“Oh, You Sound White…”

A dark image of a woman

Do you know about the Paris-based singer ALA.NI…?

No?

Well, you can visit her site to learn more about her new album, “You and I,” or give her a listen here:

There was an interesting interview with her on the radio this morning, where, in part, the topic of race was on the table (if the embed below doesn’t load, go to the interview to hear it):


At one point in the interview there’s this:

An image of a news article about an artist talking about her new music

It’s hardly a ground-breaking topic, of course, but here we have yet another helpful e.g. to think through the social markers — such as how one sounds, the songs one sings or listens to — that allow us to categorize people.

It’s a categorization that has effect, of course, for, as Althusser made clear long ago, or as Neil Gaiman succinctly put it in his novel, American Gods,

Mostly, you are what they think you are.

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