Untitled- Mixtape

 Mixtape - Za’Kayla Williams

For my project, I chose to create a mixtape that shows the oppression of fear vs. control. For the main text of my mixtape, I decided to use the novel Native Son by Richard Wright as my primary text. I’ll mainly focus on the main character, Bigger Thomas, and how he is confined by his environment and the expectations of society. By doing this, I will show through music how Bigger represents what and how most African Americans felt during the 1930s. The little things from his neighborhood, the financial issues he and his family experience, and the way the white society views him are based on the way African Americans acted. Each song will match a part of Bigger’s life or a feeling he has, like being scared, frustrated, or trying to be in control of something. The songs that I’ll be using will highlight the shift of fear and control, along with attempts to claim control.

1-4: Fear

Track One: “Strange Fruit” – Billie Holiday. This song starts the mixtape off because of her lyrics that convey the extreme fear that African Americans experienced. This song could be used as something that brings in what is called inherited fear. This is fear from generations before, even if slavery had already ended. It works for Bigger Thomas because he grew up already knowing the danger for African Americans, especially Black men. 

Track Two: “(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue”—Louis Armstrong. This song works well with the theme because it represents Bigger’s fear and the weight of racial oppression that he faced. 

Track Three: “The Bourgeois Blues”—Lead Belly. This song talks about being judged and denied. This correlates with how Bigger feels the same way in the way he lives. He felt as if he was being watched daily, which eventually led to a sense of feeling trapped. 

Track Four: “Living for the City”—Stevie Wonder. This song correlates with the situation and how they were living. This especially goes with page 17, where Bigger talks about flying a plane to feel free, only for one of his partners in crime to remind him of the barriers that prevent them from achieving such things. 

Track Five: “Inner City Blues”—Marvin Gaye. This song talks about the economic hardship and inequality that African Americans face. For Bigger, it goes with the tension that is building up and his feeling of being trapped. In the novel, Bigger also states that he feels as if something bad is going to happen to him or he is going to die. 

Track Six: “Fight the Power”—Public Enemy. This song emphasizes anger and frustration, and also, that goes with how Bigger was feeling silenced, but because of fear, he feels unable to express it properly. 

Track Seven: “Alabama”—John Coltrane. Bigger felt panic after he accidentally killed Mary Dalton. John Coltrane’s song correlates with how Bigger was portrayed by his race and how African Americans were seen.

Track Eight: “The Blacker the Berry” —Kendrick Lamar. This song goes with the stereotypical ways that are assumed. The lyrics “You hate me, don’t you?” just expand with Bigger’s perception that society judges him just because of his race. 

Track Nine: “Fear” —Kendrick Lamar. His song highlights the fear from childhood to adulthood, also how Bigger had felt fear and alienation as a child. 

Track Ten: “Behind Blue Eyes” –Limp Bizkit. This emphasizes the isolation talked about in the song. Bigger definitely feels isolated and lonely, but part of that is because he pushes others away and lets no one get close. 

Track Eleven: “The Story of O.J.” –Jay-Z. Jay-Z’s song talks about the success of a black person, but even then, it cannot override racial categories that are forced onto African Americans. 

Track Twelve: “Caged Bird” –Alicia Keys. This song has a theme of helplessness. Her lyrics go with Bigger’s want for freedom, but also the terrified, frozen state he felt after his accidental murder. 

Track Thirteen: “Regret” –New Order. This song is basically the end, and how Bigger feels when he is said to be guilty. He is past the panic stage now, with only regret at what his actions have caused. 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0rlutFvZpupx58CUGbStLr