Country Music Genre Essay

Southern music is now called country music and is popular in many different places. It is for people from all walks of life. But, when we look at country music today and from years ago is it the same? , When did it become popular? and , How has the music changed over the years?

“The cliché is that rock & roll was a melding of country music and blues, and if you are talking about, say, Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley, the description, though simplistic, does fit. But the black inner-city vocal-group sound . . . had little to do with either blues or country music in their purer forms.

When listening to country music, people tend to get excited and be in a better mood. All country songs have the ability to express a feeling of what the song is about. With the power of rap music people cannot express the way they feel. Country music can allow each individual to achieve more goals in life. If someone is having a bad day or just feeling down and out they can listen to country music and it can change their mood right then and there. Most people that listen to rap probably feel about the same as they did before. This is because the rap music cannot control feelings like country music can do. People pretty much can listen to

always been what we recognize it as today. Country music began in the 1920’s in a town in Tennessee called Bristol and was recognized for its hillbilly and folk format. Country music artists like Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis are each responsible for creating this music format that was written mostly about everyday life. Today country music is recognized as a more modern contemporary version of music. Today’s country artists have started to change their sound in order to appeal to the mainstream audience in order to make more money. Miranda Lambert said “there’s been a shift: country music is popular now. Every other genre wants to come over to our land.”

In the global popularity scene, hip hop now rules, and is a dominant cultural form in many parts of the world. Rap gives voice to every culture that produces and circulates it, not just African-Americans. As a new force, rap levels the playing field, opening doors to new cultural players, and ripens for new corporate snakes to pounce on. Circulating ideas, images, sound, and style, it is becoming central to the new multimedia global culture and is an expression of a multicultural world with no borders and limits.

That said, Country Music is a most peculiar genre of musical entertainment. Artists therein often sing about the most mundane aspects of life, and living. Songs usually include words like beer, cheating, cowboys, lying, trailers, trucks, whiskey etc.

Music is a huge influence on many people. Rap and country music are two very popular genres of music. There are many common stereotypes that people associate with them. Both types of music are often disliked by people for various reasons. Rap music is often seen as gang related and full of violence. People think it is a negative influence. Country music is often seen as “redneck” or “hillbilly” music. Many people don’t like country music because they say it is not their type. Country is seen as much more positive. Rap and country music are two totally different styles of music and have many differences. They have a very different audience, singers, styles of music, and music videos they use for their songs.

Charlie Pride did it in 1971. Darius Rucker did it in 2009. That’s it. Two black men, spanning thirty-eight years, are the only black artists to win a Country Music Association Award. With country music rooted in bluegrass and rhythm and blues, why aren’t there more black country music stars? When considering the roots of country music, and how closely related country is to blues, bluegrass and honky tonk music, an examination of what happened to all the black musicians seems warranted, no? This paper examines the dearth of black artists in country music and the careers of one of the few black artists who has had commercial success in this genre of music.

Have you ever wondered why George Strait is the King of Country music?  With Georges many followers across the world and many awards he received this means he would be set up for success right?  George has had a lot of major and minor challenges throughout his background and career, but that hasn’t slowed him down any on his awards and number one hit singles and albums.  Lets go over George’s background, career, and awards and number one hits.

To begin, in Tricia’s Rose’s Hip Hop Wars, the author goes into great detail about the current state of hip hop. From reading this book, one will see that Rose feels worried about this new generation of hip hop. This can be seen when Rose states, “Hip hop is in a terrible crisis” (Rose, 1). Rose feels concern for this culture because of the messages that are coming from hip hop (Rose, 1). For instance, Rose states “… the most commercially promoted and financially successful hip hop…. has increasingly become a playground for caricatures of black gangstas, pimps, and hoes” (Rose, 1). It becomes increasingly clear that Rose feels that these messages are responsible for the “dumbing’ down of hip hop’s imagery” (Rose, 3). The reason for this being that these messages are so prevalent in hip hop music. Rose states, “relying on an ever-narrowing range of images and themes, this commercial juggernaut has played a central role in the near-depletion of what was once a vibrant, diverse, and complex popular genre” (Rose, 1). In other words, when certain messages are delayed over and over again, it becomes hard to focus on anything else. This is one example of why Rose is concerned about hip hop. Overall though, the author is concerned with the messages being sent from hip hop and how it is affecting what hip hop use to be. Further into her book, it is also clear that Rose is concerned with the negative outlook that people have on hip hop. For example, Rose states “…the increased profitability of the gangsta-pimp-ho trinity has inflamed already rile critics” (Rose, 4). Therefore, not only are these new messages changing hip hop, but they are

For generations, singers and songwriters of country music have been working to evoke emotions in listeners by performing and writing songs that the listeners will be able to relate to. Country music traditionally reveals stories of life, love, death, and values, all of which can be seen in the works of great singers and songwriters like George Strait, Alabama, Brooks & Dunn, and Alan Jackson. One artist in particular, Garth Brooks, forever left his stamp on country music and on the hearts of his millions of listeners with his hit songs, “The Beaches of Cheyenne”, “Callin’ Baton Rouge”, and “The River”. “The Beaches of Cheyenne” has a storyline containing themes of life, death, love, and regret. The themes of this song branch out much

With the release of the single “Accidental Racist,” by Brad Paisley and LL Cool J, the lines between rap music and country music officially blurred beyond recognition. Fans of country and rap music downloaded and purchased the single to see how two completely different genres would blend. Billboard statistics show that most fans appreciated Paisley and Smith’s efforts. Yet hardcore country and hip-hop fans insist that the genres are so different on the musical spectrum that no similarities could ever exist. However, current popular music is proving this to be untrue to a certain extent. While rap and country music have many similarities, they differ in terms of lyrical content, use of musical elements, and target audience.

The origins of country music were the folk music of mostly white, working-class Americans. According to Sean Dooley who contributed to “The History of Country Music”, they blended popular songs, Irish and Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional ballads, cowboy songs, and various musical traditions from European immigrant communities. In the 1930s, radio and recordings had begun to popularize the new style, renamed as “country and western”. It included country, gospel, bluegrass, cowboy musicals, brother and sister duets, and western swing (Dooley). The flip side of country music was jazz.

Though country music has been around since the 1920’s and has constantly been changing over time and still continues to change today, the newest sound has come from Troyal Garth Brooks, better known as Garth Brooks (Garrett). Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Yukon, Oklahoma (Schuster). While for most of his life he was considered an athlete even went to Oklahoma State University on a full ride track scholarship, he did know how to play music being thought to him by his father (Schuster). After finishing at Oklahoma State University he would head Nashville to try and break into the world of country music (Schuster). After signing with Capital Recorders, we would become the popular throughout Country music and would rise to fame (Schuster). With Brooks being known for starting a new trend in country music. Garth Brooks paved a new way into country music, to creating a new group to listen outside the normal crowd, crossing over into the pop music (Schuster). He created his signature vocal style with fun, up-tempo, to

The hip-hop culture began in the streets of New York City during the 1970’s and has gone through tremendous changes up until now. Hip-Hop consists of four elements: rap, graffiti, break-dancing, and the disc jockey. In this paper, I intend to fully explain the evolution of rap music, from its infancy to the giant industry it is today.