Popular Music and Genre: Is Zess a musical genre?

Question 1

The Purpose of Genre

Answer 1

genres connect cultural producers and texts with audiences…(Brackett)​

Question 2

The Problem with Genre​

Answer 2

… no listing of semantic or stylistic content can account for all texts that might be branded by a particular label, and the same labels refer to different cultural artefacts at different moments. (Brackett)​

…are not static assemblages of empirically verifiable musical characteristics​

Question 3

More Issues​

Answer 3

… a given musical text may belong to more than one genre simultaneously, either due to shifting perceptions of the context under consideration or because the text presents a synthesis that exceeds contemporary comprehension of generic boundaries. (Brackett) ​

Moreover, when one posits a momentary relationship between a musical field of genres and different positions in social space, one is confronted with the instability of social identities, which, like genres, are subject to constant redefinition and which also become meaningful within a field of relationships at a particular moment. (4) (Brackett)​

Question 4

Genre as A Reducer of Agency​

Answer 4

Some could easily fault the notion of genre as a static concept that strips a work of its individuality. The spectral protests of musicians hover before me, complaining that an emphasis on genre, and hence (to some extent) on structure, robs them of agency. (Brackett)​

Question 5

“Participation” ​

Answer 5

“participating” in, rather than “belonging” to, a genre emphasizes temporality. (Brackett)​

And although the range of sonic possibilities for any given genre is quite large at a particular moment, it is not infinite: simply because the boundaries of genre are permeable and fluctuating does not mean that they are not patrolled; simply because a musical text may not “belong” to a genre with any stability does not mean that it does not “participate” in one. (Brackett) ​

Question 6

Genre, Identity and Cultural Memory​

Answer 6

When cultural memory is invoked as a way of understanding the enunciating practice of black music, it reminds us of the contingent nature of identity and how our identity, whatever we perceive it to be, becomes meaningful in relation to other identities as they are performed in the same social space. (Brackett) ​

Question 7

Zess considered a genre

Answer 7

Zess can be considered a genre because it has a distinct sound, culture, and set of artists that separate it from traditional soca or dancehall, creating its own identity rooted in Trinidad’s street life; however, some argue it’s more of a movement or trend than a full genre since it heavily borrows from existing styles and is still evolving without a fully established, consistent musical structure.