Food for the Soul

In this thesis, I investigate how music and food intersect. I juxtapose two musicians whose relationship with music and food is integral to their world-view and social activism: the swamp-funk/blues guitarist and gumbo-cooker, Bill “Sauce Boss” Wharton and vegan rapper, running coach, and “fit hop” artist, Stic.man of Dead Prez. I examine each artist’s relationship to music and food via five themes: 1) Content – consisting of the aspects of music and food that are physical “texts” or “objects,” including lyrics, form, instruments, ingredients, and utensils; 2) Communication – symbolic representation of ideas or identities (ethnic, gender, regional or otherwise), especially through metaphor; 3) Process – music and food as performance; 4) Space and place; and 5) Consumption/embodiment, especially in relation to health and wellness. Independent of one another, studies of food culture or music are well-established areas of scholarly interest. As Edmundo Murray notes, “Reflection on the relation between music and food has weak roots. The literature on food culture is abundant and growing almost daily. At least the same can be said of texts about music. However, books about food and music represent a surprisingly untapped field.” This thesis addresses the intersection of these two unique cultural domains.