Sustaining Black Music and Culture During COVID-19 : #Verzuz and Club Quarantine

Sustaining Black Music and Culture during COVID-19: #Verzuz and Club Quarantine argues that Instagram is a premier digital leisure space to celebrate and promote Black American culture and identity, particularly evidenced during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as the United States grappled with mandated shelter-in-place orders. Club Quarantine (CQ) and Verzuz emerged as highly successful Black music-listening events streamed on Instagram Live, collectively ushering Black (techno)culture through a once-in-a-generation pandemic and beyond. Contributors to this collection explore the communicative and cultural significance of these events as respite from social isolation and as a rearticulated space for Black cultural engagement in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and increased racial tensions in the United States. Foreword. One Nation under a (socially distant) Groove / Eletra S. Gilchrist-Petty -- Introduction / Niya Pickett Miller -- 'Sisters in the name of Love' : The Rhetorical Construction of Sisterhood in the Verzuz Challenges between Gladys Knight vs. Patti Labelle And Erykah Badu vs. Jill Scott / Goyland Williams & Mtalika Banda -- Don't Take it Personal : Perceptions of Authenticity, Envy and Competitiveness in the Brandy v. Monica Verzuz Battle / Aisha Damali Lockridge and Janée N. Burkhalter -- The Way We Were : How Black Women Created Space with Verzuz / Kirstin Cheers -- DJ's Gig : Affective Hip Hop Culture and Affordances of Participatory Platforms during a Global Pandemic / June Mia -- Old Hits Verzuz New Technology : How a Pandemic Ushered Legacy Artists into the Clout Economy / Jabri Evans -- Black and Quarantined : Celebrating Black Identity During COVID-19 via Instagram / Gheni Platenburg, Katrina Overby, and Niya Pickett Miller -- The Culture Wins : Continuing Black Cultural Traditions through Verzuz / Karl Lyn -- Conclusion / Niya Pickett Miller "This book explores how pivotal Instagram Live events Club Quarantine and Verzuz have provided respite from social isolation and a rearticulated space for Black cultural engagement in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and increased racial tensions in the United States"-- Provided by publisher