University Honors

The focus of this project is assessing the critical connections which may be viewedbetween the musical works of Black artists during the 1970’s and 1980’s which served as thegenesis of the genre of hardcore punk and the foundational theories which created the culturalphenomenon, aesthetic, and critical lens that is Afrofuturism. In doing so, this project highlightsforms of African American speculative thinking and defines Afrofuturism itself through theworks of these musicians. Furthermore, by pulling out these connections, this research begins theprocess of seeing the genre of hardcore punk—its uniquely African American form, sound, andpurpose integral in this—as a necessary strand in Afrofuturism, to be viewed in the larger streamof African American approaches towards speculativity in the 20th century. To achieve this goal,this essay will analyze primarily Jacques Attali’s Noise: The Political Economy of Music, afoundational text of sound studies, in relation to musical works by the bands Bad Brains, PureHell, and Death, among others. Additionally, this research seeks to draw upon a history ofscholarly approaches towards Afrofuturism itself through citing works by authors includingMark Dery, Stuart Hall, Stefano Harvey, and Fred Moten, alongside the necessary perspectives ofscholars and critics working in the proximity of music, including Daphne Brooks and JoséEsteban Muñoz. This research posits the work of these aforementioned musicians alongsidethese authors, providing through its totality a viewpoint into Afrofuturism altogether absent inscholarly works.