue-in-cheek retort to Fujiyama Ichirō’s (1911–1993) own 1936 “Tokyo Rhapsody” (“Tōkyō rapusodi”) by crooning in the Korean language over Koga Masao's (1904–1978) original composition. While both vocalists posture competitively with regard to the modern merits of their respective metropolises, the dark timbre of geopolitics dampens the otherwise playful interaction between these two popular songs, one by an imperial Japanese citizen, the other a colonial Korean subject. This article traces interwar popular music's regional, linguistic, and affective transposability to consider how the exceptional textual and melodic identity between Kim's and Fujiyama's respective city songs belies a more fundamental interpellation of Korean subjects into the transregional logic of Japanese Empire.