So what exactly is the definition of "Black Music"?

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Permalink Reply by Ghettopunkrocker on February 9, 2009 at 11:29am

Well, I always thought of black music as a few things...

*A raw, unapologetic music that speaks to the heart and soul.

*Music that pisses off the status quo.

*Black music is like a loaf of bread that everyone wants a slice of.

Permalink Reply by Rhinos Have More Fun on February 10, 2009 at 9:23am

Ghettopunkrocker said:

*Black music is like a loaf of bread that everyone wants a slice of.

Hey GPR, can I borrow your toaster and some margarine? Oops, my bad...

Permalink Reply by Rhinos Have More Fun on February 10, 2009 at 9:34am

I don't know--that's always a tough question to answer. But from an artist's perspective, I guess I'd say that it would be something created BY us, that speaks to us in some way--lyrically, melodically, rhythmically, stylistically...

Do the lyrics bring our collective experience?
Is the music something we've created in the past, or a close derivative of that?
Do we see it as an innovative challenge?

Permalink Reply by Nadia C on February 11, 2009 at 9:32am

When I think of "Black Music", I think of nonconformity.

I like to use the groups Nuttin But Stringz
(http://www.last.fm/music/+noredirect/Nuttin+But+Stringz) and Black Violin(http://www.last.fm/music/Black+Violin) as a comparison.

Western music(Like classical, for instance) has pretty much stayed the same throughout history. It hasn't evolved all that much. Alright it has...But not that much. This is mainly because the people behind it, too, seem to just like it to stay "pure"(Ergo..Boring over time). They don't like to mess with it too much(Ex. God forbid you add a little techno, metal, or hip hop to it. Those opera/classical snobs will get all wild on you.).

But when you give a black person a violin, or a piano, or a guitar...you can expect some sort of insane experimentation unlike anything you've ever seen before.

It's because our world is an amalgam of all sorts of things...Thus our lives are too. We can't just pick one thing out of the barrel. (Which is why Screamin Jay Hawkins evoked everything from psychobilly to jazz to songs about love to songs about constipation.).

Look at the urban genres(rap/hip hop/rnb).

It's inspired from everything from Middle Eastern/Egyptian, African, reggae, Spanish, classical, contemporary beats, gospel, soul, blues, rock, opera(There are a lot of uses of choruses, and even the voices themselves approach being really operatic), jazz, and yes a little rock n roll nowadays as everyone seems to want to have a guitar solo in their song or be able to play the guitar. I even hear a little darker touches in the music..like "Gothic" dark, in the use of organs and such. And EBM. Minus the lyrics...A lot of the music could easily be mistaken for other genres...(Like World)

Look up any genre of music that was "initially" white...Then find a band or group that plays that sort of music(Even groups from back way back when in the 1800s or something...Like the Black Fiddlers)...And you'll see that they don't pay any attention to the "rules" of music...They just play and experiement as they please.

And that's what black music is to me. It's the freedom to experiement. It's crazy and wild stuff. And it's anything BUT structured.

Permalink Reply by CapCityBlack512 on February 12, 2009 at 9:03pm

That's what's so great about Black Music... it encompasses so much. And I don't limit black music to African American music.

Black music is musical expression of Black people in ANY form. Black music is taking music and being creative with it. Black music is soul music in ANY style or genre. Black music is any form of music that reflects both the shared and the diverse experiences of Black people everywhere.

From Punk from Bad Brains... Hip-Hop from Outkast... Afro-Peruvian songs from Susana Baca.... Samba from Seu Jorge... R&B from Erykah Badu... Miles Davis jazz... Ska from The Equators... Afro-Cuban rhythms from Mongo Santamaria... Jimi Hendrix... Curtis Mayfield... Wu Tang Clan... Billie Holiday... Fela... Bob Marley... Black Violin... and the list goes on.