When the Black Jewish rap superstar Drake first started rapping, Katie Couric asked him, "What's a nice Jewish boy doing in a career like this?" Her question spotlights the pressure on Drake to reconcile popular stereotypes about frail, neurotic (white) Jewish boys and tough, violent Black (gentile) men. In a Zoom webinar on Wednesday, March 3, at 5 p.m. Jonathan Branfmans will analyze how Drake smooths these contradictory masculine tropes into a unified and glamorous star image. In turn, this talk examines how Drake's style of masculinity channels wider ideological debates over rap itself as an oft-vilified Black art form. Registration is required at the link below. More information at www.jewishstudies.cornell.edu.
Image by: thecomeupshow, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_37izspgpQVqLw_K1qZt4aA
