Drake, Minaj and Mill Memes: A Micro-lesson on Intersectionality and Interpretations : August 2015

https://twitter.com/UKarts_sciences

from http://www.uky.edu/StudentAffairs/KWeek/index.html

Class of 2019, welcome to the University of Kentucky! I hope you are enjoying #Kweek15.

I am Dr. DaMaris B. Hill. I am a faculty member with the Department of English in the Creative Writing Program and with the African American and Africana Studies Program at the University of Kentucky.

In the Department of English, we believe that art reflects life. Therefore, we read books and other narratives in order to critically think about the world we live in. In the Program for African American and Africana Studies, we take an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing the African Diaspora, inclusive of art, social sciences, biological sciences, philosophy and ect.

My courses have also been offered with WIRED, UKCore and the Department of Gender and Women's Studies. Nicki Minaj is my favorite rap artist.

from www.cosmopolitan.co.uk

Nicki Minaj is one of the highest earning rap artist and is signed to Young Money Entertainment where she works closely with Drake (pictured on the right). They often sing duets together. She is currently dating Meek Milll (pictured on the left).

from http://urbanislandz.com

According to Billboard.com's article Meek Mill vs.Drake: A Full Timeline of the Rap Beef & Who Weighed In, Meek Mill took to Twitter to call out Drake for not writing his own raps, claiming Drake didn't promote Meek Mill's album, Dreams Worth More Than Money, because he and his team found out that Drake used a ghostwriter.

from www.twitter.com

The tensions in the dispute are heightened by the fact that Meek Mill is in a relationship with Nicki Minaj. Minaj is Drake's close colleague and collaborator on many hit songs. For the sake of this demonstration, I would like us to analyze and discuss memes related to the Meek Mill and Drake conflict.

As we read the memes note how academic theories help us to read memes associated with this conflict or rap beef. Also consider how theories associated with intersectionality (pluralisms) help us understand what hip-hop fans are saying about each of the artists in terms of race, gender, sexuality, and ability.

from http://www.nymgamer.com/?p=9385

Read the memes as if they are texts, similar to the ways we read literature. Also analyze whether or not they are in conversation with one another and/or popular culture. Please consider how American culture's general understandings of race, gender, sexuality, and ability are expressed in each meme.

Consider how the meme renders meaning about race.
Consider how the meme renders meaning about gender, specifically masculinities (general ideas about manhood) and/or femininities (general ideas about womanhood).
Consider how the meme renders meaning about sexuality, specifically homosexuality and heterosexuality.
Consider how the meme renders meaning about ability, specifically his or her professional ability as be rap artist.

***

Meek Mill lashes out at Drake on Twitter and released a subsequent 'diss' song about Drake. Memes ensued. Let's work together to analyze a few using theories of intersectionality and the considerations from above.

from www.twitter.com

What intersectional identities are being critiqued in this meme?

Consider how the meme renders meaning about race.
Consider how the meme renders meaning about gender, specifically masculinities (general ideas about manhood) and/or femininities (general ideas about womanhood).
Consider how the meme renders meaning about sexuality, specifically homosexuality and heterosexuality.
Consider how the meme renders meaning about ability, specifically his or her professional ability as be rap artist.

from www.twitter.com

What intersectional identities are being critiqued in this meme?

Consider how the meme renders meaning about race.
Consider how the meme renders meaning about gender, specifically masculinities (general ideas about manhood) and/or femininities (general ideas about womanhood).
Consider how the meme renders meaning about sexuality, specifically homosexuality and heterosexuality.
Consider how the meme renders meaning about ability, specifically his or her professional ability as be rap artist.

from www.twitter.com

What intersectional identities are being critiqued in this meme?

Consider how the meme renders meaning about race.
Consider how the meme renders meaning about gender, specifically masculinities (general ideas about manhood) and/or femininities (general ideas about womanhood).
Consider how the meme renders meaning about sexuality, specifically homosexuality and heterosexuality.
Consider how the meme renders meaning about ability, specifically his or her professional ability as be rap artist.

from www.twitter.com

The above meme is one of my favorites. How does this meme critique the aforementioned memes? How does this meme enter a larger popular culture conversation? What does the image of Kermit the Frog add to the cultural symbolism of the Meek Mill vs. Drake 'rap beef' memes?

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