Jes' Grew and the Internet
Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo describes Jes’ Grew as a virus that causes people to sing and dance, causing a flourishing of black culture in the 1900s that took form in uncontrollable singing, dancing, and jazz. In general, Jes’ Grew seems to describe the genesis of new culture and its sometimes virus-like spread through society, characterized by the backlash against it (in Mumbo Jumbo, it was the Atonists against jazz). This backlash usually seems to arise from the older generation, who protest that Jes’ Grew’s manifestations are frivolous and not “real culture.”
Jes’ Grew maintains its relevance today, perhaps even more so because of how easily different cultures can intermingle and spread through technology and the Internet. In fact, it seems that technology has exacerbated the spread of Jes’ Grew throughout the youth of today’s society. The internet is the prime place for culture to be established, created, and publicize itself to not just a single country or a single city, but to the rest of the world. It has become a hub of free cultural expression while making censorship that much more difficult. Bedroom pop, music that is literally made in the bedroom by young artists, is a prime example of the freedom of expression that can be associated with the internet. Unlike in the past, the internet has become the predominant place for cultural growth.
One of the biggest examples of Jes’ Grew on the internet is, perhaps, TikTok. The app is a corner of the internet solely dedicated to short videos predominantly of music and dancing and is very much related to and influenced by pop, hip-hop, rap, and other modern genres of music. TikTok has given rise to the so-called “TikTok dancing,” a style of dancing that is solely related to TikTok. Often, it is criticized as frivolous by many, with people claiming that TikTok dancing is not true dance. Not only is it a place of bodily expression, there have also been instances of creators who have created songs through TikTok or gained popularity through TikTok. These are all characteristics of Jes’ Grew and Harlem. Harlem was also a place of vast cultural expression for jazz. People danced through the streets; they sang jazz and blues despite the pushback from the Atonists. Then, perhaps it is not a stretch to say that TikTok may be the Harlem for the Jes’ Grew of the modern world -- they are both places of expression and dance following modern genres of music.
Your blog brings up a lot of interesting points. What stuck out to me was the connection you made with Harlem and Tik Tok. Although I can maybe see how one would compare the two, I don't think they're that similar. Harlem is the birthplace of culture such as jazz whereas Tik Tok is a place where culture becomes mainstream and popular. The reason why people like me would criticize Tik Tok is because it isn't authentic. It's just a platform where music and dance that already existed is seen by the rest of America.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with this! Your comparison between Tik Tok and Jes Grew makes sense, as both are capable of spreading dances and trends throughout young people. Both have face criticism for their dance styles and have been largely dismissed by the population. However, while Jes Grew was criticized by people because of spreading black culture, Tik Tok is oversaturated to the point that it is just seen as teens doing repetitive trends. While there is definitely black influence on Tik Tok, as a lot of the dances were originally created by black dancers, they are often not credited. Therefore, the difference is that Jes Grew was also a cultural movement and pushback against the rejection of black culture, whereas Tik Tok remains a place for people to continue spreading saturated black culture.
Delete"Bedrooom pop," as well as "Soundcloud rap," are both good examples of a more "democratic" kind of popular culture ecosystem than in the modernist period, where you have "gatekeepers" in the form of TV networks, movie studios, publishers, and record labels determining who can make and distribute what art--Reed depicts all such institutions as infiltrated with Atonists, and they subtly work to discredit "Jes Grew" art by depicting it as "primitive," or "not ready," cute but ineffective attempts to imitate "real" (i.e. Western) art. With the accessibility of self-publishing on all kinds of online platforms, these gatekeepers have receded to a significant extent. We could indeed view this as a kind of victory for Jes Grew, depending on the quality and nature of the art being produced.
ReplyDeleteI love this! The internet is definitely a place where culture can be created, shared, and become more mainstream. I find it interesting as a TikTok user that the platform can connect back to Jes Grew through the positive impact it has on those who engage with it. Conversely, pushback regarding the two include that neither can facilitate actual cultural importance or relevance and are both meaningless, timewasting activities. Incredible link to Jes Grew!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I like how you pointed out how you can see the connection of TikTok with Jes Grew through both its positive characteristics and impacts, as well as through the negative reactions and criticisms.
DeleteOverall I think the comparison between TikTok and Jes Grew is a great one, as they are so similar in the actual manifestation (music, dance, cultural expression), the impact, and negative reactions they've received. Great job Jeana!
Tiktok is a really interesting example because it's often criticized for its lack of culture and creativity actually (in that much of the content is copies of preexisting content). Yet, I still see that connection to Jes Grew so much because of the sheer widespread and rapid pace of the content. There was also lots of controversy that Black creators weren't being credited for their choreographies as white dancers then became associated with it. Of course, that reminds me very much of The Wallflower Order.
ReplyDeleteI love your connection to The Wallflower Order here. I definitely see a similar phenomenon on Tik tok, where original content coming from black creators is copied or watered down to the point where it loses credibility and becomes a white washed trend. Now, I think that a large part of Tik tok is unoriginal, but I think a lot of unique and innovative work is published through the platform, as well as publicizing content that might not have been given the recognition it deserved without the app. Often, the popular ideas or critiques of Tik Tok overshadow that parts of it that emulate aspects of the Jes Grew movement.
DeleteThis topic and post are really interesting! Of course, along with Jes Grew spreading quicker and easier, Atonism is also becoming more frequent I think, in the form of trolls and people on the internet spreading hate/misinformation about things they may not know much about. And at the same time, it is becoming easier for pro-Jes Grew and especially Atonists to hide behind anonymity. And because of anonymity and faked sources and stuff, I feel like it's easier to become unintentionally atonist-ic (especially through misinformation)... if that makes sense? Anyway, great post, and I feel like there are 100 different directions to go with this (both optimistic and pessimistic)!
ReplyDeleteWow, I really like the idea behind this post. I think you did a great job of connecting Jes Gew back to modern terms. I hadn't actually thought of TikTok as being the modern way os spreading Jes Gew but I think you're totally right. There have been many movements on TikTok that exist to spread culture through dance and trends. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi, The example of TikTok is really cool because a lot of older generations or more 'sophisticated' artists (or as Reed might call them, Atonists) may see a lot of the dances on there as culture that's tainting the youth but it's influenced so many people to create their own unique art, something similar to Jes Grew. TikTok is something that pretty much everyone can get on and create their art and get a international platform, something that hasn't been common till the age of internet. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really like this post and your thoughts on the internet in relation to Jed’ Grew. The internet, and social media in general, allow different cultures and “trends” to spread insanely quickly, but it also generates quite a bit of negative backlash. In particular, something i’ve noticed is that the more popular something is - and the faster it got popular - the more it inevitably ends up mocked and ridiculed by a large population as being “overrated”, or “not worth the hype”. Sometimes this is genuinely true (in my opinion), but a lot of the time what seems to end up happening is that a trend starts out as something really cool and unique, that ends up cheapened or bastardized by a small portion of the millions of people who jump onto the trend (esp. when the trend is related to a specific culture, and then people who are not from that culture/don’t understand it start trying to copy it). It reminds me a lot of Jes’ Grew and the importance of not letting it turn into a passing fad or letting it get undermined.
ReplyDeleteTikTok is definitely somewhere where things go to jus' grow in general. I'm not on TikTok but from what I gather, I would also note that most of the popular dances on TikTok are created by black creators, which is just another parallel to Jes Grew.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, TikTok is way more controlled and censored than Jes Grew, it's kind of designed so that the developers control which kinds of content grows, which is definitely against the Jes Grew spirit. If anything, I would say Jes Grew is an Atonist attempt to emulate Jes Grew in their own space with their oversight (though it remains undeniably, unfortunately successful). It's not a conspiracy theory to say that TikTok blatantly censors content they don't like and collects tons of personal, often private data from their users, making it really easy to say that TikTok is an Atonist social experiment of some sort.
I definitely agree with your opinion that the internet is the new source of Jes Grew, and that has its ups and downs. First of all, it's a way for everyone to participate in this culture, which to me is a good thing. Everyone with an internet connection is able to be a part of Jes Grew, with little to no censorship or oversight. However, I think that one huge problem is the speed at which trends go by on the internet (especially on Tik Tok). It's as if Jes Grew is there for a second, gets extremely popular, but everyone catches it and it disappears, only to come back in another form the next day. It never truly has the opportunity to fulfill its full potential. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that trends on TikTok come and go so quickly that it's hard to even call them a movement. Nothing is really able to reach its full potential just because there isn't time to reflect on anything. Also, my understanding of Jes Grew was that it found its basis in marginalized cultures trying to make their voices heard. TikTok can sometimes be a place to mock or subdue this Jes Grew instead. Something that comes to mind is the trend of saying something in a "blaccent" and thinking it's hilarious. The real joke being made here is at the expense of black people. So while TikTok provides an opportunity for culture to flourish, it is also a great platform fo Antonists.
DeleteI like this idea. Honestly, if Mumbo Jumbo had been written later in time (after the internet had gone into full swing) I don't think jes grew would have died in the end. It's almost come back to life now that culture is able to spread, especially through TikTok, but also instagram, youtube, and even (god forbid) twitter. Honestly one of the best things about the internet. (Except for twitter. Because twitter is a nightmare). The way in which culture is able to spread now, worldwide, through the internet is amazing. There's even the connection with Virus and Viral.
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