A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(January 2013) |
Josh Kun | |
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Awards | MacArthur Fellowship |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Music critic |
Sub-discipline | popular music |
Institutions | University of California,Riverside, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism |
Josh Kun is an American author,academic and music critic. Kun is Professor of Communication and Journalism and chair in Cross-Cultural Communication in the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California. [1] He also holds a joint appointment at USC's Department of American Studies and Ethnicity. He is the director of USC Annenberg's School of Communication,director of The Popular Music Project at USC Annenberg's the Norman Lear Center and co-editor of the book series "Refiguring American Music" for Duke University Press.
Kun serves on the boards of Dublab,Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions,and the Latin American Cinemateca,and on the editorial boards of American Quarterly,the International Journal of Communications,and The Journal of Popular Music Studies. He has also worked as a consultant and curator with The Los Angeles Public Library,Walt Disney Concert Hall,The Autry National Center,and the Santa Monica Museum of Art. [2] He is a 2016 MacArthur Fellow.
Josh Kun attended the Harvard School (prior to its merger with Westlake),a private university preparatory day school in Los Angeles,and then Duke University,where he received a B.A. in literature in 1993. He graduated from University of California,Berkeley,with a Ph.D. in ethnic studies. Prior to USC,he was an associate professor of English at the University of California,Riverside. His research focuses on the arts and politics of cultural connection,with an emphasis on popular music,the cultures of globalization,the US-Mexico border,and Jewish-American musical history. [1]
In 2005,he co-founded Reboot Stereophonic,a non-profit record label dedicated to excavating lost treasures of Jewish-American music. Reboot has been featured in The New York Times and on National Public Radio. [3] He is also a co-founder of the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation,which is named for Abraham Zevi Idelsohn,legendary Jewish musicologist and writer of the classic,"Hava Nagila." Idelsohn Society is committed to the belief that music creates conversations otherwise impossible in daily life. The Society's goal is to incite a new conversation about the present by listening anew to the past,focusing on stories of hybrid identities,eclectic communities,racial dialogue,and pioneering musical style,music that forces listeners to interrogate their own identities. [4]
Dr. Kun's October 2009 exhibit "Last Exit USA" at the Steve Turner Contemporary Gallery in Los Angeles,focused on popular music exchanges between Mexico and the U.S. in the 1960s,complete with 44 album covers and two listening stations. According to the Los Angeles Times review of the exhibit,"Listening to Kun's selections is like visiting a world both familiar and strange,a sort of parallel universe that is disorienting,eye-opening,exciting." [5]
As a critic and journalist,Kun is a regular contributor to The New York Times, [6] The Los Angeles Times, [7] Los Angeles Magazine, [8] VIBE,Tu Ciudad Los Angeles,the San Francisco Bay Guardian,and Boston Phoenix. [9] [10]
What is an MC If He Can't Rap to Banda? Making Music in Nuevo L.A. is an article about cultural,especially musical,crossovers between the United States and Mexico,particularly between Los Angeles and Mexico. He analyzes the cultural implications and intersections in the song "No Hay Manera" by AKWID. To give some background,"No Hay Manera" was first popularized in 2003,and it aired on both KPWR 105.9,a popular R&B and hip-hop station in L.A.,and La Que Buena (KBUE),one of Mexico's leading radio stations. The song samples brass and vocal samples from Banda El Recodo's rendition of the song "Te Lo Pido Por Favor" .
Essentially,Kun argues that "No Hay Manera" is a sufficient representation of the idea that cultural and musical hybridity is a form of authenticity,and that immigrant communities express their diaspora in an active,not passive (observatory),fashion. Firstly,Kun addresses the three musical "layers" that are contained in No Hay Manera,each addressing a different slice in time and altogether forming an authentic expression and representation of a "congealed history". More specifically,the layers form a narrative of the Mexican migration to Los Angeles and the creation of new cultural identities along the way and in Los Angeles. The three "layers" are:the original lyrics,the aforementioned sample of Banda El Recodo's rendition of "Te Lo Pido Por Favor",and the song "Te Lo Pido Por Favor" itself. The original lyrics resemble classic L.A. and Chicano hip-hop;specifically,the lyrics emulate the styles of popular L.A. MCs such as Snoop Dogg or Ice Cube,and the lyrics employ typical Spanish wordplay found in the Chicano hip-hop scene in the nineties. The sample of Banda El Recodo's rendition places a traditional Mexican musical style,banda,into a commercialized and widespread context,expressing the Mexican identity now inherent in the L.A. identity. The last layer,"Te Lo Pido Por Favor" written and recorded by Juan Gabriel in 1986,demonstrates the crossover between American and Mexican cultural elements,as Juan Gabriel,a symbol of Mexican music,was a product of both Mexican and American influences. Altogether,these layers confirm a Mexican heritage that is intertwined and mixed into the L.A. identity. Even further,the fact that these layers can be identified inside a single song and are expressed through the "young" and "individualized" medium of hiphop shows that AKWID does not engage in a passive reconnection to their Mexican heritage,but they are,in fact,creating their own,hybrid identities that contains Mexican and American elements. In this way,AKWID connects to their Mexican roots actively rather than passively,as they are creating,not observing. Hence,Kun argues that the musical layers and histories that can be identified in "No Hay Manera" demonstrate an active expression of an authentic,hybrid identity.
Latin hip hop is hip hop music that is recorded by artists in the United States of Hispanic and Latino descent, along with Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean, North America, Central America, South America, and Spain.
Fonovisa Records is an American Spanish language record label founded in 1984 by Guillermo Santiso as a subsidiary of Televisa. Its former name before being acquired by Televisa in 1984 was Profono Internacional, which was founded in 1978. Fonovisa mainly produces Mexican style music. It is well known for its signing with artists such as Los Tigres Del Norte, Los Bukis, Los Temerarios, Enrique Iglesias, Lucero and Thalía.
Banda Sinaloense El Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga, often referred to simply as Banda El Recodo, is a Mexican banda formed in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, in 1938. It has been under the direction of the Lizárraga family. Banda El Recodo has recorded with popular artists such as José Alfredo Jiménez and Juan Gabriel.
Akwid is a Chicano rap group. Brothers Francisco "AK" Gómez and Sergio "Wikid" Gómez, who make up Akwid, are originally from Jiquilpan, Michoacán, but grew up in Los Angeles, California. Before becoming Akwid both "AK" and "Wikid" were part of a former rap group named the "Head Knockerz" with other group members Sabu and John Doe
The 5th Annual Latin Grammy Awards were held on Wednesday, September 1, 2004, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
KEBN 94.3 FM, Garden Grove, California, KBUE 105.5 FM, Long Beach, California and KBUA 94.3 FM, San Fernando, California are a trimulcast comprising Que Buena 105.5/94.3 FM, a Spanish language regional Mexican music station owned by Estrella Media.
KBUA 94.3 FM, San Fernando, California, KBUE 105.5 FM, Long Beach, California, and KEBN 94.3 FM, Garden Grove, California, are a trimulcast comprising Que Buena 105.5/94.3 FM, a Spanish language regional Mexican music station owned by Estrella Media.
The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism comprises a School of Communication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC). Starting July 2017, the school's Dean is Willow Bay, succeeding Ernest J. Wilson III. The graduate program in Communication is consistently ranked first according to the QS World University Rankings.
Univision Music Group was a Latin music company in the United States. Founded in April 2001 by Univision Communications, the Univision Music Group included three record labels: Univision Records, Fonovisa Records and Disa Records. In June 2001, Univision Music acquired a 50% interest in Mexico-based Disa Records, the second largest independent Spanish language record label in the world, and Mexico's leading independent label. More recently in April 2002, Univision acquired Fonovisa, the largest Latin independent label specializing in Regional Mexican music.
Grupera is a subgenre of regional Mexican music. It reached the height of its popularity in the 1990s, especially in rural areas. The music has roots in the rock groups of the 1960s, but today generally consists of four or more musicians using electric guitars, keyboards and drums. The music increased in popularity in the 1980s and became commercially viable, and is now recognized in some Latin music awards ceremonies such as Lo Nuestro and The Latin Grammy Awards. Grupero artists typically perform rancheras, corridos, cumbias, charangas, ballads, boleros and huapangos.
Regional Mexican Airplay is a record chart published by Billboard magazine. It was established by the magazine on October 8, 1994, with "La Niña Fresa" by Banda Zeta being the first number-one song on the chart. The chart mainly focuses on the styles of music from the different rural regions of Mexico such as mariachi, norteño, and banda, as well as the Mexican-American community in the United States such as Tejano. These genres are collectively referred to as "regional Mexican" under the Latin music umbrella.
The Billboard Latin Music Awards grew out of the Billboard Music Awards program from Billboard Magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. Originally launched as the Billboard Latin Music Conference in 1990, the first awards began in 1994. In addition to awards given on the basis of success on the Billboard charts, the ceremony includes the Spirit of Hope award for humanitarian achievements and the Lifetime Achievement award, as well as awards by the broadcasting partner.
No Me Sé Rajar is a studio album released by the Mexican banda ensemble Banda el Recodo. This album became their first number-one album in the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and also received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album.
Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distributing Latin music in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico. UMLE includes famous Latin music labels such as Universal Music Latino, Fonovisa Records, Universal Music Mexico, Capitol Latin, Machete Music and Disa Records.
The 2009 Billboard Latin Music Awards was held on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. It is produced and broadcast lived on Telemundo network. The nominees were announced on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 during a live televised morning show Levantate on Telemundo network.
The 8th Annual Premios Oye! took place at the Auditorio del Estado in Guanajuato, Guanajuato on November 24, 2009. The nominees were announced on September 29 with Alexander Acha and Banda el Recodo receiving 4 nominations, followed by Fanny Lu, Jenni Rivera, Vicente Fernández and Zoé with 3 each one. It will be celebrated in Guanajuato in order to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Mexican Independence Day Grito de Dolores. Rapahel will be awarded by the Academia Nacional de la Música en México for his 50 years or career. The voting process is certified by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Los Tucanes De Tijuana are a Mexican norteño band led by Mario Quintero Lara. The band was founded in Tijuana, Baja California in 1987. They, along with Los Tigres del Norte, were pioneers in playing their music in a rougher manner as opposed to the traditional norteño music of northeastern Mexico, subsequently influencing many other norteño artists from Mexico’s pacific states and giving that region of the country its signature norteño sound. During their career, Los Tucanes de Tijuana have garnered several awards and recognitions, including a Latin Grammy in 2012 for the album 365 días, five Grammy Award nominations, nine Lo Nuestro Awards nominations and multiple BMI Awards for Quintero as a composer. They are the first norteño music band to obtain an international film award by winning the Un Certain Regard Angel Film award at the Monaco International Film Festival for their participation in the documentary Los ilegales. In 2008, the group received a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Fame.
The 2011 Billboard Latin Music Awards were held on Thursday April 28, 2011 at the BankUnited Center at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. It is produced and broadcast lived on Telemundo network. The nominees were announced on Thursday February 10, 2011.
The 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards was held on November 16, 2017, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It was broadcast on Univision at 8PM ET\PT. This marked the tenth year Las Vegas hosts the Latin Grammy Awards and also marked the telecasts return to the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Lunas del Auditorio is a recognition given by the Auditorio Nacional to the best live concerts in Mexico. The prize is a replica of the sculpture of the Moon by sculptor Juan Soriano. The ceremony is broadcast by Televisa, TV Azteca, Channel 22 of the Secretariat of Culture and Canal Once of the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico.