Q: Why do I enjoy a song like “I Don’t Want You Back” by Eamon?
A: It’s because, as Susan Seizer argues, there is a real pleasure and performative power in uttering “non-referential” obscenities (“fuck,” “shit,” etc.). Furthermore, I have witnessed among middle-class white folks that we can use our “privilege” to gain temporary special access to language usage and exotic mise-en-scène to which we otherwise do not have/want permanent access, and this is pleasurable. It certainly explains the remarkable number of young Hoosiers (white, middle-class Indiana folk) I teach who rabidly consume hip-hop music such as Drake’s Take Care.
