African-American music - Research Paper Example

? African-American Music Based on Burton Peretti’s Lift Every Voice, African-American music is indeed “one of the treasures of the United States” whether it be in the form of “spirituals, ragtime, the blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, soul and hip hop” (1). From the Sub-Saharan Africa, where the first known African music originated, this music has travelled to America through slavery, and has eventually developed into the great music that it is now, at a state which is presently symbolic of freedom. Indeed, regardless of the time in history, African-American Music is always a proclamation of the liberation of the Black American. African-American music, with its rich African roots, is a showcase of the connection of Africans with the natural and soothing power of music even during the era of slavery (Perreti 7-8). In fact, in as early as 1796, the British physician Mungo Park noticed that among the walking groups of African slaves and free men, there are actually jillikeas, or singing men, known for their “musical talents [that] were frequently exerted either to divert [the walkers’] fatigue or obtain [them] a welcome from strangers” (8). The presence of the jillikeas actually indicates one thing – music has long been used by Africans to freely transcend their physical suffering. It is true that they were slaves and that as slaves, they worked very hard indeed. Nevertheless, music was always there to help them cope with the hardships of slavery and for them to have the mental and emotional freedom to feel what they wanted to feel, and to think about what they wanted to think about, regardless of the physical constraints they were experiencing at that time. Moreover, due to archeological findings and pictorial evidence, one would know that African music was already a rich aspect of the African culture in West Africa. Aside from the fact that prehistoric Africans integrated the sounds of animals and nature into their musical compendium, they also integrated music into their daily life, especially in their most significant rituals (8). The richness of the African culture and their tendency to embed the musical aspect of their culture with their spiritual life somehow gave African music a certain mystical quality that characterizes the depth of contemporary African-American music. Moreover, considering that the first groups of Africans were hunter-gatherers, African music freely evolved from its deep roots and eventually flourished as a result of migration and trading (10). This means that African music was actually more elaborate and richer in nature for it was a combination of the many cultures that the once hunter gatherer Africans absorbed. This richness was also somehow instrumental in showing the whole world how free African-American music is, for whatever was accepted by many parts of the world must certainly have a freedom of flow and movement. Other details of traditional African music also speak of the freedom of the common people. There is, for example, freedom of access to history. The drum-like pots unearthed in Nigeria and dating from the 1100s and the 1200s are still used by the Yoruba peoples at present (10). Also, there is freedom from age, gender and class barriers. For example, tribal African music, from which African-American music was derived, was demonstrative of communal freedom for they are employed in numerous “elaborate singing and playing rituals…that invited all village residents to participate,” and “which gave all the singers a more equal stature in performances” (10). Such performances indeed somehow teach the western world what equality truly means. African-American music is also about the liberation of the sexualized body. As proclaimed during the Renaissance and during the Modern Era, the term “African,” which was used by Nietzsche in his description of Bizet’s Carmen, or of civilization itself as well as of the nature of the Viennese psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, is actually a synonym of “uninhibited quality” and “primitive instincts” of man (McClary & Walser). These primitive instincts lie in one’s unconscious and naturally in the structure of one’s musical piece. Furthermore, the rather “uninhibited” quality that characterizes African music is the same uninhibited quality of African-American music. In contemporary times, this aspect of African-American music can be seen in the rather relatively more emotional characteristic of songs like the new 2010 version of “We Are The World for Haiti,” where the black American singers really expressed their emotional outbursts during the recording of the song (We Are The World 25 for Haiti). This is also true of numerous Gospel songs where the singers scream with joy and praise for the Lord while at the same time moving their bodies to the rhythm. In fact, as African-American music is an exemplification of the dancing body whose image is highly romanticized, this dancing body somehow represents “what is left over when the burdens of reason and civilization have been flung away” (McClary & Walser). Dance songs involving black American artists, including especially hip hop music, are an ideal example of how the body becomes a repertoire of emotions that are instrumental in demonstrating the message of the song. Such emotions and free movements are without reason and logic, which are merely concepts that limit emotional expression. African-American music, especially during the Harlem Renaissance, was also an effective means by which blacks expressed their newfound freedom from slavery and the distinctness of their identity as blacks. The Harlem Renaissance in 1920s America was also the time when blacks redefined their role and identity as freed men, amidst post-Civil War violence and racial discrimination. During this time, it was not only in the arts and literature where blacks made their mark but especially in music, where the jazz and the blues started. One of the best African-American singers during this time was a man named Louis Armstrong, whose song “What A Wonderful World” reveals the beauty of freedom in nature: “I see trees of green…red roses too/I see ‘em bloom…for me and for you/ And I think to myself…what a wonderful world” (Hilliard; What A Wonderful World). Truly, this was the same wonderful and free world that the black man of the Harlem Renaissance dreamed of being in, and it still is the same world that many discriminated African-Americans at present dream of having. Aside from Armstrong, another famous black blues and jazz musical artist of the 1920s was Billie Holiday. In fact, her song “Strange Fruit” is believed to be one of the very first antiracism songs of the Harlem Renaissance, as it says, “Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze/ Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees” (Strange Fruit). These lines actually mean that many black slaves of the south died for the fruit of freedom that the blacks of the 20th century deserved to enjoy. In fact, even the evolution of jazz music characterizes the freedom of the African-American as jazz music breaks free from its “self-imposed isolation,” in the same way that an African-American slowly and gradually removes from himself the imaginary shackles of slavery and bondage that he himself has placed (DeVeaux 553). Aside from the music of the Harlem Renaissance, African-American music, especially Gospel music, is also a proclamation of one’s spiritual liberation from the troubles and temptations of this world. In fact, Black Gospel music is “distinctly African-American” and as much as to praise and worship God, this kind of music also seeks to preserve history, especially the freedom that blacks gained after the Civil War (Black Gospel Music Restoration Project). From mere observation, Black Gospel music is heavily characterized by a frenzy of emotions that black singers display as they sing songs of praises to God. Such free display of emotions is actually characteristic of a type of music that does not only free the soul from the temptations of the devil but also liberates it from racial discrimination. African-American music, especially its modern subgenre, is all about the “widespread emulation of black style,” which is characteristic of freedom of a people or freedom of black influence on a global scale (McClary & Walser). The popular mass-mediated music of Michael Jackson and the Prince in the 1980s actually had racist beginnings but these racist issues eventually dissolved as black artists dominated pop culture. In fact, this was the time in history when so many young white people have chosen black musical artists as their “cultural heroes” (McClary & Walser). This was indeed instrumental not only in repudiating their parents’ racial discrimination of blacks and of forming friendships with black Americans of their age (McClary & Walser). This was indeed a moment of triumph in African-American history, yet somehow one would ask where freedom lay in this particular setting. In fact, what one may not realize right away is that music was instrumental in fostering friendships between blacks and all other races. Through such friendships, the African-American regains his freedom as a normal human being in this world, who has all the right to be as happy as any person of any race can be. In fact, Michael Jackson’s USA for Africa project, with its theme song “We Are The World,” was one very good way to show the world how much we owe Africa and how much respect, love and care Africa deserves to receive from all non-Africans. The purpose of the freedom that all African-American singers and all African Americans in the world are fighting for is actually in the lines: “There’s a choice we’re making/ We’re saving our own lives” (We Are The World – Michael Jackson). Indeed, saving Africa is saving the African-American and saving the whole world. The “choice [that] we’re making” is actually demonstrative of the freedom of choice and the great freedom that all African-Americans naturally have as their right. African-American music indeed has been instrumental in bringing to the world the concept of glorified freedom as seen from a black perspective. Such freedom is the same as the richness of traditional African music, the liberation of the body, a memento of freedom from slavery as exemplified by Harlem Renaissance music, a proclamation of freedom from sin and temptations through Black Gospel music, and lastly, the liberty of having worldwide fame and influence, as exemplified by the music of black artists of the early 80s like Michael Jackson. African- American music is as rich as the culture where it originally came from and the challenges that it has overcome through the years. Truly, there is no aspect of African-American culture which is more symbolic of its ideals and freedom than its music. Top of Form Bottom of Form Works Cited “Black Gospel Music Restoration Project.” 2013. Baylor University. 21 Apr 2013. DeVeaux, Scott. “Constructing the Jazz Tradition: Jazz Historiography.” 1991. Constructing the Jazz Tradition, 25:3 (525-560). Hilliard, Kenneth B. “The Impact of the Music of the Harlem Renaissance on Society.” 1989. Yale University. 21 Apr 2013. McClary, Susan & Walser, Robert. “Theorizing the Body in African-American Music.” 1994. Black Music Research Journal, 14:1 (75-84). Perreti, Burton W. Lift Every Voice: The History of African American Music. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2009. Print. “Strange Fruit – Billie Holiday.” 2006. YouTube. 21 Apr 2013. “We Are The World – Michael Jackson.” 2009. YouTube. 21 Apr 2013. “We Are The World 25 for Haiti – Official Video.” 2010. YouTube. 21 Apr 2013. “What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong.” 2010. YouTube. 21 Apr 2013. Read More