Essay about Hip/Hop Versus R&B

Music as a whole blends together. One style leads to another, the music becomes more progressive. It evolves to fit the new generation, leaving the old generation behind. From the spritual songs of the late 1800s to the gospel of the early 1900s. Then it changed into rhythm and blues, and when the 1950s rolled around it became Rock’ n’ Roll. With the invention of new iconic instruments like the Fender Precision Bass and then the Fender Stratocaster, the sound of the music changed. The sound that was soft and low was now crunchy and loud. While it did not sit well with the adults, it was a hit among the new generation. Even the African American roots of the music didn’t deter the youth listening

African American music is divided into many subgroups that led to another style, which allowed empowerment. Such styles as spiritual, blues, jazz, r&b, and hip hop created an incredible history.

The birth of R&B was created by African American in the early 1960’s from Soul music, Jazz, Gospel, Pop music and Blues as time went on R&B was born. In its earlier days, R&B Music was all about racial issues, and artists gave a lot of importance to the style and arrangement, which included different instruments and rhythms to produce different types of sounds. The result was live music that had catchy lyrics and was widely used in dance

Hip-Hop started in the early 1970's by Clive Campbell, known as DJ Kool Herc, in Bronx, New York. He was born

African Americans had a major role in the development of popular entertainment in America. Following the Civil War, black Americans, developed a new style of music called ragtime which eventually evolved into what we now know as Jazz. In developing Jazz, African Americans contributed knowledge of the dance and folk music of people across Africa. Together, these musical forms had a major influence on the development of music within the United States and around the world during the 20th century. Early jazz and blues recordings were made in the 1920’s and the early part of the 20th century saw a constant rise in their popularity.

Concrete Detail 3: Later popular forms of music would evolve out of the African American styles. The blues and jazz would become major styles of music in American culture and would show the impact of African Americans on American society.

Music has made an impact on all levels in history. The early days of jazz provided many styles which highlighted the talent and innovation of African American music including Ragtime and Dixieland. Ragtime also

Up until the 20th century music in North America showed a clear distinction between race and social class. The music from then has since evolved into many diverse forms and backgrounds of origin. The most significant impact on music concerning race in the 20th century was African Americans and the musical traditions, they brought to the music world adapted through the life of slavery. Before the time era of the 20th century began, blues music was spreading very rapidly throughout. “Blues is a vocal and instrumental musical form which evolved from African American spirituals, shouts, work songs and chants.” (Twentieth-century music, n.d.) Blues was a way for people to sing about their hardships as a way of venting. “The origins of Jazz during

African American music has influenced every genre in the music industry today. From Jazz music all the way to Rap, it has cultivated different cultures throughout the world in a very unique way. African Americans have produced music, beginning with the transition through the transatlantic slave trade, to slavery in the “New World”, the Civil Rights era, and to the modern society of today, that enabled so many genres to actually even exist. Even though each time period focused on a specific issue during that time, it is evident the suffrage and the overall experience of Blacks molded artist of the past and those of today. The music produced in the past is very much so different from that of today, however, it is clearly shown that many present

called “funk”. And these artists drove it home to an ever widening audience. This was

American Music is a melting pot of different cultures, emotions, experiences, and therefore genres. It is incredible to see how as music evolves and changes with the time, so does The United States. We are a mixed bag as a country, accepting all different cultures and backgrounds. This has led to many breakthroughs and innovations in music throughout history. We are all influenced by our experiences in life and this is no different in the evolution of music in American History. The Blues was created from African American Slave songs, with lyrics that narrate the hardships of the human experience at the time. These rhythms and forms carried over and eventually created what is now Rock and Roll. Over the next five weeks, we will explore and discover five key genres and artists who are known to specialize in that genre as a way to reconnect with our history and explore the possibilities for innovation in music in the future.

Throughout the history of this country, the music of African-Americans has remained a strong influence upon our society and culture. Beginning with the music carried over from Africa with the slaves, up until now, with the new styles created by urban youth today, African-Americans have retained certain elements within their music which makes it unique from any other musical form. Some of the musical forms which were created from, and/or were strongly influenced by afro-centric musical characteristics are: Hymnals, Gospel, Spirituals, Ragtime, the blues, and R&B. While many of these musical forms are still popular today amongst Blacks and Non-Blacks, jazz and hip-hop are arguably the two most widespread and

Without the existence and influence of gospel music there would not be a starting point for the development of R&B. Several influential artists like Ray Charles, R.Kelly, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Lou Rawls and others who are considered as the most popular R&B artists have been influenced by gospel (Yerby, n.d.). It is said that even the popular songs of Whitney Houston have been influenced by gospel. Countless R&B performers, for instance Sam Cooke, started their career by singing in church, which later had a big influence on his songs, records and style of music. The thing is that the way of singing gospel is very much like the way of singing R&B.

Rhythm and blues, also known today as “R & B”, has been one of the most influential genres of music within the African American Culture, and has evolved over many decades in style and sound. Emerging in the late 1940's rhythm and blues, sometimes called jump blues, became dominant black popular music during and after WWII. Rhythm and blues artists often sung about love, relationships, life troubles, and sometimes focused on segregation and race struggles. Rhythm and blues helped embody what was unique about black American culture and validate it as something distinctive and valuable.

     Most rap songs that contain violence reflects incidents that occur in today’s society such as the Rodney King incident. “Rap music brings together a tangle of some of the most complex social, cultural, and political issues in contemporary American society.” Rap and hip-hop artists write songs that promote the killing of enemies as well as targeting institutions such as the church, government, and justice system (Ro 145) Most artists relive their own painful experiences over and over again though their music, delaying their own society’s process of recovery . for example, in 1989