African-American Influence On African American Music

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INTRODUCTION
African-Americans have had a notable influence on American music. Since the days the slave trade began African slaves brought over, to this New World, their customs and tradition of music. They used music to give themselves some sort of cultural and ethnical identity in the New World. They also brought a rich African heritage, including songs. Adapted to reflect the experiences of life of hard labor on plantations, these slave work songs, laments, and shouts of protest evolve into a new musical form – Spirituals. Spirituals grew out of the experiences of enslaved peoples from Western African countries, this occurred during the colonial times in North America. Slaves were torn from their communities and cultures, deprived of their …show more content…
Due to their contribution into Rhythm and Blues, the immediate roots that contributed to the creation, Rock and Roll was formed. Other influences include Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Country, and Folk. Among these African American musicians were Louis Jordan, who was especially influential in the swing genre, and Wynonie Harris, who influenced artist such as Elvis.
Fun fact: Elvis Presley once said that "The African-American influence upon the world of music was one of the greatest gifts given to us by this wonderful group of people."
Hip-Hop
Hip-hop holds its roots in the 1970's in New York City. Specifically, beginning in large African-American parts of the Bronx and Brooklyn. Hip-Hop has historically been the voice of the Black inner-city youth. DJs used turntables to create music that was fused from separate records. They would create a rhythm using those beats and create lyrical poetry over the united sounds to make, what is, the essential foundation of all hip-hop and rap music today. Without rhymes, most rap and hip hop would be nothing more than creative samples of great R&B, funk, and soul tracks. Hip-hop, like all African-American music styles, borrows from African traditions. Rapping in African music and culture is a tradition that was carried to the new world in the 1400s. History has come full circle, and rap music and hip-hop culture are now being re-created by African youth all over the continent, who have taken rap's current day manifestations and added a new African
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