There Is No OutsideThug Deconstruction and Young Thug My sister walked down the hall and I quickly adjusted my vision and stifled a laugh. Under her jacket was a very gaudy, clearly ancient sweater. What in the world are you doing wearing Nanas sweater? The answer, that a school group shes a part of was having an ugly sweaterthemed meeting that night, gave me the framing I needed. In context, the sweater actually looked good! This became my point of revelation in context. Under normal circumstances, our grandmothers sweater would linger untouched by any nonoctagenarian. When Jacques Derrida wrote there is no outsidetext, he certainly lacked the foresight that an interpretation of it and his philosophy of deconstruction would make its way to a discussion on ugly sweaters and a sixfootsomething genrebending, gendershifting, sexualityconfusing rapper with the John Smith of monikers. But Im sure that hed be smiling at the fact that it did In short, what does this allconsuming phrase mean? Derrida himself defined it as the inevitability of context, and from here we can proceed, sweaters and spitters alike. Why do we wear ugly sweaters and why does Young Thug don garb deemed feminine? For the former, it is because we are forever in search of a collective acceptance, a group mentality whose only requirement of admittance is a refusal to deviate from an established code of some sort. To attend a themed event and not participate qualifies as justification for levels of ostracization in this context. The purpose, the aim, of any group event is just that to coalesce around a singular identity. This is why, then, Young Thugs entire existence as an artist is so compelling, because his purpose is to remain memorable It was necessary to establish the conclusions in the previous paragraph to fully deconstruct Young Thug and his breakthrough 2014. Two early 2014 releases cemented the obsessive tumult of blogs over where Thug would take his sound and his look. The unintelligible Dadaist bent of a significant portion of his verses and specifically his hooks have been discussed by me before and contain a far simpler conclusion than most commentators fumble at coming to hes becoming the melody, hes inserting himself into your mind and refusing to leave. He has removed the middleman of words. Our relationship with music stems from an ability to remember, and much of this is dependent upon recalling specific melodies what better way to cultivate a fan base than to become the melody? The purposelyselected ugly sweaters are worn to assimilate. The purposelygarbled ugly form of rap lyricism that Thug employs with his slurred sounds is done to the opposite effect his purpose is to stand out and become incomparable. Critics are too quick to seek out a form of artistic merit for his style, while disregarding Derridas immortal conclusion without this context, of course he is baffling Similarly, then, can we observe the social aspect of Young Thug. During the summer, while a mixtape with Gucci Mane and his followup to 1017 Thug were both met with lukewarm critical reception because of a furthering of the style evaluating above, Young Thug remained in the spotlight as much for highprofile features on songs as for highprofile features on his persona. He proudly appeared in dresses, sported nail polish, and showered his male companions with affectionate names normally reserved for lovers of sorts, all while perpetuating hiphops classic misogyny in many of his lyrics. Never answering for the questions about his sexuality only brought on greater exposure, but a simple answer once again arises with context. Camaraderie in hiphop is one of the genres stalwart traits. He has found a way to market himself via the loyalty that would remain, fame irrelevant. Its not to say that what Young Thug does is an act, but instead that in holding authentic values and understanding the power of ambiguity, he furthers his own interests without ever straying from how he would act under nonfamechasing circumstances Rap music is a perpetual motion machine of context. To enter the genre without understanding its foundational terminologies and endless web of references is to misunderstand the entirety of its messages and purpose. Young Thugs emergence and confusion over his lyrical intentions and image are inextricably linked to context and the ubiquitous lack thereof in evaluating him. Deconstruction exists as a catalyst for asking the Why?s about our world. Everything has a purpose, and that purpose is defined within its context. Every word in this essay exists only in relation to the others under the explicit understanding that others who read the language known as English will be able to ascertain the meaning that the author has intended. Every ugly sweater is pulled over ones head to assemble a comfortable group atmosphere in the context of desiring acceptance. Everything about Young Thug exists to widen the dichotomous gap between the triteness of his name and what we associate with it. There is no outsideThug
context, thug, sweater, derrida, ugly