African-American Music As Rebellion: From Slavesong To Hip-Hop

In this article “African Dimensions Of The Stono Rebellion”, John Thornton a professor of history and African American studies, who wrote about the African slaves in the Americas, and specifically the servants in South Carolina during the early eighteenth century. In his writing, the author describes the personality of Africans and their desire to escape from slavery, going through obstacles on their path to freedom.

Birthed in the Mississippi Delta, the blues would have un-denying roots from the South. However, long before any form of blues genre came about, slave music expressed the sorrows of the African American experience. At the turn of the 20th century black communities in the south continued the tradition of musical expression by performing in small shacks all around the Delta. It was in these juke joints, that famous artist such as Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters first performed. With the cotton industry taking a turn for the worst many African Americans were living very undesirable. So, they decided to pack up and head North taking their musical traditions and talents with them.

“Creoles of Color” were a group of jazz players specifically of Spanish and French heritage, although they didn’t want to identify with the African Americans. They prided themselves on being able to play music for any setting. In addition, there were bass bands that had a part in Marti Gras, along with symphony orchestras. Many of the Creoles did not want to be associated with blacks, and they prided themselves on being able to play music for any setting. Many of the Creoles were well-versed in European music, which led to a diverse mixing of African themed styles that was unusual for the time. The conditions of New Orleans leant itself nicely to the synthesis of African music and in fact made it hospitable to the creation of jazz music. Not only did the geographic setting of New Orleans help make Jazz music possible, but the abolition of slavery and the historical contexts did as

Starr and Waterman note that “the use of encoded, or hidden, meaning in the blues has its roots in many earlier genres of African American music.” These coded messages often take the form of referencing local landmarks (i.e., “where the southern cross the dog”) and sexual references (i.e., “That Black Snake Moan”). How do these traditions continue to impact popular music? Starr and Waterman note “songs of slaves could embody secret messages that were impossible to state directly in the presence of the masters or overseers.” Why might coded references be used in contemporary music? In which genres do you think this technique is most prevalent? Cite some specific examples of coded messages in contemporary music that reference this

In the 1920’s jazz greatly rose in popularity, due to the process of recordings. Jazz’s popularity directly correlates to how it personifies African-American culture. Many black musicians felt as though they weren’t getting the recognition they deserved. These musicians were upset about being ripped off by recording labels, and rightfully so. Apart from being upset about how they were being treated by record labels, white America did not feel comfortable with the music being solely from African-Americans. Jazz ended up becoming more of a commodity, and the most well-known artists were white. African-Americans were facing racism and random acts of violence against them, they took solace in their music as it was an essential part of their culture.

Jazz is the most huge type of melodic expression in the African American culture. It 's achievement in the 20 's and 30 's are intelligent of the time. At to start with, everybody did not

Jimi Hendrix formerly stated, “Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.” A generation which was earnestly devoted to peace, protest, and revolution, the counterculture amongst the 1960’s yearned for change. Rock and roll was far beyond just a genre of music; it influenced lifestyles, protests, and attitudes, thus, kindling an awakening in the youth of American culture. The distinction between parental and youth culture was a persistent root of concern, considering that teens throughout the world found a sense of belonging in this style of music. Differing racial and social groups brewed, worrying the older generations of social

Chapter 1: What does the Civil Rights Movement gave to the African-Americans compared to Hip Hop as a subculture/movement.

Ever since its birth in the 1970s in West Bronx, Hip Hop has been known as “Gangsta” music and most commonly associated with black culture. Since its creation it has become a fast growing genre of music and has growing fame all over the world. The popularity of it has increased to all races, age and gender. However the growing popularity of hip hop has come with several controversies among scholars. Some scholars argue that the growing popularity of the genre is very helpful to low income families who can use this as their outlet into going to Universities, on the other side some believe associating the genre to black culture is bad for the culture as a whole and they should not be associated together.

Even though culture was booming everywhere during the 1920’s, nowhere was more exuberant than Harlem. The huge social, cultural, and artistic explosion in Harlem was called “The Harlem Renaissance” or “The New Negro Movement.” This movement’s main cause was to create a new black identity, to show blacks that they should be proud to be black. This movement gave light to many poets, authors, such as Langston Hughes, and gave birth to new styles of art such as Jazz. Jazz was described as “the essence of black music.” Even though this movement is known as “The Harlem Renaissance” it spread all over urban areas of the Northeast and Midwest of the United States.

Augusta Savage was one of the many women and men of color who participated in the Civil Rights Movement. She is known for her intricate dedication to sculpture and art and is remembered as an artist, activists, and educator, serving as a guiding light for her pupils, students, and those who she exposed her art to. During the Civil Rights Movement, Augusta Savage managed to make art inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and was a huge figure during the Harlem Renaissance, a period of Jazz music, art, and film. Yet, every artist have a beginning to a legacy of success and prosperity, and not much is known to juniors my age of how Augusta Savage has dedicated and contributed to the Harlem Renaissance and escorting an illumination on African Americans today.

From the underground streets of New York to the global stage, Hip Hop can be seen as one of the most influential genres of its time. As a style of music that ultimately originated from black street culture, much of its context can be pinpointed to the issues of political and social equality that are often kept in the dark. When Hip Hop emerged throughout the late 70s, new artists were experimenting with an advancement in technology and used various devices including turntables to create certain beats. As time went on, Hip Hop turned the page to more of a lyrical genre where artists ultimately began using words in their lyrics to convey a certain theme or message to the public eye. (Wahl, 1999)

Hip-hop music was initially developed in the late 1970s, only few people knew about its existence as it was created in the most unprivileged districts of New York City in America by African-American citizens. Hip-hop is not a bunch of entertaining words but a poetic language about issues around us, and movement within a culture interrelating ethnicities. The messages of rap music/hip hop tells stories of how life is in the streets dealing with drugs, crime, and violence. Most messages are a reflection of how the youth feels about the system, the police. Hip-hop constitutes of clothing, language (poetic) graffiti art, break dancing, Mcing/ rhyming and beatboxing.

Due to the reputation of Herbie Hancock, there are publications about him, ranging from books, journals, interviews to dissertations. Topics of these literatures cover almost everything about him from Herbie Hancock to his language of music.

The African American community has not gained full equality to this day. Even after fighting for many years this present day issue has come to light in Hip-Hop artists songs like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis song, White Privilege II. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are respected in their line of work because they have become very popular in today 's Hip-Hop music. Hip-Hop has been the newest way of news being broadcasted. As many artists like Macklemore have become more of an activist in this day and age. This song matters because Macklemore is established and this song will inform everyone around the country, even world what’s happening. This song message affects all of us as citizens of this country surrounded by racism and inequality. The action macklemore wants us to take is to stand up and end this war against racism.