Project History: From Turner to Jay-Z
Gender & Racial Fluidity in Turner
In the Preface of his book, Turner: New and Selected Poems, David Dabydeen says,
“My poem focuses on the submerged head of the African in the foreground of Turner’s painting. It has been drowned in Turner’s (and other artists’) sea for centuries."
While researching the poem for an in-class presentation, I was particularly struck by Dabydeen's use of fluid gender identity for the drowning slave's body. As the original painting only shows part of the body, we have no way to know if the embodied person was a woman or man. By switching between these two modes of consciousness, Dabydeen is keeping the readers aware of the supernatural and metaphysical nature of his poem. Below are two excerpts from the poem to highlight this convention. The gender conversation is important to note when thinking of the differences between Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." and Nina Simone's "Four Women."
“My poem focuses on the submerged head of the African in the foreground of Turner’s painting. It has been drowned in Turner’s (and other artists’) sea for centuries."
While researching the poem for an in-class presentation, I was particularly struck by Dabydeen's use of fluid gender identity for the drowning slave's body. As the original painting only shows part of the body, we have no way to know if the embodied person was a woman or man. By switching between these two modes of consciousness, Dabydeen is keeping the readers aware of the supernatural and metaphysical nature of his poem. Below are two excerpts from the poem to highlight this convention. The gender conversation is important to note when thinking of the differences between Jay-Z's "The Story of O.J." and Nina Simone's "Four Women."
My breast a woman's which I surrender
To my child-mouth, feeding my own hurt For the taste of sugared milk, mantee seeds Crushed, my mother dipping them in sweet paste, Let me lick her fingers afterwards. This creature kicks alive in my stomach (Part XI) |
I gather it in with dead arms, like harvest-time
We trooped into the fields at first light, The lame, the hungry and frail, young men Snorting like oxen, women trailing stiff Cold children through mist that seeps from strange Wounds in the land. We float like ghosts to fields Of corn. All day I am a small boy (PartXV) |
Connecting Turner with popular music stemmed from this place in the poem where Dabydeen's character makes it clear that even though the gender may flow and the physical body has been bleached by the ocean and even deteriorated, the "obscene memory" of "Nigger" still lingers. The racial makeup does not flow or change because Modernity has not amply rectified these past horrors. In this excerpt, Dabydeen also introduces the idea of racism ingrained in language association. Black is the color that he does not outright say, but it describing in the last three lines. I take this to mean that no matter the hue or shade of blackness, black identity is a deeply rooted construct that cannot be escaped. In their own ways, Nina Simone and Jay-Z address the concept of "obscene memory." Both of these artists are addressing their respective genders and offering a pointed critique that the internal hatred does nothing but bolster the dominant culture's power because in their eyes we are all "still nigger."
Though human from the shape of its head,
It's half-formed eyes, seeming jaw and as yet Sealed lips. Later it confirmed its breed, Tugging my hair spitefully, startling me With obscene memory. 'Nigger!' it cried, seeing Through the sea's disguise as only children can, Recognising me below my skin long since Washed clean of the colour of sin, scab, smudge, Pestilent, death, rats that carry plague, Darkness such as blots the sky when locusts swarm (Part XI) |
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However, Dabydeen's Turner also has a quasi fluid relationship with racial identity. Based on the Zhong Massacre, J.M.W. Turner's painting of a drowning slave, historically, would be a black body. However, Dabydeen's poem also references the slaves of the Indian Ocean World. Usually the Transatlantic slave trade and the slave trade of the Indian Ocean World are not studied or read in conjunction with each other, but through the creative exercise of writing consciousness onto an 18th century piece of artwork, Dabydeen wants to connect them. Though vastly different in many ways, specifically the level of brutality and violence that characterizes the black Atlantic slave trade, Dabydeen's desire to connect them makes sense as he hails from Guyana, a small Caribbean nation in South America. Guyana has a unique history tied to the racial makeup of its national identity; slaves from both the Transatlantic and Indian Ocean World were relocated there.
Briefly on Jay-Z
Scrolling through Facebook, I saw a video on the racist history of cartoons (linked below) that referenced this new song from Jay-Z. Listening to the song, immediately reminded me of the sentiment from Dabydeen's poem, and then looking at Genius,com, I saw he was sampling from Nina Simone. Jay-Z has said, ‘The Story of OJ’ is really a song about we as a culture, having a plan, how we’re gonna push this forward. We all make money, and then we all lose money, as artists especially. But how, when you have some type of success, to transform that into something bigger."
[Intro: Nina Simone]
Skin is, skin, is Skin black, my skin is black My, black, my skin is yellow [Chorus] Light nigga, dark nigga, faux nigga, real nigga Rich nigga, poor nigga, house nigga, field nigga Still nigga, still nigga I like that second one Light nigga, dark nigga, faux nigga, real nigga Rich nigga, poor nigga, house nigga, field nigga Still nigga, still nigga [Interlude] O.J. like, "I'm not black, I'm O.J." …okay [Verse 1] House nigga, don't fuck with me I'm a field nigga, go shine cutlery Go play the quarters where the butlers be I'ma play the corners where the hustlers be I told him, "Please don't die over the neighborhood That your mama rentin' Take your drug money and buy the neighborhood That's how you rinse it" I bought every V12 engine Wish I could take it back to the beginnin' I coulda bought a place in Dumbo before it was Dumbo For like 2 million That same building today is worth 25 million Guess how I'm feelin'? Dumbo [Chorus] |
[Interlude]
You wanna know what's more important than throwin' away money at a strip club? Credit You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America? This how they did it [Verse 2] Financial freedom my only hope Fuck livin' rich and dyin' broke I bought some artwork for one million Two years later, that shit worth two million Few years later, that shit worth eight million I can't wait to give this shit to my children Y'all think it's bougie, I'm like, it's fine But I'm tryin' to give you a million dollars worth of game for $9.99 I turned that 2 to a 4, 4 to an 8 I turned my life into a nice first week release date Y'all out here still takin' advances, huh? Me and my niggas takin' real chances, uh Y'all on the 'Gram holdin' money to your ear There's a disconnect, we don't call that money over here, yeah [Chorus] |