{"id":117,"date":"2025-04-28T20:06:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T20:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jkim.dcreate.domains\/dig401\/?p=117"},"modified":"2025-04-28T20:06:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T20:06:50","slug":"hack-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jkim.dcreate.domains\/dig401\/artist-statement\/hack-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Hack #5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By splicing, reforming, transposing, and transforming musical elements of my previous project, Hack #4, I remixed<\/em> my remix to offer a new, critical message. This old work used three musical pieces from three distinct time periods to exhibit music\u2019s quality and tendency to be used for advocacy against systems of oppression, inequality, and injustice. \u201cThis is America\u201d (2018) advocates against gun violence and speaks upon the Black Experience in America, \u201cWhat\u2019s Going On\u201d (1971) offers heartwrenching melodies and lyrics to tackle police brutality in wake of the Vietnam war, and \u201cWater No Get Enemy\u201d (1975) critiques dictatorship and governmental water pollution through innovative soloing and percussion. Thus, these three pieces share a common factor of using music to unveil the overwhelming negativity and corrupt undertones of society. As a response, my Hack #5: Beta Release recontextualizes these pieces by suggesting that music, in addition to being used as a form of advocacy, can also be used as a coping mechanism to forget and distract from these times of negativity. By keeping and splicing certain lyrics of \u201cThis is America\u201d and adding new elements from songs like \u201cFunny Thing\u201d (2020) by Thundercat, \u201cBoogie Wonderland\u201d (1979) by Earth, Wind & Fire, \u201cThe Bottle\u201d (1974), and \u201cComment #1\u201d (1970) by Gil Scott-Heron, the meaning of Hack #4 becomes reshaped to exhibit how music offers an outlet during dark times. My Hack #5: Beta Release achieves this reimagination by relying on rhetorical devices of remixes and mashups as described by Virginia Kuhn in \u201cThe Rhetoric of Remix\u201d from The Journal of Transformative Works and Cultures<\/em> 9 (2012). First, I use Ironic Recontextualization to subvert the original meaning of Hack #4 by placing the lyrics of \u201cThis is America\u201d in a new context. I used lyrics like \u201cthis is America, look how I\u2019m livin\u2019 now,\u201d and \u201clook what I\u2019m whippin\u2019 now\u201d in tandem with the upbeat, energetic instrumentals from \u201cFunny Thing\u201d and “Boogie Wonderland\u201d to shift the original meaning entirely. Previously, these lyrics spoke on inequality and gun violence towards Black lives portraying that this is a corrupt America that we live in and that guns (whippin\u2019) are being abused. Now, however, these lyrics offer more uplifting meanings, suggesting that we can live lavishly by whippin\u2019 fancy cars and go dancing in clubs to forget about the horrors of society. Other lyrics, like \u201cAnd America is now blood and tears instead of milk and honey\u201d from Gil Scott-Heron\u2019s \u201cComment #1\u201d also become recontextualized by these new instrumentals. By only keeping the words \u201cmilk and honey,\u201d and placing them among the infectious groove of \u201cBoogie Wonderland,\u201d the iconic spoken word that criticizes white supremacy becomes a rhythmic ad lib that contributes to this idea of escaping and forgetting corruption in society. Finally, I used layering to stack the multiple pieces of music together to create a deeper texture of meaning. For instance, I used Logic Pro\u2019s stem splitting audio feature to combine an aspect of each piece of music. I combined the drums of \u201cFunny Thing\u201d with the instrumental of \u201cBoogie Wonderland,\u201d and later mixed in the vocals and percussion of \u201cThe Bottle.\u201d By doing so, the larger meaning of each track became more visible. For instance, these three pieces of music all exhibit coping mechanisms during times of distress. \u201cBoogie Wonderland\u201d represents how dancing, music, and disco clubs can be used to escape everyday troubles, \u201cThe Bottle\u201d depicts alcohol and substance abuse in times of racial prejudice and inequality, and \u201cFunny Thing\u201d combines these two themes of music and substances by using the two to escape depression. Thus, the layering of the various elements of these music pieces continues to support and strengthen the idea of using music as a coping mechanism. Through these rhetorical devices, my Hack #5 significantly alters, transforms, and reimagines its alpha version, Hack #4.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n