Monique Charles
Chapman University, Sociology, Faculty Member
- University of Warwick, Sociology, Post-Docadd
- Sociology of Music, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Black British History, Discourse Analysis, Popular Music, and 108 moreRace and Ethnicity, Critical Race Theory, Race and Religion, Race and Racism, African American Culture, British Black Music, Electronic Music, Community Music, Identity politics, Black Popular Culture, Black Studies Or African American Studies, Afro Futurism, Black Power Afro American Music, Kodwo Eshun, Colonialism, History of Slavery, Critical Race Theory and Whiteness theory, Slavery, Race, Class, Sex and Gender, Audiovision, Futurism, Speculative Materialism, Urbanology, Music, Hip hop, Black America, Identity, Representation of Others, Hip-hop and Rap, Black Music, Afrofuturism, Afrofuturism and Science Fiction, Sonic Fiction, Gender Studies, Media Studies, Grime, Hip Hop and politics, Popular Culture, Hip-Hop/Rap, Urban music, Urban Music Education, Popular Music and Social Change, Youth engagement, Youth development, Sociological Impact of Music, Music and Media, Rhythm, Auditory Perception, Meter and Rhythm, Musicology, Contemporary Music, Music sociology, African Diaspora Studies, Music Cognition, Auditory Culture, Black Popular Music, Black Music and Politics, Electronic Dance Music Culture (EDMC), Music and Affects, Music analysis, Popular Music Studies, Popular musicology, Ethnomusicology, Cultural Musicology, Postcolonial musicology, Music and identity, Music and Gender, Musicology/Cultural Studies, Semiotics of Music, Sociomusicology, Worship and Music, Intersection of Art, Performance, Ritual and Worship, Feminist Musicology, Space and Music, Music Aesthetics, Music and Language, Sound studies, Performance Studies, Sound Aesthetics, Soundscape (Music), Soundscape Studies, Experimental Music, Social Movements, Protest Movements, Youth Subcultures, Music scenes, DIY Music, Rave Culture, Junglist, Drum'N'Bass, Junglism, Music and Society, DJ practices, Breakbeat, Dubstep, Drum and Bass, Jungle, Liminality, Liminal Space, Liminal States: Altered Representation of Space, Sociology of Popular Music, Black Arts Movement, Black Aesthetics, Race and Identity, Race and Technology, Black Cultural Production, and Acoustics and Vibrationedit
- Monique Charles completed her PhD at Warwick University focusing on ‘race’, spirituality, class, gender & music as it... moreMonique Charles completed her PhD at Warwick University focusing on ‘race’, spirituality, class, gender & music as it relates to #Grime. #HBTG?
Her thesis is entitled:
‘Hallowed be thy Grime? : A musicological and sociological genealogy of Grime music and its relation to black Atlantic religious discourse.’ (#HBTG?)
Monique’s fascinating research highlights her interest in music, spirituality, sociology and the African Diaspora. Her innovative research enabled her to present at the first International Black Doctoral Network conference in the USA (plenary speaker Cornel West) and Britain’s first Blackness in Britain conference (plenary speaker Carolyn Cooper).
Her book chapter 'Grime Central! : Subterranean ground-in grit engulfing manicured mainstream Spaces' in edited volume 'Blackness in Britain' (Routledge), is one of the first scholarly works focusing specifically on Grime.
Monique is a member of The Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD) and the British Sociological Society.
Monique has a love for music and singing, as demonstrated through the numerous vocal and music qualifications she holds. These include grades 7 and 8 in vocals skills (Trinity Music), Vocal skills in Urban Arts (PointBlank), Vocal Artist (Access2Music) and an award in Understanding the Music Business (BTWSC). In addition, she has received vocal training at Vivace Music School and sight singing training at Morley College and CityLit. Her vocal talent has enabled her to sing in various church and community choirs in different languages such as Latin, French, Spanish, German and many South African dialects. She has provided backing vocals at charity events, studio ‘scratch vocals’ and has also sung at Wigmore Hall and Paddington Basin’s open air theatre.
Https://drmoniquecharles.com
Https://irunthesoundsystem.comedit
Scholarly fields are meant to be dynamic to accommodate new information that is infused with old. One of these areas is the notion, subject, subfield and process of street culture. Despite the frequency of its usage in the social... more
Scholarly fields are meant to be dynamic to accommodate new information that is infused with old. One of these areas is the notion, subject, subfield and process of street culture. Despite the frequency of its usage in the social sciences, urban planning, and selected areas of the visual arts, rarely is the term street culture defined and when it is, the definitions are often conceptually lacking. This article synthesizes current ideas about the study of street culture by examining six major questions that street culture researchers currently grapple with. The article outlines suggestions for improving scholarship in this field.
Research Interests:
Round table discussion
Research Interests:
The Corbyn Effect: Two Years On. Speech given at the Corbyn Effect Book Launch
Research Interests:
Panel discussion of women's presence and contribution to Bass Culture Research
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Grime is a Black British music genre originating from London in the early 2000s. Linked to inner-city street/road culture, it is a subaltern subculture that initially experienced criminalisation, racialisation and marginalisation through... more
Grime is a Black British music genre originating from London in the early 2000s. Linked to inner-city street/road culture, it is a subaltern subculture that initially experienced criminalisation, racialisation and marginalisation through the media and music industries, politicians, legislation, policing – mainstream British society. This ethnographic project reclaims power from the mainstream marginalising gaze by enabling the scene's predominantly Black and White working class members to elucidate and direct Grime's narrative from its inception. The project uses Foucault’s (1997) definition of genealogy to interrogate Grime's emergence musically and subculturally. It uses Lena’s AgSIT (2012) genre model to examine Grime's development teleologically. Hall's (1978) 'Internal Colonies' and Baker's Black Public Sphere (1996) are used in conjunction to examine the significance of local (tangible) and cultural (intangible) influences on Grime and how these...
Research Interests:
Diaspora and New Genres Chair: Lisa Tomlinson, University of West Indies, Mona Campus Monique Charles "Reggae Remix = Grime Time: Recontextualising Cultural Aurality through New Soundscapes" Marcus O'Dair "Sound System... more
Diaspora and New Genres Chair: Lisa Tomlinson, University of West Indies, Mona Campus Monique Charles "Reggae Remix = Grime Time: Recontextualising Cultural Aurality through New Soundscapes" Marcus O'Dair "Sound System Entrepreneurs: A Behavioural Perspective on Entrepreneurship in Reggae and Grime" Niel Scobie "Sound Clashing in ‘The 6’: Placing Toronto Within the Black Atlantic" Umi Vaughan "As We Move: Dancehall Selectas, Social Discourse, and Spiritual Journeys"
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Abstract:Grime's cross-race working-class appeal is connected to a wider picture of changing identifcations in urban areas, particularly in the inner cities, the site of the emergence of 'new urban ethnicities' and... more
Abstract:Grime's cross-race working-class appeal is connected to a wider picture of changing identifcations in urban areas, particularly in the inner cities, the site of the emergence of 'new urban ethnicities' and 'neighbourhood nationalisms'. Corbyn's leadership makes it possible to link with this constituency. The response by Corbyn and grime artists to the Grenfell disaster further illuminates this shared link with contemporary working-class neighbourhoods. Grime artists should be understood as organic intellectuals, taking on roles to represent the working class, theorise their position and offer them a means of political intervention. Unlike the Blair/Britpop relationship, grime artists' endorsement of Corbyn is from the bottom up, and Corbyn engages directly both with musicians and the communities they come from.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Using Grime as a case study, I employ the analytical framework I created, that is, Musicological Discourse Analysis (MDA) as a holistic mode of analysis to contextualize Grime sociologically and musicologically. This method retheorizes... more
Using Grime as a case study, I employ the analytical framework I created, that is, Musicological Discourse Analysis (MDA) as a holistic mode of analysis to contextualize Grime sociologically and musicologically. This method retheorizes genre, providing a more specific, useful, and detailed musical classification system; the sonic footprint timestamp (SFT). The MDA framework provides a generic mode of musical analysis for research projects in sociology, cultural studies, and the social sciences fields. This article evaluates key musical influences in the evolution of Grime as both (i) a musical form and (ii) an analysis of influences in relation to its social context. It evaluates the global, local, historical, technological, political, lyrical themes, and sonic properties (sounds) found in Grime. Significantly, this framework is very much concerned with the voices in the Grime scene, and therefore respondent experiences are central to this analytical method—incorporating in-depth in...
Research Interests:
Grime is a genre of Black British music originating from London at the turn of the twenty-first century. In this article, I explore responses to moments of Grime music making and engagement in live performance settings. I make connections... more
Grime is a genre of Black British music originating from London at the turn of the twenty-first century. In this article, I explore responses to moments of Grime music making and engagement in live performance settings. I make connections between Grime, Black music streams (Lena), Black Atlantic (Gilroy) practices, the Black Public Sphere (Baker) AND how engagements at these intersections are connected to spiritual practice in the context of live performance. The power in Grime live performance settings; where the spiritual is found, connects to the sonic characteristics deployed, embodied and emotive responses and cultural practice. Spirituality, through cultural practice, is an Africanised religious/spiritual outlook that remains with the African diaspora over time and space (Mbiti). Smith’s work shows how African derived religious and spiritual practice continues in diasporic religious practice contemporarily. Through live performance (raving/club culture), I explore and theorise...
Research Interests:
The dominant narrative that surrounds Grime is that it is an East London phenomenon (Campion 2004). I unpack key components within the music analytical framework Musicological Discourse Analysis (Charles 2018) to suggest why this... more
The dominant narrative that surrounds Grime is that it is an East London phenomenon (Campion 2004). I unpack key components within the music analytical framework Musicological Discourse Analysis (Charles 2018) to suggest why this happened. In this presentation, I use both primary and secondary data to explore: - some of the social-historical and journalistic factors in securing Grime as an East London phenomenon, - the role and responsibilities of a reflexive researcher and - the issues encountered when challenging the ‘official’ narrative (based on my position as an academic, not practitioner). This presentation demonstrates the importance of academic research in ‘unconventional’ subject areas and the need for academics and practitioners to work together as a form of activism.
Research Interests:
This article recounts a critical conversation between two Black British sound women, conducted by a Black British female scholar. Together DJ Ade and Junie Rankin (real names Lynda Rosenior-Patten and June Reid) form Nzinga Soundz, one of... more
This article recounts a critical conversation between two Black British sound women, conducted by a Black British female scholar. Together DJ Ade and Junie Rankin (real names Lynda Rosenior-Patten and June Reid) form Nzinga Soundz, one of the UK’s longest running, all-women sound systems. Thali Lotus owns and runs CAYA Sound System, established and built in 2016 with the aim of promoting reggae music as an educational, charitable, entertaining and entrepreneurial tool. Resulting from an extensive double interview conducted by Dr Monique Charles, leading scholar on grime and Black Atlantic performances, the piece offers an insight into issues of race, gender, knowledge transmission and use of technology as reflected in the work of two female reggae outputs. Combining the critical insight of a scholar with the self-reflection and self-articulation of music practitioners, the article explores the way in which the practice of reggae sound systems is constantly rearticulated as a work of...
Research Interests:
In this chapter, I will principally examine issues of race in the British Grime music scene.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Roundtable. This year, several members of Renewal’s editorial team were lucky enough to attend a packed and vibrant Labour Party Conference. We recorded interviews with a range of people we met there, addressing topics ranging from... more
Roundtable. This year, several members of Renewal’s editorial team were lucky enough to attend a packed and vibrant Labour Party Conference. We recorded interviews with a range of people we met there, addressing topics ranging from Britain’s productivity crisis to the fate of the Finnish left and the role of grime music in the Corbyn surge.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In our last issue, Charlotte Proudman offered a strongly critical account of the Labour leadership’s engagement with the feminist tradition. Here, two scholars of feminism and race offer their reflections on the arguments she raised.
Research Interests:
How can academic research principles and methods help businesses improve their understanding of customers and the market?
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Live radio show format with William Morris Gallery Artist in Residence Daniel Baker and Grime Academic Monique Charles, as part of the WMG Late: Rise Up.
Interview. From politics to the pop charts UK grime is everywhere - we caught up with ICMP's Dr Monique Charles and grime expert to check the scene's temperature...
This shift could open a space for more political lyrical content and imagery for both new and established artists.
Blog article. Renewal co-hosted an event with The Corbyn Effect at Momentum’s conference, The World Transformed, in Brighton. One of the speakers, Monique Charles, recently completed a PhD on grime music. In The Corbyn Effect she looks at... more
Blog article. Renewal co-hosted an event with The Corbyn Effect at Momentum’s conference, The World Transformed, in Brighton. One of the speakers, Monique Charles, recently completed a PhD on grime music. In The Corbyn Effect she looks at the phenomenon of Grime for Corbyn.
Research Interests:
Just the headings... Nothing more!
Research Interests:
The fourth meeting of the European Hiphop Studies Network is organized in collaboration with La Place: Centre for Hip-Hop Culture, and La Philharmonie de Paris. The two-day, bilingual English and French Network meeting will lead into a... more
The fourth meeting of the European Hiphop Studies Network is organized in collaboration with La Place: Centre for Hip-Hop Culture, and La Philharmonie de Paris. The two-day, bilingual English and French Network meeting will lead into a two-day French-language conference on the creation, legitimization, and patrimonialization of hip-hop cultures (28-29 January 2022). Both the Network meeting and conference complement the museum exhibition "Hip-Hop 360" at La Philharmonie, centred on the history of hip-hop and its arrival in France. As such, we welcome all participants to plan their stay in Paris from 26 to 29 January 2022 to take full advantage of the conferences, the museum exhibit, and a series of hip-hop events in the city.
Research Interests:
Scholarly fields are meant to be dynamic to accommodate new information that is infused with old. One of these areas is the notion, subject, subfield and process of street culture. Despite the frequency of its usage in the social... more
Scholarly fields are meant to be dynamic to accommodate new information that is infused with old. One of these areas is the notion, subject, subfield and process of street culture. Despite the frequency of its usage in the social sciences, urban planning, and selected areas of the visual arts, rarely is the term street culture defined and when it is, the definitions are often conceptually lacking. This article synthesizes current ideas about the study of street culture by examining six major questions that street culture researchers currently grapple with. The article outlines suggestions for improving scholarship in this field.