Visualize in your head a rock band, and a rapper. What kind of clothes are they wearing. What lyric styles are they singing in? And what color are they? Ongoing stereotypes suggest that the rock band is a group of white musicians and the rapper would be black. However, examples from the past and present shows that these stereotypes are untrue. Music is defined as “The art of organizing tones to produce a coherent sequence of sounds to elicit an aesthetic response in a listener” (Morris, 864). This country’s youth is unlike any others, we have much control over what we do, and music is something that evolves around all of us. In this essay, I will discuss the evolution of youth music ranging from early rock, to today’s hip hop stars, from a muliculturalistic point of view. Multiculturalism is “ a term identifying the presence of several significant cultures” (Stark, 434). Without the presence of multiculturalism, music may not be as diversified and rounded as it is today. Through sharing ideas, techniques and skills, music has evolved into a vast amount of identifying styles.
The birth of youth oriented music began with the birth of rock and roll. Many think that rock is generally composed of a white population, and not many would believe that rock was actually started by blacks. This shows early signs of multiculturalism through music. Rock and roll music is actually a spawn of rhythm and blues, that was created in the 1950’s. The name ‘rock and roll’ was identified by Alan Freed, a radio disc jockey that introduced rhythm and blues to the mainstream public, and altered it for the rock and roll. “What Freed certainly knew but few whites were unaware of at the time was that the term (rock and roll) was widely used in black music as a euphemism for sex” (R&RG, 20). Concepts of rhythm and clues such as “complex rhythms and call-out response” and “blending work of both joys and sorrows in the South” were taken black American heritage (R&RG, 23). These styles of music were set to anglo-style songs and thus produced a new style of music. This new style of music set the stage for some of the most influential musicians of youth in this time. One of the most influential musician of this time was Chuck Berry. Berry was one of the first rhythm and blues performers to have an interracial audience, and a heavy influence in the futu...
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...These artists are respected through the hip-hop community and are all currently working with black hip-hop and rap artists on collaborations. This would include Dr. Dre and Eminem, Fred Durst and Method Man, Kid Rock and Lil Kim, and Everlast and Santana, which is more rock and hip-hop, but color lines are still crossed.
In conclusion, if multiculturalism is the collaboration of different ethnic groups ideas and cultures, then music could be justified as a prime example. There once stood bold lines between the white rocker and the black rapper. These days, the line is virtually gone, and people are getting along better. This is shown in concerts such as the Family Values Tour, which despite the innocent name, features metal bands and rap artists. Through these concerts, you get many different ethnic groups getting together and having a great time together at a concert, and there has never been and race-related innocents at these concerts in the last few years. Music can have a strong influence on people, and if we are able to bring down color barriers that once stood tall though something that everyone loves, music, I say we should stick to that plan.
There is without a doubt that the 1950s saw the rise of the King of Rock 'n' Roll, known as Chuck Berry. His musical take on rhythm and blues was a large influence on many successful artists that rose the following decade, but most notably The Rolling Stones. This paper examines the earlier musical career of Chuck Berry and how The Rolling Stones modeled themselves upon him and then expanded themselves further.
Teenagers were a new species at the beginning of the 1950's. Before then, adolescents in America had traditionally gone to work to support their family or to start their own family as soon as they were old enough. However, the years of post-war prosperity and the expansion of suburbia provided teenagers (who were too young to remember the scarcities of the Depression and the war effort) with plenty of leisure time. At the same time, advances in technology made vinyl 45's cheap and easily accessible to both artists and listeners. White teenagers bought up pop hits coming off the Billboard 100, although many who were listening to black radio stations preferred rhythm and blues tunes which were always played by black performers. In fact rhythm and blues was pretty much used as a synonym for black music. Chuck Berry was one of the first black musicians to do well with a white audience. Because of his middle class background, his energetic performing style, and his youth-associated lyrics, Chuck Berry broke through the race barrier and became one of the first "rock stars."
Race, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits (“Merriam-Webster” 2016). “The concept of race, as a construct distinguishing one group of humans from another on the basis of shared biological appearances, emerges from a legacy of human-different making that traces across humanity” (Radano and Bohlman 2000: 10). In my opinion, it is inevitable for musicians to subconsciously incorporate their ideas of racial differences in music making. With the influence of the mass media, racial differences are communicated through music, which then modifies the pre-existing perceptions of racial identities of the audiences. First, I will
In the New York Times article, “Safety and Justice Complement Each Other,” by Glenn E. Martin, the author informs, “The Vera Institute for Justice found a 36 percent recidivism rate for individuals who had completed alternative drug programs in New York City, compared with 54 sentenced to prison, jail, probation or time served.” Alternative programs are more likely to inhibit future criminal acts, while incarceration seems to lack long-lasting effects on individuals. In continuance, the author adds that 3 percent of treatment participants were rearrested for violent crimes, while 6 percent of untreated criminals were rearrested for violent crimes. Diversion programs are able to treat one’s motivation for their criminal acts, rather than assuming that illegal habits will go away with time. Instead of sending nonviolent offenders to jail, legislators should consider introducing practical
After many of World War II’s harmful effects, the 1950s served as a period of time of musical change that reflected the dynamic of society as well as the traditional norms and values. Many factors contributed to this transformation. For example, the civil rights movement heightened many racial tensions, and the music produced consequently manifested this tension in itself. Rock-n-roll and R&B music universalized music typically associated with African-Americans, and many African-American musicians gained fame; however, as with any relatively-widespread success, there were many musicians as well who missed their opportunities due to the same racial segregation. While “radical” genres such as R&B and rock-n-roll laid the foundation for music future forms of music, the standard pop, jazz, and country music adhered to traditional values, and thus continued to maintain popularity amidst phenomena such as the Elvis craze.
America was still changing rapidly as African Americans were allowed more and more rights and social justices. During this time in America’s history, racism was still largely found across the nation. It was almost customary for average white people to hold their black counterparts and lower regards. It was very rare for people of mixed races partaking in activities together, let alone creating music. Swing resolved some of these issues, and connected the races. The audience of Swing was also different in the sense that “college-age and high-school-age youth” built up a large majority of the common listeners (Edsford 1). The inclusion of younger aged consumers of Swing music is monumentally important contrasted with swing’s predecessors, where people of this age had no outlet of listening to music of any kind. The later part of the Swing revolution occurred during the first consumer era of America, allowing people of all ages to spend more time doing things they enjoyed, compared to just trying to survive. This brought a new flair to the world and transformed the bleak and monotone life of working all day into a luxuriant
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
Black culture in our society has come to the point where it is allied with pop culture. The most popular music genres, slang terms, to dance forms it all comes from black culture. Hip hop emerged from black culture, becoming the soul of it that is seen in the media. Hip hop helped the black community by creating new ways of expressing themselves, from breakdance, graffiti, rap and other music, to slang. This culture was rooted in their tradition and created from something new. Hip hop created a new form of music that required the use of turn tables, ‘cuts’, loops, rhythm, rhyme, stories, and deep-rooted emotions, but also incorporated black oral forms of storytelling using communal authors.
The game of basketball is a highly recognized and widely known sport. Basketball was first heard of in the winter of 1891 when a man by the name of James Naismith was told to instruct a physical education class at the Young Men’s Christian Association in Springfield, Massachusetts. Naismith was instructed to put together a game for young men to enjoy while they were at the YMCA. While trying to come up with a brilliant and fun game for these young men, Naismith reminisced back on his childhood in Canada. He remembered a game his friends and him had played all the time: “Duck on a Rock”, which involved trying to knock a large rock off a boulder by throwing smaller rocks at it. Naismith also remembered watching a game of rugby going on in the gymnasium. The game of Rugby involved tossing a ball into a box. After a very short time of trying to make up a game for these young men, Naismith came up with a brilliant idea. Little did he know the game that he came up with just so happened to be one of he most renowned sports in American history. Naismith’s idea pertained to nailing up raised boxes so that players could attempt to throw a ball in the basket. When there were no boxes too be found, he used peach baskets. Supposedly, Naismith came up with all the rules for this game in no more than “about an hour”, according to Alexander Wolff. Shortly after Naismith had invented the game of basketball, graduates of the YMCA traveled internationally which is the main reason as to why this sport is so widely known. The impact basketball has made on the lives of many Americans is incredible in the sense that it has given people the ability to ...
Basketball is a sport that was discovered on December 1st, 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts. James Naismith was the first to discover this sport by hanging two half-bushel peach baskets at the opposite ends of the gymnasium. There are ten players on the court at all times. Five from the home team, five from the away team try to compete to see who can score the most baskets/ points in 32 minutes. When basketball was first brought upon, 300 million people found it enjoying to play. Today, in 2017, 15.5 million people play casual/pickup basketball, 4.1 million play in organized leagues, and 5.8 million play on a school or college team. Basketball has grown tremendously amongst the years and has became very competitive. Basketball is a sports that requires good hand eye coordination, determination, and many other skills. There are many ways to be successful on and off the court in the game of basketball. Four ways to do so are studying the game, practicing in the gym daily, weight training, and eating healthy.
Music Bridging Cultural Gaps In Hong Kong people look down on those from 'the mainland'.
Currently, bowling is one of the oldest and most popular indoor sports in the world. More and more Americans compete in bowling, with it’s widespread popularity over the past ten years especially. Now it is the most popular sports in the United States, Canada, Japan and most of the Latin American Nations. Other forms of bowling that exist in these countries are boccie, candle pins, duck pins, five pins, lawn bowling and nine pins. There exist many bowling organizations in the world toda...
Hip Hop and Rock music are today’s people choice of music. People will find that teens and adults from the age of 20 to 34 listen to these two types of music. Not too often will you see or hear a teen listening to Blues, Opera, Reggae, or Oldies. Reason being is that they were raised up in toady’s society where really all they will here is either Hip Hop or Rock. There is a lot of argument that these two different types of music are the same old sing about money, drugs, and sex. But actually they are tot...
The first basketball type game may have been played by the early Olmec people of ancient Mexico as early as 500 years ago. The Aztec, and Mayan cultures also had a game similar to basketball, only instead of a rubber ball, they used the decapitated skulls of their conquered foes. The game of basketball as we currently know it, was designed and founded by Dr. James Naismith. Naismith was born on November 6, 1861, in Almonte, Ontario. Born and educated in Canada, Naismith came south to pursue his interests of physical education and Christian ministry. Shortly thereafter, he became a teacher at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Dr. Naismith was given two weeks to discover a game that would
With the music being the highly profitable, capitalist enterprise that it is today, it is no wonder that it is controlled and regulated by a few large conglomerates that exist is today’s world. It is important to make clear that although evidence is being presented of the positive aspects of globalization through music that there is overwhelming evidence that cultural imperialism is more than it seems on the outside. One must keep in mind that cultural imperialism, globalization and the creation of a global village is a business. People are profiting at other people’s loss of cultural identity, they are sold a culture and heritage. With the every growing N’Sync fan clubs and Britney clones, the world is turning into a stage for pop culture and its glamorous unattainable standards.