This episode tackles issues of colonialism, a topic which may not appeal to wider audiences. Colonialism refers to where one country or culture ‘takes over’ another country or culture, and imposes their culture on them. This can lead to interesting blends of culture, and yet always is achieved through the cultural domination of another country. This episode refers to the repackaging of afrobeats, and the reselling of this music in America and Europe for the purpose of power and profit. This is an example of cultural imperialism.
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How is this episode constructed in a way that is appealing to its target audiences?
- Extensive use of music creates a relatable and exciting mode of address to teenage audiences.
- The unfamiliar music choices are very interesting, and provide audiences with a range of information
- The topic of the music industry provides an escapist mode of address to the target audience
- “Black people love Ed Sheeran” for his range of music, and drawing attention to different genres. Also constructs an inclusive mode of address for his black audiences. Ed Sheeran is a popular artist, and respecting him stops George from alienating his audience
- Episode starts a completely new topic with no assumed information, yet encourages the audience to listen to other episodes
- Audience appeal, audience needs, audience positioning
- Themes and content: what is this episode actually about? How does it reflect sociopolitical contexts?
- A complicated and demanding mode of address, with a music related topic. The episode focuses on American music producers ‘stealing’ African/afrobeat music, and the consequences of way. Francophone refers to countries and cultures where the assumption is that the most spoken language is French. The idea that people in these countries speak French is routed in colonisation. While this clearly creates a fascinating mix of cultures, the process of colonisation involves taking people’s freedom away, and this episode deals with this . George considers an example of Senegalese pop music and muses that it wasn’t more internationally successful because “it wasn’t the right kind of European language”. He refers to the artist Akon, and considers why he become famous and other artist didn’t. George discusses ‘whitewashing’, where afrobeat music is remixed, re-corded and represented in a way which will appeal to a whiter international audience.
- Collective industry building takes a certain economy’
- The market in Africa is bizarrely smaller than that in north America, and George discusses the capitalist desire to take culture and wealth from another continent, and to remarket it to Americans. This extremely complex mode of address
- How does George take such complex subject and present it in an appealing way?
- George’s lexis is simple and straightforward, and invites a variety of audiences to engage with him
- A range of music is included throughout the podcast which helps the audience to understand the nature of the discussion, and and also presents an exciting and appealing mode of address
- Highly educational, with a wealth of knowledge being shared with the audience, such as the American appropriation of a range of African music being turned in to chart success
- The use of poetry is highly appealing, and constructs an important and satisfying mode of address
- “[on Akon] From the start he said he was African/ But that wasn’t the packaging that would bring him to platinum”
- George casually mentions his PhD, insinuating his very high level of education, yet drops the ‘dr’ aspect from his name, constructing a relatable mode of address