Dr Natalie Hyacinth | Royal Holloway, University of London (original) (raw)

Conference Presentations by Dr Natalie Hyacinth

It's 11.15 pm, December 31 st 2015. Ealing Christian Centre's New Year Celebration Evening is und... more It's 11.15 pm, December 31 st 2015. Ealing Christian Centre's New Year Celebration Evening is under way. The church is filled to the brim with devotees dancing, singing and waving their arms to the Gospel praise music that is being performed on stage by a talented band of musicians including singers, drummers, keyboardists and guitarists; ECC's very own in house worship team. The lyrics to the song appear across the huge projector screen hanging above the large, wide stage. Devotees look up and across to the the band and then, tilting their heads further up, read the lyrics for their sonic and spiritual upliftment. The band skilfully play out the end of the " The Revelation " song softly. Slowly the band goes quiet, and the congregation come to a standstill, signalling a break in musical proceedings. The worship team gradually leave the stage. There are a few moments of silence in the auditorium. Then, suddenly sound emerges once again, though this time it is coming from the auditorium's audio speakers at the back of the church. Though, there is something different about the music that I immediately start moving my body to in an altered way. It is not just that the music has gone from live to recorded sounds, it is that I am hearing music I'm more familiar within a different setting; this is not Gospel music, nor is it traditional choral music. I begin nodding my head to beats I would usually hear in a bar or club, distinctively more secular settings. As I look around I see a few people change their posture. The response to the music from some devotees I can sense is somewhat initially muted. There is an atmosphere of incredulity as older devotees work out this new sound, a sound that is strangely unfamiliar and new. I see some of the older devotes moving slowly, struggling to respond to the faster and more percussive beats coming from the speakers. It seems that the music is louder, but that could just be because I am listening more intently, searching for where I remember the song. I nod my head a little more and suddenly I remember, it is an instrumental version of a beat made by one of my favourite hip hop producers, J Dilla… After a few more moments of enjoying the beat, Mr K enters the stage with a warm cheer from the ground. He is well known to the congregation, having grown up in the church, and evening getting married in it a few years earlier. He explains that he will perform a new song this evening called " The Dream " for a friend that had recently passed. It is a poignant and transformative moment. Mr K's entry signals a departure from the previous Gospel orientated worship songs the church is familiar with. Mr K, ECC's very own homegrown hip hop artist, signals a step into unfamiliar, yet increasingly musical territory for some of the congregation. This is praise music over secular beats, rap entwined with sacred theology… This fieldnote symbolises the presence of two worlds peculiarly inhabiting one space. On the one hand is the world of theology, spirituality and faith, and on the other the secular world of hip hop, rap and intoxicating, secular beats. Ealing Christian Centre

This is a poster for a Come and Sing! Choral Workshop I co-organised on Saturday 21st May 2016.

I presented this paper at the TECHNE Kinesis & Stasis Conference in November 2015, London. My pre... more I presented this paper at the TECHNE Kinesis & Stasis Conference in November 2015, London. My presentation explored the intersection between a "black", afro futurist identity and the explicit adoption of technology, an explorative underground movement that I call "black techne". Read and explore with me...

I will present this paper at the AAG in San Francisco in April 2016!

Drafts by Dr Natalie Hyacinth

Papers by Dr Natalie Hyacinth

Lewisham is an important historical centre for Black British music. Legendary sound systems such ... more Lewisham is an important historical centre for Black British music. Legendary sound systems such as Jah Shaka, Saxon Studio International and the influential Lover's Rock music genre and record label, along with chart topping Black British artists such as Carroll Thompson, Janet Kay, Tippa Irie and Maxi Priest all have musical roots in the borough. Sound system culture is an intrinsic part of Lewisham's musical evolution, becoming a voice for the people. There is much to learn about the social and political dynamics of the borough from a historical perspective throughout the decades.
The Sound of Lewisham traces Lewisham's sound system history via a timeline. It explores the borough's music culture by outlining and analysing the political and social environment of the time, including Lewisham's migration history, key political events and shifts, and how these social dynamics influenced the creation of the borough's musical culture.
The Sound of Lewisham documents the local music scene, whilst still emphasizing the importance of geography such as key venues and spaces that contributed to the rise of sound system culture. it follows on from the pioneering work of Goldsmiths researchers Lez Back and William "Lez" Henry in Lewisham.

Black British Gospel Music From the Windrush Generation to Black Lives Matter, Apr 16, 2024

The binary between what constitutes the sacred and the secular has long been a prominent feature ... more The binary between what constitutes the sacred and the secular has long been a prominent feature in debates concerning religious music. The recent global growth of Pentecostal megachurches that, in large part, rely on secular music styles as a central feature of congregational repertoire has brought once again into sharp focus discussions on the meaning of the sacred and the secular binary in contemporary, mission driven churches. This chapter will examine these long running debates through the ideal of ‘gifts and talents’, a Biblically inspired view of human creativity and innovation practiced at Ealing Christian Centre, a west London suburban Pentecostal church. Gifts and talents are a divine, spiritual practice through which congregants and worship team members utilize and perform their creative talents for praise and worship, drawing from commercial, secular styles that are re-imagined as ‘gifts’ from God. The study proposes that the ideal of gifts and talents at Ealing Christian Centre provides not only a scriptural and theological backdrop to musical performance at the church, but offers insight into the ways in which contemporary secular styles become a central feature of Pentecostal worship services. Musical talent and creativity thus act as a vehicle through which congregants connect with the spiritual realm through worship as well as intersect with the commercial music industry for modern, cutting edge performance styles and practices, thereby continuing the historical cultural tradition of the blurring of sacred and secular boundaries.

cultural geographies, Jul 18, 2018

Religious activity, particularly as associated with what might be called everyday organized relig... more Religious activity, particularly as associated with what might be called everyday organized religion, has been unconsidered in recent discussions of the geographies and policies relating to creativity, and has been almost absent in the discipline of Geography's recent 'creative turn'. We argue both that religion has been given little or no attention in academic discussions of vernacular creativity, while arts policy as it developed in the UK in the postwar period has had a strongly secular focus. This continues in more recent policies and initiatives that have sought to promote the amateur and voluntary arts sectors. We explore the reasons for these absences, before turning to examples of strongly creative practice in a range of case studies, focused in a small area of suburban west London. These show a remarkable diversity of creativity including the design, construction and transformation of buildings and spaces for religious worship, but also in ritual, performance and the everyday practices of making sacred space. Our case studies include examination of performance and material culture in a Tamil-speaking Hindu temple, and in Roman Catholic, Anglican and Pentecostal churches. These include changes to architectural form, stained glass art-work, community craft projects, and musical performance and composition. We suggest that religious creativity has a hidden significance that has become more important in the UK's increasingly diverse cities and suburbs, and that significant population groups are marginalized in creativity debates and policies that focus on the secular arts. We also suggest that there are distinctive characteristics to what we describe as 'devotional creativity', particularly in different understandings of space, practice and experience.

Black Music in Britain in the 21st Century, Mar 1, 2023

Black Music in Britain in the 21st Century Since the turn of the 21st century, there have been... more Black Music in Britain in the 21st Century

Since the turn of the 21st century, there have been several genres birthed from or nurtured in Black Britain: funky & tribal House, Afrobeats, Grime, Afro Swing, UK Drill, Road Rap, Trap etc. This pioneering book brings together diverse diasporan sounds in conversation. A valuable resource for those interested in the study of 21st century Black music and related cultures in Britain, this book goes incorporates the significant Black Atlantean, global interactions within Black music across time and space. It examines and proposes theoretical approaches, contributing to building a holistic appreciation of 21st century Black British music and its multidimensional nature. This book proffers an academically curated, rigorous, holistic view of Black British music in the 21st century. Drawing from pioneering academics in the emerging field and industry professionals, the book will serve academic theory, as well as the views, debates and experiences of industry professionals in a complementary style that shows the synergies between diasporas and interdisciplinary conversations. The book is interdisciplinary. It draws from sociology, musicology and the emerging digital humanities fields, to make its arguments and develop a multi-disciplinary perspective about Black British music in the 21st century.

Feminist Review

Eidsheim opens with four distinct epigraphs. The first is from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Ju... more Eidsheim opens with four distinct epigraphs. The first is from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, as Juliet ponders the distinct sound of Romeo, a Montague. The second is a quote on tone from Monty Python's Flying Circus. The third is from the court record of the 1995 California v. O.J. Simpson trial, quoting the prosecutor's line of questioning that the voice heard was that of a 'black man'. The final and perhaps most striking is a quote from Ralph Nader to the 'Rocky Mountain News' radio station in 2008 opining that President Obama is 'talk[ing] white'. The astonishing thoughtlessness and callousness of this statement with all its imposed racialisms, prejudices and assumptions frames the radical, questioning tone that the book sets forth on voice, race and identity. How does one talk white? How does one sound white? The complex, structural nature of race and sound are often conflated. The Race of Sound seeks to address this conjecture, carefully crafting an argument against sonic essentialism, against the notion of an essential Black 'voice'. To put succinctly, the book seeks to expose, unpick and problematise the racialisation of sound.

cultural geographies