Musical appropriations: Harlem Shake, Die Antwoord, and Graceland

What happens when a spoof of a hip hop dance becomes a viral meme?
Ethnographers write long blog posts about it. It's an interesting commentary, and makes curious reading alongside Chapters 3 (on Die Antwoord) and 4 (on Gangsta) of Adam Haupt's recent book Static: Race & Representation in Post-Apartheid Music, Media & Film (free download available) and alongside some of the comments and articles on Paul Simon's Graceland. There's the bare bones of an interesting seminar, I think.

Melanie's blog

Someone I care about lost her father a year ago today. Her blog post on his death is worth reading.

Singing not so happily ever after

I want to create a course just so that I can show this to my students