AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC INFLUENCE: A BILLBOARD APPROACH

America has a large picture of its History, not only because of its broad and wide area, but because of all the important events which took place during the Independence, slavery, segregation, etc. Music has an important place in the racial history of the United States of America, and we could recognize several genres which has different kinds of African American roots, such as soul, blues and jazz. American society has evolved, and they are aware of all the racism which took place there in the past, so they are conscious about how delicate is this fact in their history, and I have no doubt about their absolute respect regarding this situation. However, the importance of African American music doesn’t have all the recognition it deserves, because several contemporary musicians are not aware about their influence, either direct or indirect, never less important.

African American history has a lot of awkward phases, which have determined the way people see life, and that was perfectly expressed through music. The way people use art to express their feelings is a very common one, and probably writing music and making it is a good way to capture in words a situation, in this way, sorrow, suffering, and maybe joy or hope. African American people have expressed their history composing songs which belong to genres (now commonly recognized) such as blues or jazz, but they have influenced different kind of artists like Elvis and The Rolling Stones, who we could easily label as rock artists. Music has evolved, and African American music has its own place in our History, even if we don’t have any clue about this kind of roots. We’re involved into something bigger than us, and this entry's objective is to illustrate a little bit how African American music has its own influence on almost everything we listen to, no matter if the artist is black or white. 

I will take as a reference the Top 10 Billboard chart, regarding the pop genre, which could be commonly considered as white music. The top songs on the Billboard charts are a clear reference about what is America listening to, so this information is a good way to make the analysis about the real roots.

At first, we could take a look at May 17th week’s top pop songs chart, as I still keep in my mind a white man commentary about pop music: “white music is anything on a top 40 radio station that suburban teenagers listen to” on a iamOTHER video from his channel on Youtube, called Stereotypes – what color is your music?. Is that commentary the common notion about pop music? Is this guy just being ignorant? I don’t care, because even though white people know or not the roots of the music they listen to, I will confirm that African American music has more influence that we can see with a naked eye.

This is important, so you can check the 4:50 minute:

This guy's opinion is extremely wrong, because we are going to see that African American music means a lot to the Pop genre.

The most important pop song on the chart is Just give me a reason, performed by Pink, featuring Nate Ruess. Pink considers that her most representative influence lays on Madonna and Janis Joplin: both white. However, there is a remarkable and doubtless African American indirect root: Janis Joplin’s musical influences, who are all black ladies (Aretha Franklin, Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton and Billie Holiday). As we can see, with a naked eye it would be impossible to spot, but the most important pop song wouldn’t probably rise to the top without the power of African American music on Janis Joplin’s work. It would be tedious if I analyze song by song, so I will just highlight important cases, such as Rihanna (second place with Stay), who is an African American artist (only white music on the top 40? Really?), and there’s nothing more to explain: she has risen to the top pop charts, with direct African American roots.

Rihanna, white music performer, according to this guy 

Maybe we wouldn’t ever know about this female artist if she wouldn’t listen to Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, or Toni Braxton, all African American ladies, and all R&B or Soul artists. These songs are followed by other hits performed by Bruno Mars (R&B by Keith Sweat and Jodeci), Macklemore (white American rapper, directly influenced by Nas, or Freestyle Fellowship, both hip hop artists) and Maroon 5 (Direct influences with Prince, Stevie Wonder or Al Green). As we can see, excluding some exceptions (Icona Pop and Krewella gained force because EDM has got an ascendant acceptance in American society nowadays), African American music presence on the top charts of pop music is remarkable and inevitable, because even if these artists are not aware about this kind of roots, they exist. Maybe this white guy from the video needs to take a look on this charts, and he will absolutely change his mind about his “white music” idea, because the trends of pop show that black people have helped almost every artist to get there in an inspirational way, and part of the pop success needs to be conceded to African American music. In addition, the King of pop himself was African American, so half of the throne is occupied by a black guy, nothing more to explain there.

THE BLACK EYED PEAS CASE

In America, race and racism are very delicate topics, since a lasting slavery era took place there, and black people suffered a lot because of the treatment the received back then. Social and racial segregation were commonly seen in almost everything there: Television, food, territory, politics, religion and even music. I have already written about how there’s color in music, and how in America we can see several examples about that when we go out there and look at the kind of people who listen to certain kind of music. In a conventional way, we could assume that white people have some genres for them, as lack, Latin or Asian have some genres for each of them. In a conventional way, we could think that depending on your skin color, you should or would grow up listening at certain kind of music, and if you got talent, you should or would probably make it as an artist of that music. As time has gone by, people are facing and understanding different cultures, and it leads to the fact that we cannot be sure about color in music anymore, however, we can still see barriers that difficult people to success with different kinds of music, and unfortunately, the main barrier seems to be your skin color. We can see exceptions, and the most interesting case about how race is not supposed to be a barrier, is the worldwide known hip hop group: The Black Eyed Peas:

Throughout the History of humanity, and in a more representative way, throughout the History of the United States of America, we have seen how different races and cultures gather geographically or musically. Music, as religion, has become a difference maker in the American society, and every ethnicity behave different and listen to different kinds of music. There are even stereotypes which have been created around different types of music, say, hip hop to black people, salsa to Latin people, or country music to white people. We are used to watch black guys rapping and being successful with R&B or hip hop hits, and we are used to watch white people being successful with Rock and Roll, or Country music as well, so we have grown with all these stereotypes that have been created there, and we also know that it’s really difficult to overcome this kind of barriers. There is a more deep background on this topic: the way people are growing up there. Black communities are really closed among them, and they have created that barrier after all the suffering they had to deal with in the past, when they were slaves, treated like rare specimens, like tools. Even nowadays, black people still feel discriminated, and they are not the only group which feels this, because Latin and Asian people still deal with this discrimination. In America, there are neighborhoods full of black people only, as there are neighborhoods full of Latin, white or Asian people: they grow up separated and that put some conditions over the music they start to like. 

Certain examples come out with the charts: According to Billboard, the hottest pop songs are performed by artists like Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Swedish House Mafia and Calvin Harris: all white people. The hottest R&B/ Hip hop hits are performed by artists like Drake, Jay Z, Lil’ Wayne, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, etc., all African Americans. When we go to Latin music, even though this will look pretty obvious, the hottest songs are performed by people like Daddy Yankee, Romeo Santos, Don Omar, etc., all Latinos.  

William James Adams, known by will.i.am, is a black guy, born in Los Angeles (California), and one of the founders of the concept of the group we know as The Black Eyed Peas. Allan Pineda, known as apl.de.ap, is a Philippine man, and cofounder of the first concept of this group: Atban klann. The next member is Jaime Luis Gómez, known as Taboo on stage, he was born in LA, but his father is Mexican, so he has clear Latin roots. The last member of the group, who was included in the last place (2002) as the main voice, is Stacy Ann Ferguson, whose artistic name is Fergie; she has Irish and Scottish roots, including the fact that her parents and her were born in California.

We link hip hop to black people, and even though we can see exceptions like Eminem, The Beastie Boys or Fat Joe, it is inevitable for them to be associated, because of all the reasons I have already mentioned. It is really important to point out The BEP importance here, because this is a hip hop group conformed by a black guy, a half-Latin guy, a half-Asian man and a white lady: explosive.

IT’S NOT JUST A COTTON PLANT

Through almost 4 months now, we have been taking a look at all the African American music background, and as an individual thought, I think we have to analyze and consider all the facts which surround a society environment, because we could be really surprised with how wrong are we. Four months ago, I had a completely different position on African American society, and I had even been pointed as a racist person, however, I took this entire story to clear my thoughts and to have a different concept. It’s man’s man’s man’s world, performed by James Brown should be a good example to show to all of you, that now I know something about this topic, and I will never have the same concept about African American people I had a few months ago, never.

This video shows us a black man, inside a comfortable house, in a snowy day. Behind him, a cotton plant lies in a jar, and it works as a time machine, because it immediately takes this man to his childhood, which took place on the cotton plantations of Barnwell, South Carolina. The streets are empty, and a Gospel church shows up, and it’s full of black people, who are praying and singing to their Lord: they just want to be heard, they just want their voice to rise to heaven. Then, a terrible memory goes back to this guy mind: he looks at himself as a boy who plays the harmonica, just as  his old fellows did, and a drunk adult (probably his father, or even his stepfather) beats him so hard, that his little musical instrument ends up on the floor.

Those were hard times for African American society, since they had to deal with a terribly racist white society, who had this awful belief about them being the better race, the superior race. White people were so racist, that they couldn’t stand the fact of them sharing a sink with them: they were “colored”, they were “different”, and they were worth “less”. White society was so sick, that they even hung black men in trees, and this was considered a ritual, an insane leak of evil which soiled American ground. This kid had lived all of these kinds of darkness, as he even had to grow up with a sinful behavior, which included delinquency (caused by a discriminative society) and a couple of years behind the cold bars of jail. Time went by, and black people were sick of that illogical discrimination: they gathered, they rose, they wanted all the American people to feel the Black power, and they had a charismatic leader, who took charge of this anger ship. Martin Luther King was shot dead by a white man (not surprisingly at all, they were just sick), and It worked as a catalyst to the black power rise. They were heard and felt during the 1968 Olympic Games, when Tommie Smith made the black power salute in front of thousands of people after winning a gold medal there.

Eyes down, hard times, no doubt.

This man began his singing career, and all we can see is representative instruments of the music that was born in an African American world, such as saxophones and trombones. African American people has given so much to music, and it has put its influence on so many genres, that this man’s success in a man’s man’s world is a good way to show how you can take all the bad experiences you have left behind and take advantage of them in order to become a better person. The kid that grew up in a cotton field, being discriminated and humiliated, took all the dust off his shoulders and now looks at his current town from the top, in his house full of memories, memories that come out every time he looks at that plant, that is not just a cotton plant.

SWING OF CHANGE: THE POWER OF MUSIC

Sometimes, the way to achieve great things is simpler than we think.

There were harder times behind American society’s back, times when people used to have a serious problem with the way they looked at any person who had different skin color, different thoughts, or just different manners. During those hard times, black people were treated as animals, and it was a long time after when they got their freedom, however, they were not free.

We can make a good picture of this situation if we take a look at this short clip: http://vimeo.com/30272990

We take place in an American street, where we can find Harry’s Cut, a little barber shop owned by a white guy named Harry. This guy is an elegant barber, who only works with white people (that’s what I meant with “they were not free”, because that society separated white people from black people, and even if white people were not allowed to treat black people as slaves, they were indirectly allowed to exclude them from their own stuff: is that being free and equal?) and he loves his phonograph, and he puts some military music on it. The phonograph stopped working, and he was lucky that day, because his white customer was able to fix it, but the machine had to leave the place: Harry would be without any music for the next few days.

Then, music came back to Harry’s Cut, but it came in the form of an unsynchronized and joyful sound of a trumpet. Harry was really surprised when he noticed who was playing that trumpet: a black man standing on the sidewalk. The context which surrounded Harry was a racist society, as I already showed, so he found unacceptable for his beliefs to let him play there, and he went after the black musician. As he grabbed the trumpet, the black guy disappeared, and he was left there all alone, with that shiny instrument.

Harry goes back to his barber shop, and he feels nostalgic, because he is missing his military music, as he looks at his past as a sergeant playing a trumpet, with a really structured music, which made him happy. He cleaned up the trumpet, and he started to play a squared melody, with a defined structure which never walked away the organized tempo. That trumpet belonged to a black guy, a joyful man who had been discriminated in every aspect, and that trumpet got used to a different kind of melody: that melody that comes from our heart, with no structure, with no tempo or pre-defined hierarchy. This trumpet started to syncopate, and Harry didn't like the swing, so he tried to force his trumpet to play structured music, with no messy rhythm or similar.

Music is powerful, and it’s the only capable of making people change their minds, manners or positions against any topic. This is not the exception, and the Jazz penetrated Harry’s heart, and this strange swing filled his racist mind. Harry was a different man, and after enjoying a rhythm which was invented by black people, he understood that racism is not correct, and he changed his mind about the way he used to serve people, so he decided to allow everybody to access his barber shop and get a treat.

THE JAZZ ESCALATION

I have been learning about African American society for almost three months now, and I have discovered a lot of factors I hadn’t recognized in the past. Maybe my mind has changed a little around everything which regards African American descendants, and maybe I could develop a whole new position about all the matters which surround American society. I have also discovered several kinds of music which I didn't know they were born from African American people, and it has been a really good experience.

Besides Gospel, R&B or Blues, there’s Jazz. I am not completely familiar with Jazz, but as far as I know, I enjoy it. Jazz music is pleasant, diverse and smooth, so it gets easy for us to enjoy it when we have certain mood. Regarding Jazz, there are different types of sub-genres, such as Bebop, Cool Jazz or Groove Jazz.

After listening to all of the different kinds of Jazz we can find out there, I found more likely for me the Brazilian Jazz, because I like smooth music, and even though almost every kind of Jazz has that feature, the fact of being Brazilian gives it more freshness (I’m just guessing here). I have also learned a little bit about Bossa Nova, and I know Jazz has been a direct influence on it: since I liked bossa nova, it is not surprising that I liked Brazilian Jazz as well. I think this kind of music would help me to think and meditate when I have to read, study or simply relax, so I find it really helpful for any of those situations. I have also liked that Brazilian Jazz is more structured than other kind of Jazz, and I have to admit that I am not a big fan of messy music. I want to highlight Modern Mainstream and Groove Jazz as well, because I have also found them really interesting.

I have also found a specific subgenre which I wasn’t comfortable with: Bebop. As soon as I read the description I was afraid I wasn’t going to enjoy it: “The revolutionary music that married swing rhythm with adventurous improvisation”. Improvisation: that’s the deal breaker. When I have that word surrounding my head, and mixing it with the fact that we are talking about Jazz, I knew it was not going to sound okay for me. As I had expected, the frenzy of this subgenre was not likely for my objective, which is to chill out and relax. I don’t find this messy music a good way to relax, so as soon as I listened to Bebop, it became to stress. Maybe we could find Jazz music as a highly messy genre, however, we can also find some structured subgenres, which help us to organize our own ideas even when it gets difficult. My point is, if you are trying to relax and clear your mind in order to organize your ideas, you will not succeed if you are listening to a frenetic, messy and unstructured music, with an inevitable rain of instruments and improvising that will mix up even more your thoughts.

My taste regarding Jazz music moves along with the objective I have: Relax. If a Jazz subgenre is not smooth, soft and organized, maybe it would not be adequate for me, and I think I have explained in a good way throughout this entry.