I was honoured to be invited by Dr Ben Halligan to present a keynote at the Diva: Hip Hop, Feminism, Fierceness Symposium at the University of Wolverhampton (July 2019).
About the symposium:
https://benjaminhalligan.com/divasymposium/
‘The shift from the margins to the mainstream has occurred simultaneously, over the last few decades, for two groups that now jointly exert a central influence over contemporary culture and politics: female r’n’b and hip-hop artists, and feminist thinkers and activists. The coming together of these two groups and sensibilities has redefined contemporary popular music (in all senses of musics of black origin), and wider culture and politics, in the West – from the banlieues to the White House, from Black Lives Matter to #MeToo, from Betty Davis to Neneh Cherry, TLC to Aaliyah, Alicia Keys to Iggy Azalea, Beyonce to Arianna Grande, and all points in between.
The symposium will seek to address this ongoing development, within the scope of exploring the origins of this shift, its resultant successes and failures, its social activism and relationship to “Black Capitalism”, its identity politics and LGBTQ+ components, its saints and sinners and controversies old and new, and its oppositions to, and recuperations by, the establishment, in African-American and Afro-European contexts, and beyond.’
My talk was on Mariah Carey, an artist who is seldom discussed in music academia. I discussed how she is misrepresented by critics and argued on why she should potentially be considered as an ultimate Diva and Womxn Empowerment Influencer in Popular Music and Culture.
I had the great pleasure working with other guests that day: photographer and television director Dr Pogus Caesar, media/culture studies academic Dr Kirsty Fairclough, and music industry expert, Natalie Graham. It was a very enriching event where researchers and guests shared insightful and friendly conversations. For pictures and more information on the programme, please visit: https://benjaminhalligan.com/divasymposium/
Thank you Dr Ben Halligan for the opportunity!