Impact of Rhythm and Blues on African-American Culture Essay

R&B was originally an urban African-American sound, created in the United States in the 1930’s. In 1949, Billboard magazine reporter Jerry Wexler created the term R&B replacing the original term Race Music after it was deemed offensive. The origin of the name is that the “rhythm” “comes from the music’s typical dependence upon four-beat measures or bars and employs a backbeat (beats two and four accented in each measure)” and the “blues” portion comes from blue/sad music and lyrics that emerged after the Second World War era. The shortened term “R&B” was created for

As a general principle, music has been in a never-ending evolutionary state, in which each genre evolves with changes and grows to remain relevant. Just like we’ve seen in class, music will either change its forms, change its styles, change its themes, or it will evolve into a new form of music. With this in mind, I will use this critical lens to evaluate modern rhythm and blues music. While has gone through gone through changes before, and most likely will continue to evolve, I will be looking at the musical change from the 1990s until modern-day rhythm and blues. In the 1990s, R&B contained within it a strong connection to its origins. By this I mean that R&B music of the 90s had a strong presence of its jazz and blues inspirations that brought about its start. It

     The Blues musical move was prominent during the 1920s and '30s, a time known as the Harlem Renaissance. Blues music characteristically told the story of

The Chicago Blues style, named so from its city of origin, began to take form in the late 1940’s. It evolved from delta blues, when musicians began to amplify instruments and reduce the size of bands. “Adding drums, bass, and piano (sometimes saxophones) to the basic string band and harmonica aggregation, the style created the now

What if I told you rock and roll wouldn’t be what it is today without rhythm and blues, and would you believe me? While the blues or rhythm and blues as it was originally called, evolved into a variety of subgenres, you can still recognize and hear its musical elements in just about every rock song. Every song can vary in their delivery, instruments come and go, additional vocalists can be added or subtracted and lyrics are developed from personal stories or experiences. When you consider the elements of the blues you can see the clear resemblances in early rock and roll.

There are many different genres or categories of music. These can range from the smooth layered sound of classical music to the harsh thrashy sound of heavy metal in a seemingly endless list of geners and sub-genres. Amongst these genres few have been as influential in contemporary music as the Blues. The blues can be attributed as being the foundation for many modern generes including rock and roll and jazz. (Nicole 2005)

Nowadays the blues revolve around the meaning of sadness but doesn’t have a true message of fighting for survival or deprivation of freedom. In the process of searching for the modern day blues, it was discovered that the music is compiled by mostly Caucasian artist compared to the past where it was conceived by blacks to prompt their practices and beliefs.

Wilson once said, “I think the blues is the best literature that we as blacks have created since we’ve been here, and it’s a lot of philosophical ideas. I call it our sacred book” (Dyson). This genre of music was created in the south of the United States by African Americans in the late 1800’s. “The blues give lyrical shape to the hurts and affections that stymie and transform black life. The blues tap comedy to temper tragedy – and to tame the absurd” (Dyson). The blues music was popular among slaves living in the deep south.

The blues is a musical genre that originated among African-Americans in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From these humble and provincial origins it has come to be appreciated all over the country and the world, and has also spread its influence even more widely by way of its offspring, jazz and rock. While the word "genre" is certainly appropriate, the blues can be defined more specifically as a closely related set of melodies, harmonies, rhythmic patterns and bar structures. Unlike many musical genres, the blues is very tightly focused in fact it could be said without much fear of exaggeration that all blues songs are variations on one song. Nevertheless, as time went on the blues lost some of its stereotyped or formulaic aspect and loosened up its structure to encompass a variety of forms of expression.

R&B Genre is African American type of Music, Also known as Rhythm and Blues. R&B originated around the early to mid 1900’s. This type of music is soft rhythm and well known as soul music. Anytime I feel am feeling down and need a way to ventilate my emotions, R&B is the best type of music to listen to, However it is my favorite. Some Rhythm and Blues Artist that are well known is the Queen Mary J. Blidge, Alicia Keys, Usher, and Beyonce.

The late 19th century marked a great deal of change in the United States as well as the rest of the world. World war one had begun and reeked great havoc on the entire world. Nikola Tesla and the fathers of communications had made major scientific breakthroughs in the communications field and modern radio programming was right around the corner. Slavery had been abolished for over thirty years but segregation was still an enormous factor amongst the African-American people in the U.S. One of the most segregated states in the entire country, Mississippi, was on the brink of one of the most influential forms of modern music that the world had ever seen or heard: the blues. What the blues did for music is reflective in almost every

R&B’s full name is Rhythm and Blues; it came from Jazz and Blues, and it is a genre of popular African-American music. It developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. In the 1970s, the term R&B changed again and used for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a new style of R&B developed, was “Contemporary R&B”. In the 1950s through the 1970s, the R&B bands usually consisted of piano, guitar, bass, drums, saxophones. Then, many kinds of music were developed from R&B.

Kopp, Ed. “A Brief History of the Blues.” all about jazz. All About Jazz, 16 Aug. 2005. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. ‹http://www.allaboutjazz.com/a-brief-history-of-the-blues-by-ed-kopp.php›.

Around the turn of the Twentieth Century, out of the loose partially improvised music sung by blacks, the Blues was born and subsequently evolved into the smorgasbord of musical styles indigenous to today's culture. This new genre spawned the rhythm section (i.e. guitar, bass, keyboard, and percussion), which continues to anchor every other form of modern music. Each of these musical languages commands a large and loyal following. Each form, in union with the others contained in the contemporary musical landscape, represents a realistic and fitting alternative to classic

In the late 19th century a new form of music began to blossom in what was known as the deep south of the United States. This new form of music began as chants and call and response in the slave fields and on farms and began to incorporate traditional African music, singing and chants. The themes mostly consisting of hard times and emotional turmoil in its beginning stages. Over the years it grew and developed until it had become what we now know today as 'The Blues '.