In this current era of viral social media, much of contemporary cultural production caters to Generation Z’s proclivity for choreographed dance challenges such as the Renegade and the Mop circulating on apps like TikTok, Dubsmash, and Instagram.1 In Renegades: Digital Dance Cultures from Dubsmash to TikTok, scholar and public educator Trevor Boffone suggests that the cultural practices of Gen Z are “…far more nuanced and relevant than casual observers (read: adults) might typically imagine” (9). Boffone centers the work of Black girl content creators who serve as key agents of hip-hop cultural production. Drawing from theater, performance, gender, hip-hop, and sound studies, he explores how these creators skillfully occupy visual and sonic space on dance platforms to (per)form identity and build supportive digital communities. Through ethnographic case studies, Boffone convincingly argues that the viral social media landscape is a critical, yet undervalued, space to theorize the integral role Black...
Review: Renegades: Digital Dance Cultures from Dubsmash to TikTok, by Trevor Boffone
Jasmine A. Henry is an assistant professor of musicology and Wolf Humanities Center fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include Black electronic dance music, independent music production, and Afrofuturism. Her current book project focuses on the history of Black urban club music and party cultures in Newark, New Jersey. As a live sound engineer, she has entertained international audiences through her work on critically acclaimed productions such as the Blue Man Group, HBO’s The Newsroom, and Broadway’s Chicago the Musical. From 2017 to 2022, she served as the Media Lab Director at the Newark School of the Arts, where she provided youth from historically marginalized backgrounds with access to music technologies and industry knowledge.
Jasmine A. Henry; Review: Renegades: Digital Dance Cultures from Dubsmash to TikTok, by Trevor Boffone. Journal of Popular Music Studies 1 March 2024; 36 (1): 156–159. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2024.36.1.156
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