African American Influence On Pop Culture

One of the more prominent criticisms of hip that Rose points out is that there is a large amount of misplaced blame in the world of hip hop. She writes, “increasingly, too many of hip hop’s supporters point to structural racism to explain the origins of the problem but refuse to link these structural forces to individual action and to the power of media seduction” (p. 73). In this section of the second chapter, Rose is explaining that those who defend commercial hip hop are taking a more-or-less one-dimensional approach to their arguments by solely blaming structural racism and overlooking the

Music in the 1900 's had meaning , music was how African Americans got through a long working day . Music then was something that no man could take away . That still applies to the 21st century music , back onto the 1900 's African Americans were not given the same privileges as they are today . Music was the less threatening way for African Americans to get there point across . The music was not always about them wanting equality , there was loving songs , upbeat songs , songs about what they are doing . There were always those songs that would get a person in there feelings . The music that tells a person life story on what all they may have been through . Most the listeners were African American which is good , then there may have been some white but not many . African American music to some was not as important to them as to others . The African American music has evolved from the 1900 's to now , also the amount of people that listen to African American music has also evolved . At a farm in Mississippi is an example of how African Americans used music to get through a hard working day . Music while working usually help the time go by faster . The music in which was sung in the fields or in the cabins for entertainment later became known as The Blues . Blues music is usually written from the heart it is an emotional genre of music , the lyrics or the feeling in the blues comes from a place in someone that may be hurting or struggling . " But the blues are unique to the

Rock ‘n’ roll music has widely influenced music and society and continues to do so today. Rock ‘n’ roll emerged in the 1950’s a time where whites and blacks were heavily segregated. Rock and roll music not only changed the nation’s current musical norms, but indicated the joy of the emerging youth culture of the generation. It influenced artists whether black or white to come into the mainstream music. Famous artists still remembered today also influenced rock and roll. Those pioneers helped change the musical norms and the overall history of music. White rock ‘n’ rollers helped build a ladder for black artists to come into the scene. It was certain that rock ‘n’ roll made it possible for greater acceptance, appreciation and a wider

African American influence in music has been an ever present and controversial subject in American history. Stemming from many different cultures, religions and backgrounds, large portions of American music was introduced by, and credited to African Americans. Although in many cases, this music was used for entertainment by the masses or majority, contrary to popular belief, black music served a greater purpose than just recreation. Dating all the way back to the beginning of slavery in the U.S. during the 17th century, music has been used to make a statement and send a message. As African American music progressed over the years, there were common themes expressed as the genres evolved. It has been an open letter to the world, documenting and protesting the ongoing oppression faced by blacks in the United States, as well as an outlet for frustration. For many African Americans, the music gave them the only voice that couldn’t be silenced by their oppressors.

Molefi Asante is the author of It’s Bigger than Hip-Hop: The Rise of the Post Hip-Hop Generation. In this article, Asante predicts that the post-hip-hop generation will embrace social justice issues including women’s rights, gay’s rights, and the anti-war movement. To challenge these stereotypes, Asante speaks to the personification of the African-American ghetto and the need to stop glorifying black suffering. For Asante, the post-hip-hop generation no longer expects hip-hop to mobilize disenfranchised youth. Asante states, “The post-hip-hop generation shouldn’t wait for mainstream musicians to say what needs to be said…No movement is about beats and rhythms…. it must be bigger than hip-hop.” Because hip-hop is controlled by corporations, Asante says hip-hop will never be the focus of political change. Asante argues that “old white men” have dictated hip-hop, and by extension the actions of black youth, since 1991. “Allowing white executives, not from the hip-hop culture, to control and dictate the culture is tragic because the music, and ultimately the culture, as we can see today, has not only lost its edge, but its sense of rebellion and black movement- the very principles upon which it was founded.” Asante calls for the rise of “artivism,” a new social movement that uses art to improve community police relations, failing schools and the criminal justice system. Asante encourages the post-hip-hop generation to unite with Latino/Immigration Rights and Black Civil Rights

Elvis Presley was best known for his integration of R&B and country music. The public was scared that not only Presley would integrate music but also the white and black community. Which was something he did actually achieve according to Little Richard “He was an integrator. Elvis was a blessing. They wouldn’t let black music through. He opened the door for black music” (Elvis After 198). Parents were afraid of his music, considering it was said that he had a voice of a black man. He caused controversy, a white man singing black music on the radio.This controversy grew as Presley grew in

Music influnced African American culture by allowing them to express themselves in a new way-specifically, through jazz. This also was one of the first times blacks and whites could both come together and embrace the same topic. Like the document says on page 59, "...originated by blacks but embraced by whites." One challenge these artists faced was the on-going segregation. For example, the text on page 56 says, "On one side, the word 'white' was painted, and on the other, the word, 'colored.'" This shows, how the issue of racism and separation of races continued. But this had a positive impact. Like the text says on page 59, "...when confronted with racism, he 'took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues." This shows it was possible

As the decade of the 1970’s came to an end, a new Black music emerged like much of the others - wrapped in social realities of an genuinely Black experience. Rap/Hip Hop bursted on the seams relating many of the same political messages and ideologies heard decades before. Echoing the Black Power movement and using the musical culture as a way to rebuild Black communities constantly under attack, rap brought real life stories of an urban, younger

It indeed grew and changed from its original incarnation as it spread throughout the country and around the world, but the southern black roots of rock ‘n roll cannot be denied. Before my music research project I thought that African Americans had little to do with Rock and Roll music. After researching and finding examples I realized African-Americans contributed greatly to the success of rock and roll music. Rock and roll better described as “black blues music” back in the 1900’s. It’s astonishing to see how much of an influence African Americans played and then to see the little credit they received.

“The music industry seems to allow very minimal Black cultural contribution to even do that, as opposed to the history of American music has told the same story over many times whereas African Americans creates a musical style or genre, only to later be replaced by white artists with more “mainstream” appeal. This trend can be seen in everything from Rock n Roll, Country music, Pop music to more recently Hip-Hop and RnB where white artists like Iggy Azalea, Macklemore, Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake dominates today’s Hip-Hop/R&B charts. White people may be able to participate in or appropriate “Black” styles, but they rarely innovate or enhance them, so the genre slowly withers away ( Clutch, 1).” This act all ties in with commercialization and the “Whites” using Hip Hop as a source of income to stay on top, and this goes back to back in the early eras when Euro- Americans came to the Americas and took control of everything driving the Native Indians, using Africans as slaves, and cultivating everyone to their

Our cultures are what makes us who we are today, and one of the biggest things culture has provided us with is music.With the help of venues, artists, and schools jazz music is becoming a more popular genre. Jazz was once a popular way to express yourself and it greatly impacted many cultures. It also has greatly impacted the music we listen to today. There is an infinite amount of music genres, and jazz music is a very crucial one to our history.

Vocativ, a media and technology new company, calculated that the 2015 Grammys is the “whitest” Grammys in 35 years. This data composes of the lack of people of color nominations and winners in the top four categories – best song, best album, best new artist, and best record. This is important due to the recent social media points about cultural appropriation of minority cultures by white artist in pop and hip-hop records. The fear for hip-hop and rap is what happened to past genres that have black roots like, country, rock, and soul music –, which are all now predominantly white. There are hip hop artist like Harlem native female rapper,

Hip Hop culture has come from a inner city expression of life to a multi-billion dollar business. At the beginning of the new millennium it was the top selling genre in the pop charts. It had influences not only on music, but on fashion, film, television, and print. In 2004 Hip Hop celebrated its 30th year anniversary. It wasn’t big for the fact that it was still kicking. It was big because the once Black/Brown inner city culture had grown into a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon (Reeves). Hip Hop culture has provided a platform for all walks of life to speak their mind. Over the past 36 years it has provided us with both entertainment and controversy alike and had a huge impact on our nation’s history. `

The 60s and early 70s was a radical era with many powerful movements taking place in which colonial people of groups like the Black Panthers who had enough injustices of capitalism. They established themselves as a voice of the people for social change and a force to be reckoned as we learned by author Jamal Joseph. Decades later we’re still in the same predicament because humanity has failed to recognize that we have such a misunderstood history of oppression throughout our society. There is a lot of aggression being felt around the US because of the uprise of police brutality, but as always music is still an outlet for self-expression for those who suffer from colonialism. I will demonstrate how hip-hop artists like Kendrick Lamar has had an impact on American culture regarding police brutality, imprisonment, and poverty by talking about these exact social problems in his music, and inspiring generation to be conscious including myself when it comes to fighting back within my own poetry.

Hip Hop music became one of the primary constructive outlets for Black Americans to release their thoughts, pain, and anguish about the injustices and mistreatments of Black people. Even though most of the pioneers in Hip-Hop either were not born in America or are 2nd generation immigrants that proves that common oppression can lead to unity. The fact that that these individuals were impoverished and felt marginalized is what brought them together and lead to the culture today. Deep rooted racism in the United States kept the genre of music suppressed for a while before it was allowed to even be played on the airwaves. Now, in 2011, the main consumers of byproducts of hip hop are White Americans.