The History and Culture of the United States
The history and culture of the United States have benefited greatly from the immigration of people from many cultures. In terms of the growth of American history and culture, immigrants from many ethnic groups, especially African Americans, have exhibited achievement in a variety of areas (Pole et al., 2008).
The Invention of African-American Music
The invention of music, particularly rap, hip-hop, and pop music, has been mostly attributed to African Americans, sometimes known as people of color. For a while, black music or race music were terms used to describe African-American music (Black, 2014). These names were given to the musical genres influenced or emerging from the African Americans such as Afrobeat.
Celebration of African-American Musical Genres
So far, the African American genres are the ones considered the most influential American vernacular tradition since their development has not been dependent on the traditions of the Africans where they arose. The contribution of people of color to musical genres is nowadays celebrated in the United States during the month of black history, which is always held in February of every year (Black, 2014).
Tracing the Roots of African-American Music
It is worth tracing the roots of the development of African-American music in the United States. The influence of this ethnic group on mainstream music in the U.S. started back in the 19th century with the blackface minstrelsy advent. The banjo's black origin became one of the most popular musical instruments, and the rhythms that were derived from Africa were merged into popular songs (Lena & Peterson, 2008). The late decades of the nineteenth century experienced the greatest periods of the black bands regarding melodic music as opposed to the modern rap, where hip-hop was the only root to melodic music. However, despite the efforts made by African Americans to the musical industry, their contributions were not appreciated.
The Emergence of Hip-Hop
The late 1990s also experienced the invention of hip-hop into the musical genre (Lena & Peterson, 2008). Gil Scott-Heron, who was a spoken word poet, DJ Kool Herc, who was an immigrant from Jamaica, were some of the innovators of this music genre. However, with time, hip-hop became a culture in the United States, which was now associated with the black origins. With time, hip-hop music arose as a facet of a large subculture with progressive and rebellious elements.
The Rise of Black Pop Artists
The late decades of the nineteenth century also saw the emergence of black pop artists in the United States. The black pop artists included Prince, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, and not limited to Michael Jackson. The artists composed and sang a pop dance-soul, which spread into the New Jack Swing by the end of the nineteenth century. Currently, it is substantial to argue that hip-hop, being one of the musical genres invented by the minority group in the United States, has spread across the country (Ramsey, 2003). Moreover, it is one of the most influencing musical genres in the United States today. The African-American artists have continued with the hip-hop culture. Currently, the top celebrities in hip-hop and rap music in the United States are predominantly African Americans, including Tupac, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Kanye West, Jay-Z, and not limited to 50 Cent. Concisely, it is justifiable to assert that the minority groups in the United States, especially African Americans, have had a lot of contributions towards shaping the culture of the United States, more so the musical culture.
References
Black, S. (2014). “Street music”, urban ethnography and ghettoized communities. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(2), 700–705. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12098
Lena, J. C., & Peterson, R. A. (2008). Classification as culture: Types and trajectories of music genres. American Sociological Review, 73(5), 697–718. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240807300501
Pole, N., Gone, J. P., & Kulkarni, M. (2008). Minorities in the United States. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 15(1), 35–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2850.2008.00109.x
Ramsey, G. P. (2003). Race music: black cultures from bebop to hip-hop. Music of the African diaspora 7. https://doi.org/papers3://publication/uuid/4A4DFD1E-306A-4CB1-9A42-8668C961F45B
