Overview

How urban youth in Chicago use social media to profit from portrayals of gang violence, and the questions this raises about poverty, opportunities, and public voyeurismAmid increasing hardship and limited employment options, poor urban youth are using social media platforms to capitalize on the public's fascination with the ghetto and gang violence. But with what consequences? Ballad of the Bullet follows the Corner Boys, thirty or so young men on Chicago's South Side who have hitched dreams of success to the creation of ""drill music"" (slang for ""shooting music""). Drillers disseminate this genre of hyperviolent, DIY-style gangsta rap digitally, hoping to amass millions of views and followers-and a ticket out of poverty. But in this perverse system of benefits, where online popularity can convert into offline rewards, the risks can be too great. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and countless interviews, Ballad of the Bullet looks at what happens when the digital economy and urban culture collide.

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9780691206493

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Reviews

"""Forrest Stuart, Winner of a MacArthur fellowship, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation"" ""Winner of the CITAMS Book Award, Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association"" ""Honorable Mention for the Outstanding Book Award, Inequality, Poverty and Mobility Section of the American Sociological Association"" ""Finalist for the PROSE Award in Cultural Anthropology & Sociology, Association of American Publishers"" ""The global cross-pollination of drill music is not a coincidence. Young people suffering from inequality and violence are harnessing social media to be heard and valued. Ballad of the Bullet is a detailed, sensitive toolkit for understanding cultural production in the modern city; essential reading for educators, community workers and music fans alike.""---Ciaran Thapar, youth worker and writer, speaking on BBC Radio ""Mr Stuart’s recent book, Ballad of the Bullet, is an often gripping account of what he learned from his association with teenage members of an up-and-coming drill group—he dubs them the Corner Boys—desperate to win fame, status and money from rapping. He shows how their musical and lyrical talent is only a minor part of what determines success.""---Adam Roberts, The Economist ""The book completely reshaped the way I thought about micro-celebrity and youth culture, and it opened my eyes to how discussions of the internet have been largely oblivious to the worlds of those who are not class-privileged, white and female. As people have been sucked ever deeper into their digital worlds in 2020, Stuart shines a light on how social media offer both hope and danger for some of our cities' most disadvantaged young.""---Ashley Mears, Times Higher Education ""Poignant, written with great clarity in a lively style, Stuart’s book belongs to a tradition of ethnographic studies conducted in Chicago on urban poverty since the 1930s.""---Clément Petitjean, Books and Ideas"

Forrest Stuart, Winner of a MacArthur fellowship, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Mr Stuart's recent book, Ballad of the Bullet, is an often gripping account of what he learned from his association with teenage members of an up-and-coming drill group-he dubs them the Corner Boys-desperate to win fame, status and money from rapping. He shows how their musical and lyrical talent is only a minor part of what determines success. ---Adam Roberts, The Economist Finalist for the PROSE Award in Cultural Anthropology & Sociology, Association of American Publishers The global cross-pollination of drill music is not a coincidence. Young people suffering from inequality and violence are harnessing social media to be heard and valued. Ballad of the Bullet is a detailed, sensitive toolkit for understanding cultural production in the modern city; essential reading for educators, community workers and music fans alike. ---Ciaran Thapar, youth worker and writer, speaking on BBC Radio The book completely reshaped the way I thought about micro-celebrity and youth culture, and it opened my eyes to how discussions of the internet have been largely oblivious to the worlds of those who are not class-privileged, white and female. As people have been sucked ever deeper into their digital worlds in 2020, Stuart shines a light on how social media offer both hope and danger for some of our cities' most disadvantaged young. ---Ashley Mears, Times Higher Education

Forrest Stuart, Winner of a MacArthur fellowship, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Finalist for the PROSE Award in Cultural Anthropology & Sociology, Association of American Publishers The global cross-pollination of drill music is not a coincidence. Young people suffering from inequality and violence are harnessing social media to be heard and valued. Ballad of the Bullet is a detailed, sensitive toolkit for understanding cultural production in the modern city; essential reading for educators, community workers and music fans alike. ---Ciaran Thapar, youth worker and writer, speaking on BBC Radio Mr Stuart's recent book, Ballad of the Bullet, is an often gripping account of what he learned from his association with teenage members of an up-and-coming drill group-he dubs them the Corner Boys-desperate to win fame, status and money from rapping. He shows how their musical and lyrical talent is only a minor part of what determines success. ---Adam Roberts, The Economist The book completely reshaped the way I thought about micro-celebrity and youth culture, and it opened my eyes to how discussions of the internet have been largely oblivious to the worlds of those who are not class-privileged, white and female. As people have been sucked ever deeper into their digital worlds in 2020, Stuart shines a light on how social media offer both hope and danger for some of our cities' most disadvantaged young. ---Ashley Mears, Times Higher Education

Forrest Stuart, Winner of a MacArthur fellowship, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Author Information

Forrest Stuart is associate professor of sociology and director of the Ethnography Lab at Stanford University. A 2020 MacArthur Fellow, Stuart is the author of Down, Out, and Under Arrest. Twitter @ForrestDStuart

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