Mythologizing the Margins: Lee Perry, Sun Ra, and George Clinton
In his chapter “Brothers From Another Planet”, from the book Extended Play: Sounding off From John Cage to Dr. Funkenstein, John Corbett compares Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sun Ra, and George Clinton as artists at the forefront of the Afrofuturist genre. Through their work, each of these artists linked the marginality of Blackness with extraterrestrial visions. Corbett draws similarities between Perry, Ra, and Clinton, such as the fact that each had a variety of mythical identities that they assumed in performance. Each man embraced space iconography as well as terms and concepts of being “crazy” and “way out”. Afrofuturist imaginings were a form of subversive narratives surrounding the colonization of Black people.
Lee "Scratch" Perry
Sun Ra and George Clinton claimed to be extraterrestrial beings, both literally and more figuratively. They wanted viewers to question their sanity, the sanity of the performers, and in turn, question reality as a whole. Each man fabricated personal mythologies through aliases, costumes, and wordplay. Corbett explains differences between the three as well. Lee Perry existed very much on the periphery of the American and British audiences, being a Jamaican artist existing under ambiguous Jamaican copyright laws. Sun Ra owned his own label, and so had more control over his mythology. Clinton and P-Funk were very central to the American music industry. Each performer situated themselves differently within a central sphere of ideas and concepts. Science fiction and the social realities of Black people became blurred in the work of Perry, Ra, and Clinton. Corbett’s analysis of Sun Ra overlaps with ideas in Anthony Reed’s “Sun Ra and the Grammar of Utopia”. Reed writes about Ra’s use of space as a metaphor for the margins. Ra, as well as Clinton and Reed, created agency for the marginalized via reimaginings of history placed in an extraterrestrial setting.
I appreciate the connections that Corbett illustrates between these three musicians that I would have previously not been familiar with. How each artist finds creative space in the “way out” margins is incredible to see, especially how hard they leaned into it to the point of wanting people to question their sanity. There were also many fascinating nuances between these artists, including the ways they all three navigated and approached the music industry. I found it especially fascinating to read about the strategies behind George Clinton splitting his band into Parliament and Funkadelic, how Perry had the extra challenge of being under ambiguous local laws, and how Sun Ra completely took his label into his own hands. I really appreciate your final sentence where you talk about how they created agency for the marginalized, these artists are truly pioneers.
ReplyDeleteI can really understand the connections the connections with Sun Ra and George Clinton especially after watching them both perform and spread their message. It is really interesting that their lives and reported experiences are so similar, and they both push the limits that many would not have thought of. They push the boundaries and made people see the multiple dimensions that black people have through genres that during their time that were not predominantly black. THey were cutting edge and there is a parallel with the alienation of black people and them claiming to be from other worlds, and this claim of being extraterrestrial, even if true, attracts attention so that poeple listen to them
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your response because I think it does a really great job of overviewing the intentions of Sun Ra and George Clinton in their performances as well as pointing out their similarities. I appreciate how you point out how both Sun Ra and George Clinton want their audiences to question their "sanity" in order to ultimately cause their audiences to question reality as a whole. I think this really speaks to the strangeness and insanity behind the treatment of marginalized groups in America, particularly African Americans.
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