In this and the next chapter, I explore more marginal conceptions of indie music, particularly those related to modes of music typically encoded as black. Such conceptions challenge the dominant whiteness of indie music. While there are a range of ethnicities in the US, this chapter will focus specifically on African American filmmaking and music due to the extensive range of music and filmmaking produced by African Americans. As noted in the introduction, indie was originally just a shorthand for ‘independent’ and gradually began to accrue further, often generic, connotations (a process which has also occurred within film). In practice, however – and this applies to both music and film – indie is often used in different ways, and it is still used in some cases merely as an abbreviation of independent. I would stress, then, that it is imperative scholars remain cognizant of the different ways that indie is employed discursively. This does not mean that we must necessarily agree with the ways it is being used; but even if one has a strict working definition, it is important not to lose sight of alternative ways that the term functions in everyday practice. (It is also the case that even if we create a strict working definition then this definition is subject to historical change, indicating a need for at least some openness and flexibility in our understanding of the term.) In short, while dominant ideas of indie refer broadly to alternative modes of guitar rock-pop, there are more marginal conceptions of indie that tend to use ‘indie’ more as an adjectival modifier than as a genre-like noun.

Across a range of American independent films directed by black filmmakers, indie music in its more familiar generic guise does not tend to feature prominently. But if we think about indie more as an economic marker, as well as an adjectival modifier, then ‘indie’ music is a more noticeable presence. Extending the limits of indie in this manner might be considered unhelpful by those who demand a more precise conceptualisation of the term. Furthermore, the term ‘indie’ is not used extensively by those working outside of the indie rock-pop continuum, so some might object to this manoeuvre on the grounds that it does not conform to dominant generic conceptions of indie or to prevalent discursive uses of the term.