Urban Music : A qualitative empirical study of post-BLM media discourse

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to analyze the difference between post-BLM media discourse surrounding urban music in the US and UK music periodicals. It follows the Interpretivist paradigm, assuming the social constructionist epistemological position, the idealist ontology and the abductive logic of inquiry. The core for the research as well as analysis is the Discourse Theory and its key concepts developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. It is both applied in a theoretical and methodological manner. The analytical framework is then also enriched by the attempt to use of the postcolonial theory of Orientalism by Edward Said, and his notion of Othering. The tentative conclusion of the study is that the US and UK media articulate signs emerging around the word urban differently, creating different chains of equivalence. However, considering the nations and their histories differ, it is a rather surprising finding that the differences are almost not apparent and only appear if looked upon very closely. Implications of researching the phenomenon of music labeled as urban, even though not directly arising from this particular study, are advancing the awareness behind the complexities of the term urban and its use within various, mostly creative, industries, which may cause setting the wheels slowly in motion towards a possible industrial, or even a societal change.