Tracy Chapman's Position

I remember a lot of music my mom used to play when I was younger. She had such a massive collection of CDs that it would be hard to forget the variety. One artist that really sticks out in my mind from her collection is Tracy Chapman, someone my mom enjoyed playing often. I remember as a child recognizing Chapman’s vocal and narrative talents that truly allowed her to be heard. Even though I did not fully understand the social and political issues behind her music I remember vividly hearing the raw emotion behind Chapman’s music. I feel that this emotion was derived through Chapman from she stood in society. Whiteley also suggests that her background played a major role in becoming a conscious artist: “The combination of a keen musical ear, personal experience of growing up ‘poor, black, working class and female in America’, and a university education which fostered objectivity and observation would seem an ideal background for a socially conscious musician.” (Whiteley, pg 172) Chapman was able to receive an education after starting off with practically nothing therefore allowing her to objectively stand up for those who were discriminated against. Her knowledge gave her a tool to use in speaking out for those who were culturally oppressed because she could understand the disposition that society placed on minorities and females alike.
Tracy Chapman’s experience with oppression comes with the time period she was born into. Because she was from a lower-class black family and she was a girl she had every sort of hegemony working against her. This oppression probably led to her emotional outcry through her music and in turn Chapman used her talent to tell stories about herself and her life. She attempted “to make herself the subject of her narrative, to draw attention to a country shaped by racism, observing from the sidelines the anomalies, the inequalities…”( Whiteley, pg 173) As I explained earlier, Chapman’s education played an extremely vital roll in the development of her artistic persona. By placing herself in the narratives of these stories she brought a real sense of passion and connection to the issues. As a young black female Chapman embodied the spirit of freedom and understanding and through the use of her musical talents she was able to spread her message and knowledge.
I feel that although Chapman presented this emotional and raw side of herself she still fell under the spell of consumerism and the ‘American Dream’. Through her education Chapman was able to boost herself into a higher position within society and although black, she still became part of the (upper) middle-class. Whiteley discusses the difference between 70’s soul and Chapman’s visionary music. “The promotion of black pride, black unity, and self-empowerment…which offered solutions for social, economic, and political oppression through a rejection of white American goals and values, had been countered by a systematic embourgeoisement of the black middle class.” (Whiteley, pg 174) This shows that although conscious, Chapman still appealed to a greater crowd within the middle upper class and therefore the people who she was speaking about were not even a part of her listening audiences. Chapman also exemplifies the idea of consumerism through lines such as, “’everyone will look at me with envy and greed’ and ‘I’ll revel in their attention and mountains, oh mountains o’ things.’” (Whiteley, pg 280) It’s understandable that someone who started outwith nothing would want everything (or as much as they could have) but I feel it’s unfortunate that Chapman, who was such a conscious and provocative artist, would fall under the spell of this idea of consumerism.