Before the 20th century African American slave songs (19th century) (Slaves Dancing on a South Carolina Plantation''), ca. 1785–1795.
watercolor on paper, attributed to John Rose, Beaufort County, South Carolina.
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum,
Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. With the beginning of the 16th century came the
Atlantic slave trade which was responsible for the enslavement and transportation of over 12 million Africans from its inception until it was disbanded in the 19th century. The slave trade involved the capture and enslavement of free African peoples of which a majority were brought to the Americas. As the descendants of an enslaved population, music provided
African Americans with an opportunity to experience the idea of freedom before it became a reality with the passing of the
14th Amendment in 1868. Under the ever-present and watchful eye of their masters, slaves were forced to develop creative and clever mechanisms of masking their rebellion which was often manifested in song. Slaves would often hold private worship meetings which provided a temporary to escape from their enslavement and created a communal environment in which they could find comfort in each other. The subject of many slave songs was liberation and rebellion; however, they would conceal the true meaning of their freedom songs through references to symbols and by reworking traditional worship songs in order to illude their masters. They would play drums and dance as a way of expressing their culture and also as a way to rally their slave community together in unity. Many times music encouraged and spurred uprisings and revolts. There have been several developments in understanding the origins of slave songs, which represent a unique mixture of African roots with European and New World influences. Scholars generally identify three distinct streams within this musical tradition: the retention of African music, the creation of a new Afro-American music, and the blending of Negro music with the songs of white Caucasians. From this fusion, enslaved people in the New World forged a distinct culture and identity—one defined by long-suffering and struggle, but also by profound hope and solidarity. This complex reality is powerfully etched into the slave songs of the 18th and 19th centuries. While these songs provided a crucial spiritual reprieve and a sense of community, their very fabric was woven with threads of sorrow. They were far more than simple diversions; they were a coded language of resistance, a chronicle of daily life, and a vessel for deep, unspoken pain. Above all, the songs of the slaves resonate as raw, artistic expressions of human sorrow, giving voice to the troubled spirits of those who created and sang them..
20th Century Civil Rights Movement Even in the midst of
Jim Crow, music provided a form of cultural autonomy in which African Americans were able to continue a tradition of accommodation and resistance. Musical tradition, such as group singing, was used to express solidarity, cultural pride, inspiration, and hope among the early activists. There were many musical artists who added their voice to those who sang the slave songs of the past, and many of those slave songs were the inspiration for these musical artists. Music provided a rhetorical outlet that allowed movement leaders and supporters, such as
Aretha Franklin, to garner support from a large audience with diverse backgrounds. Aretha Franklin, called the Queen of Soul, championed the rights and freedoms of African Americans. In her song, "Think," Aretha sings again and again, "Freedom!" as a way to draw attention to the black freedom struggle. Throughout the 20th century, Franklin supported the Civil Rights Movement and financially donated to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As early as 1939,
Billie Holiday sang and popularized the song "
Strange Fruit", which commented on
lynchings in the south. The
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) used
A Capella groups and popular artists like
Dick Gregory to deepen bonds with local communities, embolden the fearful, and even raise money for the cause at community events throughout the South.
Free jazz Overlapping with the Civil Rights Movement, jazz musicians such as
Charles Mingus,
John Coltrane,
Ornette Coleman and
Sun Ra pushed the boundaries of jazz as a musical form, embracing
free improvisation and rejecting various forms and elements previously associated with jazz music. Free jazz was seen as a reaction, not only to the strictures of jazz as a musical form, but to the political turmoil of the mid-20th century and the continued oppression of Black people in the United States. Some free jazz musicians, such as
Ed Blackwell and
Leon Thomas, also incorporated elements of
traditional African music and other non-
Western influences in their music.
Anti-colonialist and Pan-African movements Prominent African musicians have been associated with
anti-colonial movements in the 20th century, such as
Miriam Makeba,
Dorothy Masuka,
Fela Kuti, and
Sonny Okosun. Starting in
Jamaica but soon gaining popularity around the world,
reggae artists like
Bob Marley also embraced
Pan-African ideals in their music. In the case of the parallel struggles of
apartheid South Africa and
Jim Crow America, the black freedom struggle was bridged by
jazz music and the oftentimes covert political activism it disseminated. While
Brown v Board represented an avenue for dismantling of white supremacy in the United States, white supremacy was being rigidly upheld and protected in South Africa. One response to the incredible hardships imposed by
South African apartheid was the enjoyment of township jazz, which was unashamedly inspired by “American Negro jazz and hammered out on the anvil of the South African experience.” Jazz music was characterized by its spontaneity, but was also commonly employed by U.S. and South African Jazz women as a scathing critique of colonialism and violence against blacks. Jazz had the uncanny ability to reach unsuspecting, diverse crowds many of whom had no intention of being sucked into the civil rights movement. However, the ability for this music and its artists to humanize black people and highlight the inhumane and cruel actions taken daily against them served as a powerful tool. Combined with the soulful and melancholy melody of many songs of this genre, jazz artists had a unique opportunity to spread the message of black liberation.
Late 20th century Following the Civil Rights Era, music remained an integral aspect of expressing political and racial ideology. The black freedom struggle remained intertwined in the lyrical inspiration of
Jazz,
Funk,
Disco,
Rock, and eventually
Rap and
Hip Hop. Though protests and social movements became increasingly less frequent in the 1970s and 1980s, music maintained a rhetorical space in which African Americans had their own counter culture that challenged the power structure and dominant political ideology of the time. Jazz musicians used their music to explore the implications and ideological implications of blackness. Funk music was used by black youth after the euphoria of the civil rights movement faded to express their own concerns with poverty, segregation, and the plight of the working class. Rap and Hip Hop became the tools of expression for black male
ghetto youth, a group that was once largely invisible to mainstream society, giving them a platform to use confrontational and political poetics to express dissatisfaction with the realities of black America. One of the first blatantly political raps is accredited to Brother D and the Collective Effort's 1980 single “How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?” which criticized the United States for being a
police state and expressed contempt for historical injustices such as slavery and ethnic cleansing. Drawing on their own experiences with racism, hip hop groups such as
N.W.A. emerged releasing music that was politically aimed to comment on
police brutality and other racial tensions of the period.
21st century Music has continued to be an important venue for the expression of Black politics and the denunciation of
racism and
colonialism into the 21st century. Two of Fela Kuti's children,
Femi Kuti and
Seun Kuti have continued to use
afrobeat as a venue for expressing
Pan-African, anti-colonial politics. In the United States, hip hop artists like
The Coup,
Immortal Technique, and
Kendrick Lamar, have continued to produce politically charged music, picking up where groups like N.W.A. left off. == Associated genres ==