Rock N Roll's Influence On American Culture

During the early years of his music career Elvis song many songs that were in that time considered black music. “Legend has it that Presley was the white boy singing black music that Sam Phillips was seeking in order to make a fortune” (Elvis Presley). This caused a huge eruptions in his fans because he was drawing in both white and African American youth to his songs. Because of the explosion of fans he had Elvis became one of the most loved and admired artist at the

Buddy Holly Introduction Buddy Holly changed Rock and Roll in his own way. He accomplished many things in his life and learned to sway the crowd. Buddy had a huge impact on people for such a short life, created his own style on his guitar, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making him one of the most creative singer of the 20th century.

“Music has always been both a barometer measuring and responding to society's problems and possibilities, and the twentieth century was a period that witnessed the emergence of a diverse range of musical styles and genres, each seemingly in reaction to the dominant sociopolitical concerns of the day” (Morgan). Presley, Dylan, and Joplin had the greatest influence on American culture in the 1960’s. Elvis had a great influence on American culture through his influence on music, affect on American culture, and his legacy. Elvis also known as “the King” or “the King of Rock and Roll”was very popular in the 1960’s. Presley created new styles by gyrating his hips and dressing differently.

Dave Matthews was an exceptional player who brought something fresh to the table where the music industry was dominated by rap and grime music. His music, instead of containing lyrics that hold contempt for others, preached acceptance of all polishes. Matthews was also an incredible success with successful multiple visits and a great fan base that allowed Matthews to achieve four platinum albums, and one independent album gold. The music of Dave Matthews preaches acceptance of cultures, and I think Matthews intends to shift the point of persuasion of people about different cultures through his speech. Dave Matthews describes his songs as “therapy”, an effort to help listeners deal with a company “where racial discrimination is dead alive” and where people can be overpowered by a world before ruling out of command.

When you hear Rock and Roll, you hear the catchy words, the upbeat music, and energy that comes from that form of music. That is what made it popular, and that popularity allowed that form of music to gradually change a nation. Rock and Roll was able to change society by slowly changing how people acted towards blacks. Society affected rock and roll as well because without the challenges segregation made, rock and roll would have not been developed. Society impacted rock and roll in many ways because we had segregation during those years.

YA READY?!” The sold-out stadium exploded as Chief Keef performed “Love Sosa”, a song which references misogyny, violence, drugs, and materialism, elements of most popular Hip-Hop today. Probing for an exciting occasion, adolescent suburban white kids paid to see yet another black man make a mockery of himself and his own race as Keef

The Twentieth Century gave birth to many new forms of music. The world saw music transformation from the creations of Chopin to Rock and Roll, Rap, Heavy Metal, and Grunge. While there are many artist and groups who performed new musical styles, none did more for them then the five bands we will discuss here. These groups not only shaped the music we listen to, they also shaped our culture. From the King of Rock, to the original British boy band, a heavy metal band from Los Angeles, the band that introduced 90’s to grunge rock, and finally the original gangster rappers.

In Terrance Hayes’s poem “Mr. T-,” the speaker presents the actor Laurence Tureaud, also known as Mr. T, as a sellout and an unfavorable role model for the African American youth for constantly playing negative, stereotypical roles for a black man in order to achieve success in Hollywood.   The speaker also characterizes Mr. T as enormous and simple-minded with a demeanor similar to an animal’s to further his mockery of Mr. T’s career. The speaker begins his commentary on the actor’s career by suggesting that The A-Team, the show Mr. T stars in, is racist by mentioning how he is “Sometimes drugged / & duffled (by white men) in a cockpit,” which seems to draw illusions to white men capturing and transporting slaves to new territories during the time of the slave trade (4-5).

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.

Today, the musical genres created and influenced by African Americans are top sellers in the country, though jazz isn't as popular today it will remain a big part of American culture and history. ("20th Century Music," n.d.). The unfortunate circumstances of the slave trade introduced America to unique sounds, rhythms and song structures of African tradition and influenced the creation of blues, jazz and many more musical genres. Although racism deemed the early development of African American music “immoral”, the lively and diverse music thrived and spread American culture around the world.

Throughout time there are some periods that are distinct in hindsight. The fashion, ideas, historical events and lives of people in the past vary between the decades. The 1940’s mark a decade where peace was declared and old norms and values were shed to make room for popular culture and the ‘wild teenagers’. Finding a soulmate was more important than ever as a new world rose up and needed to be enjoyed by as many as possible after the decades of war. Dating was part of the rise of pop culture in the 1940’s.

Before when The Beatles where still fairly new in the United States the media portrayed them as clean cut British guys who made good music. The medias eye had always been specifically on Paul and John for being the front men of the band, and the media loved them. Towards the end of the 60 's the media started to develop a different view on Paul and John. When Paul was caught with half a pound of Marijuana and sent to jail the media took this event as an opportunity to diminished the image of Paul by basically depicting him of being just a drugged up musician. John on the other hand was being spied on by the FBI.

It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More. (Jazz Standards.com) The 1920’s centered around these tunes more than others, but that doesn’t mean they were hated they just weren’t as popular; but despite the rankings the pieces affected the entertainment in the 20’s for the best. The first great wave of American influence that came on Japanese popular music came before the Second World War and the rapid expansion of Japan’s record industry began in the late 1920’s. Imports of American records, and songs brought a wide amount of music into the culture of Japanese music creating mesmerizing pieces of Japanese popular

Motown was a transformative sound that arrived just at the height of the civil rights movement. Such success coming from a black business and black artists forced the rest of America to reexamine their racial prejudices that they still clung to. It seemed that it’s founder, Berry Gordy, knew from the start that Motown was something special when he hung a sign that read “Hitsville USA” above the recording studio’s headquarters. The success was almost instant for most Motown artists with song after song becoming number one hits on major music charts. However, the success was not easy, as it took strenuous amounts of work to mold the artist’s looks and sounds into something that would popularize them among the white population.

The growth of the enslaved African American population directly led to an increase in domestic slave trade in the early 1800s. As a result, by 1860 a very significant amount of slaves worked on plantations in the Deep South. Hot temperatures, long work days, and harsh treatment made slave life unfathomably difficult. Families were destroyed, in fact, a third of children under the age of fourteen were separated from their parents and about a quarter of marriages were split, due to slave trade. Slavery was dehumanizing, but maintaining and creating culture and traditions was a way for slaves to have an identity, and in many ways was a resistance to the demeaning nature of slavery.