Dr Jenessa Williams

Hello! I’m Jenessa Williams (she/her), and I am a postdoctoral research fellow in the LAHRI community for 2024. I recently completed my PhD at Leeds University, and before that, earned a Masters By Research and an undergraduate degree (in Music Journalism) from the University of Huddersfield.

My thesis, defended in November 2023, was awarded from the School of Media & Communication, and was titled “Music Fandom in the Age of #MeToo:

Morality Crowdsourcing, Racialised Cancellation and Complicated Listening Habits in Online Hip-Hop and Indie-Alternative Communities”. In it, I explored the way in which music fan communities use social media to discuss and respond to allegations of celebrity sexual abuse across the intersections of race, genre, cancel culture and respectability politics.

By interviewing over 50 fans of various musical artists who had been accused of sexual violence, I was able to explore the various ‘rape myths’, personal connections and genre-bound social conventions that allow fans to decide to forgive, ignore or abdicate themselves from the need to ‘judge’ an artist, as well as the reasons why other fans may choose to enact boycott or cancellation practices as a way of communicating their feminist beliefs.

Overall, my goal was to look beyond cancel culture as an inflammatory internet term, and to consider the relative pressures and nuances that are put upon fans to articulate their stance on ‘problematic’ artists, as well as the ways in which the music industry needs to evolve to better challenge sexual violence and exploitations of power. I plan to use the LAHRI fellowship to develop this work into my first monograph, and to work on further peer-reviewed articles/research developments that link to my interests in sexual violence, anti-fandom, stan culture, fan activism and music industry misogyny.

Since completing my thesis I have lectured part-time at Leeds Beckett University, teaching Masters-level students about the infrastructure of the modern music industries. I am a founding member of the international research group MOCReN (Music and Online Cultures Research Network) and currently sit on the conference planning committee of the Fan Studies Network North America (FSNNA), which takes place every year as an accessible online event.

I also work part-time as a freelance music journalist, and have been published by the likes of NME, The Forty-Five, The Guardian, Alternative Press, DIY and Music Week. I take on PR work writing biographies and promotional material for emerging musical artists, as well as mentoring and editorial consultancy for the Leeds-based creative development company, Come Play With Me.

I am excited about continuing to carve out a career in academia which also allows me to disseminate my work through diverse mediums, and am passionate about collaborating across disciplines in the fight to make the music industry a more equitable, inclusive and enjoyable environment for all. If you’d like to work together, I’d love you to get in touch!

Publications

Williams, J. (2024). Screaming, Crying, Writing Up: Literary Music Journalism Books as a Legitimization of Contemporary Fangirl Practices, Popular Music and Society, DOI: 10.1080/03007766.2024.2320597

Invited Talks & Conferences

July 2024, Celebrity Studies, Amsterdam (Forthcoming).

Bad Vibes, Forever? Masculinity, Forgiveness and Self-Improvement Narratives in the XXXTentacion Reddit Community.

Old Faves and New Fame: Entangled Emo Stardom, Influencer Culture, and Podcasts (co-authored with Dr Francesca Sobande)

July 2024, Social Media + Society, London (Forthcoming).

Analysing Controversies Amongst Online Music Communities – Roundtable with Dr Steven Gamble and Dr Ed Spencer.

June 2023, MOCReN Summer Symposium, University of Salford.

Qualitative Research Skills: Effective Interview Technique and Participant Recruitment within Online Fan Communities

June 2023, Music For Girls, University of Sussex.

Screaming, Crying, Writing Up: Literary music journalism books as a legitimization of contemporary fangirl practices.

Oct 2022, Dislike Minded: A Huddersfield University Symposium.

Music Fandom In The Age of #MeToo: The impact of sexual misconduct and gendered abuse allegations on fan listening habits.

Sept 2022, Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA), Aberdeen.

Music Fandom In The Age of #MeToo — The impact of sexual misconduct and gendered abuse allegations on fan listening habits. Music Fandoms & Communities.

 June 2022, Fandom After #MeToo/Balance Ton Porc, Paris.

Deep Emotional Betrayal or Expected Artist Presentation? Contextualising and comparing music fan reactions to artists accused of sexual misconduct within Indie-Rock and Hip-Hop.

May 2022, International Communication Association (ICA), Paris.

Music Fandom in the Age of #Metoo: The Impact of Sexual Misconduct and Gendered Abuse Allegations on Fans Listening Habits, Trends In Global Fandom: From Post-Covid Practices To Fannish Policing.

Oct 2022, Fan Studies Network North America (FSNNA), Virtual.

Drake, Moral Dissonance and Millennial Female Hip-Hop Fandom. Fans & Cancel Culture: How Fans Process Their Idol’s Past

Teaching Experience

Music Industries In Context/Music Industries in Practice, Leeds Beckett University (Sept 23-June 2024)

Popular Music & The Press, University of Leeds (Jan 2021-June 2021)

Popular Music & Society, University of Leeds (Jan 2023-June 2023)

Feminism, Identity & Media, University of Leeds (Jan 2022 -June 2022)

Introduction To Media & Communication Research, University of Leeds,

(Sept 2020-Jan 2021, Sept 2022-Jan 2023)