How through the use of the genre’s lyrical content, sound production, and visual aesthetics, is neo soul used to reconstruct the identities of Black women and reject Western racial ideologies? How do the music videos of neo soul artists such as Erykah Badu and Jill Scott negate preconceived notions of Black femininity?
COMMUNITY
DOMESTICITY
LOVE
NATURAL IMAGERY
The incorporation of natural visual and aural elements, whether intentional or unintentional, has become a main way in which Black women assume ownership of their representation and bring new narratives of Black femininity to public attention.
The lyrical and visual constructions of the analyzed songs allow each artist to establish and take control of how she interacts with her femininity, sexuality, and vulnerability. Through these methods, each woman contributes to the artistic practice of self expression through an Afro-centric lens.
"Cranes in the Sky"
A Seat at the Table
2016
THE QUIET
Neo soul created an avenue in which "the quiet" could be discussed. In his book The Sovereignty of Quiet: Beyond Resistance in Black Culture, Kevin Quashie considers the quiet to be, “the inner life—one’s desires, ambitions, hungers, vulnerabilities, abilities, [and] fears.” The quiet essentially encompasses the more private and unknown aspects of a person’s life. The mental interiority of the quiet, Quashie argues, is often associated with women as they are the gender that is expected to remain in private and domestic spaces.
- discussion of "the quiet"
- use of nature as a personal sanctuary
- earthtones
- natural hair, natural features
"Lovin' You"
Perfect Angel
1974
- birdsong
- natural performance oasis
- flowers
- natural hair, natural features
BIOPHILIA
This instinct to portray feminine and intimate themes through nature can likely be ascribed to the theory that, “humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life.” Most commonly referred to as biophilia, this hypothesis suggests that humans develop relationships with nature that influence multiple aspects of their lives. A classic example of this is nature’s connection to femininity and motherhood personified in the epithet Mother Nature.
"Green Aphrodisiac"
The Heart Speaks in Whispers
2016
- natural lyrical content
- instrumentation
- flora as sexual metaphor
- natural hair, natural features
"On and On"
Baduizm
1997
"Ex-Factor"
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
1998
- earthtones
- nature as a tool of reflection
- natural hair, natural features
- birdsong
- imagery of water
- revelation of "quiet" vulnerabilities
- natural hair, natural features
"A Long Walk"
Who Is Jill Scott?:
Words and Sounds, Vol. 1
2000
- discussion of the "quiet" aspects of
Black interpersonal relationships
- natural hair, natural features
THE FLORAL-FEMALE
In the realm of visual art, flowers have been used in Europe and the United States in “floral-female” paintings to represent purity, fertility, and beauty. Flowers were chosen as a viable natural element because their innate qualities are similar to the qualities that were expected in a true Victorian woman. Twentieth century etiquette books encouraged this “floral-female” connection and advised women to “look, smell, and act like flowers.”
To look like flowers, which are pure to the earth, one must possess a pure “floral” beauty. This entailed having a clean (in other words, White) face and body and walking with a straight posture. Dresses that could sway and move in the wind were encouraged to make visual connections between the way women move and the way flowers naturally move. Additionally, the act of attaching real flowers to one’s clothes or putting them in one’s hair was a practice that women would do to liken themselves to American feminine standards. To smell like a flower was to wear floral perfumes or use natural scents from rose water or jasmine. Acting like flowers required that women be passive and serve as an alluring decoration in society rather than an autonomous being.
These qualities were not ascribed to Black women and so their association with this “floral-female” metaphor was not common in visual art or Western society. Due to slavery, Black women did not have the opportunities or resources to achieve the characteristics associated with this natural and “floral” beauty. Therefore, Bailey Rae’s and Riperton’s inclusion of flowers into the video, especially Riperton’s placement of baby’s breath in her natural afro, is a way of redefining what is beautiful and what is feminine.
Charles Courtney Curran, Lotus Lillies, 1888, Oil on canvas, 18x32 in
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Daniel J. Terra Collection
neo soul music videos
feature themes of