18th century picking cotton in the United States, 1840 In the late 18th century folk
spirituals originated among Southern slaves following their conversion to Christianity. Slaves reinterpreted the practice of Christianity in a way that had meaning to them as Africans in America. They often sang the spirituals in groups as they worked the
plantation fields. African-American spirituals (
Negro Spirituals) were created in
invisible churches and regular Black churches. The hymns, melody, and rhythms were similar to songs heard in West Africa. Enslaved and free blacks created their own words and tunes. Themes include the hardships of slavery and the hope of freedom. Spirituals from the era of slavery are called Slave Shout Songs. These shout songs are sung today by
Gullah Geechee people and other African Americans in churches and praise houses. During slavery, these songs were coded messages that spoke of escape from slavery on the
Underground Railroad and were sung by enslaved African Americans in plantation fields to send coded messages to other slaves, unbeknownst to the slaveholders. According to
musicologist and historian Eric Sean Crawford who published
Gullah Spirituals: The Sound of Freedom and Protest in the South Carolina Sea Islands, Gullah music influenced all genres of American music. Crawford said: "All genres of music have been influenced by Gullah Geechee spirituals. This music's bent notes, syncopated rhythms, and improvisational qualities heavily influenced gospel and country music. These musical traits found a secular home in the blues, jazz, and even later popular styles like hip hop". Scholar LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant explained Gullah spirituals are sacred music that connects Black Americans to ancestral spirits. She said: "I am suggesting that low country sacred music simultaneously takes on a cyclical and linear quality, which is best exemplified in the use of the low country clap, and the repetition of verses that literally push a song forward to invoke The Spirit. The rhythmic practices and theological motifs of this music suspend and push time by connecting with past traditions, while denoting a spiritual bond that is simultaneously ancestral, communal, and divine". African Drum 1819 Latrobe|left Slaves also used drums to communicate messages of escape. In West Africa, drums are used for communication, celebration, and spiritual ceremonies. West African people enslaved in the United States continued to make drums to send coded messages to other slaves across plantations. The making and use of drums by enslaved Africans was outlawed after the
Stono Rebellion in South Carolina in 1739. Enslaved African Americans used drums to send coded messages to start
slave revolts, and white slaveholders banned the creation and use of drums. After the banning of drums, slaves made rhythmic music by slapping their knees, thighs, arms and other body parts, a practice called
pattin Juba. The Juba dance was originally brought by
Kongo slaves to
Charleston, South Carolina, and became an African-American
plantation dance performed by slaves during gatherings when rhythm instruments were prohibited. Folk spirituals, unlike much white gospel, were often spirited. Slaves added dancing (later known as "
the shout") and other body movements to the singing. They also changed the melodies and rhythms of
psalms and
hymns, by speeding up the tempo, adding repeated refrains and choruses, and replacing texts with new ones that often combined English and African words and phrases. Originally passed down orally, folk spirituals have been central in the lives of African Americans for more than three centuries, serving religious, cultural, social, political, and historical functions. Folk spirituals were spontaneously created and performed in a repetitive, improvised style. The most common song structures are the
call-and-response ("Blow, Gabriel") and repetitive choruses ("He Rose from the Dead"). The call-and-response is an alternating exchange between the soloist and the other singers. The soloist usually
improvises a line to which the other singers respond, repeating the same phrase. Song interpretation incorporates the interjections of moans, cries, hollers, and changing vocal timbres, and can be accompanied by hand clapping and foot-stomping. The Smithsonian Institution Folkways Recordings have samples of African American slave shout songs.
19th century painted scenes of black and white American musicians. This 1856 painting depicts an African-American banjo player. The influence of African Americans on mainstream American music began in the 19th century with the advent of
blackface minstrelsy. The
banjo, of African origin, became a popular instrument, and its African-derived rhythms were incorporated into popular songs by
Stephen Foster and other songwriters. Over time the banjo's construction adopted some European traditions such as a flat fingerboard. Some banjos had five strings, in contrast to the West African three-string version. This resulted in the creation of several different types of banjos in the United States. In the 1830s, the
Second Great Awakening led to a rise in Christian revivals, especially among African Americans. Drawing on traditional
work songs, enslaved African Americans originated and performed a wide variety of
spirituals and other
Christian music. Some of these songs were coded messages of subversion against slaveholders, or signals to escape. For example,
Harriet Tubman sang coded messages to her mother and other slaves in the field to let them know she was escaping on the
Underground Railroad. Tubman sang: "I'm sorry I'm going to leave you, farewell, oh farewell; But I'll meet you in the morning, farewell, oh farewell, I'll meet you in the morning, I'm bound for the promised land, On the other side of Jordan, Bound for the Promised Land." During the period after the Civil War, the spread of African-American music continued. The
Fisk University Jubilee Singers first toured in 1871. Artists including Jack Delaney helped revolutionize post-war African-American music in the central-east of the United States. In the following years, professional "jubilee" troops formed and toured. The first black musical-comedy troupe,
Hyers Sisters Comic Opera Co., was organized in 1876. In the last half of the 19th century, barbershops often served as community centers, where men would gather.
Barbershop quartets originated with African-American men socializing in barbershops; they would harmonize while waiting their turn, singing spirituals, folk songs and popular songs. This generated a new style of unaccompanied four-part, close-harmony singing. Later, white minstrel singers stole the style, and in the early days of the recording industry their performances were recorded and sold. By the end of the 19th century, African-American music was an integral part of mainstream American culture.
Early 20th century (1900s–1930s) , about 1910 The first
musical written and produced by African Americans, by
Bob Cole and Billy Johnson, debuted on Broadway in 1898. The first recording of black musicians was of
Bert Williams and
George Walker in 1890, featuring music from Broadway musicals. Theodore Drury helped black artists develop in opera. He founded the Drury Opera Company in 1900 and used a white orchestra, but featured black singers in leading roles and choruses. The company was only active until 1908, but it marked the first black participation in opera companies.
Scott Joplin's opera
Treemonisha, unique as a ragtime-folk opera, was first performed in 1911. The early part of the 20th century saw a rise in popularity of
blues and
jazz. African-American music at this time was classed as "race music".
Ralph Peer, musical director at
Okeh Records, put records made by "foreign" groups under that label. At the time "race" was a term commonly used by the African-American press to speak of the community as a whole with an empowering point of view, as a person of "race" was one involved in fighting for equal rights.
Ragtime performers such as
Scott Joplin became popular and some were associated with the
Harlem Renaissance and early
civil rights activists. White and Latino performers of African-American music were also visible. African-American music was often altered and diluted to be more palatable for white audiences, who would not have accepted black performers, leading to genres like
swing music. By the turn of the 20th century African Americans were becoming part of classical music as well. Originally excluded from major symphony orchestras, black musicians could study in music conservatories that had been founded in the 1860s, such as the
Oberlin School of Music,
National Conservatory of Music, and the
New England Conservatory. Black people also formed symphony orchestras in major cities such as Chicago, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. Various black orchestras began to perform regularly in the late 1890s and the early 20th century. In 1906, the first incorporated black orchestra was established in Philadelphia. In the early 1910s, all-black music schools, such as the
Music School Settlement for Colored and the
Martin-Smith School of Music, were founded in New York. The Music School Settlement for Colored became a sponsor of the
Clef Club orchestra in New York. The Clef Club Symphony Orchestra attracted both black and white audiences to concerts at
Carnegie Hall from 1912 to 1915. Conducted by
James Reese Europe and William H. Tyers, the orchestra included banjos, mandolins, and baritone horns. Concerts featured music written by black composers, notably
Harry T. Burleigh and
Will Marion Cook. Other annual black concert series include the William Hackney's "All-Colored Composers" concerts in Chicago and the Atlanta Colored Music Festivals. The return of the black musical to Broadway occurred in 1921 with
Sissle and
Eubie Blake's
Shuffle Along. In 1927, a concert survey of black music was performed at Carnegie Hall including jazz, spirituals and the symphonic music of
W. C. Handy's Orchestra and the Jubilee Singers. The first major film musical with a black cast was
King Vidor's
Hallelujah of 1929. African-American performers were featured in the musical
Show Boat (which had a part written for
Paul Robeson and a chorus of Jubilee Singers), and especially all-black operas such as
Porgy and Bess and
Virgil Thomson's
Four Saints in Three Acts of 1934. From 1900 to 1930, Black American music underwent significant evolution, laying the foundation for many modern genres and profoundly shaping American culture. The early 1900s saw the rise of ragtime, characterized by its syncopated rhythms and popularized by artists like Scott Joplin. As the decade progressed, blues music emerged from the Deep South, with pioneers such as
W.C. Handy,
Ma Rainey, and
Bessie Smith bringing the genre to a wider audience. The 1920s, known as the Jazz Age, witnessed the explosion of jazz, a genre that combined elements of blues, ragtime, and brass band music. Musicians like
Louis Armstrong,
Jelly Roll Morton, and
Duke Ellington became cultural icons, transforming jazz into a dominant artistic force through improvisation and swing. This period also saw gospel music taking shape, influenced by the spirituals and hymns sung in Black churches. The
Harlem Renaissance, a cultural and artistic movement centered in New York City, further propelled Black music into the mainstream, showcasing the talents of Black musicians and celebrating African American heritage. Despite systemic racism and limited opportunities, Black artists revolutionized the music industry. Their innovations during this era not only inspired the sounds of the 20th century but continue to resonate in music today, highlighting the resilience and creativity of the African American community. The first symphony by a black composer to be performed by a major orchestra was
William Grant Still's
Afro-American Symphony (1930) by the
New York Philharmonic.
Florence Beatrice Price's
Symphony in E minor was performed in 1933 by the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1934,
William Dawson's
Negro Folk Symphony was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Mid-20th century (1940s–1960s) and
Henry Lewis in 1961, photo by
Carl Van Vechten Billboard started making a separate list of hit records for African-American music in October 1942 with the "Harlem Hit Parade", which was changed in 1945 to "
Race Records", and then in 1949 to "Rhythm and Blues Records". By the 1940s,
cover versions of African-American songs were commonplace, frequently topping the charts while the original versions did not reach the mainstream. In 1955,
Thurman Ruth persuaded a gospel group to sing in the
Apollo Theater. This presentation of gospel music in a secular setting was successful, and he arranged gospel caravans that traveled around the country playing venues that rhythm and blues singers had popularized. Meanwhile, jazz performers began to move away from
swing towards music with more intricate arrangements, more improvisation, and technically challenging forms. This culminated in
bebop, the
modal jazz of
Miles Davis, and the
free jazz of
Ornette Coleman and
John Coltrane. African-American musicians in the 1940s and 1950s were developing rhythm and blues into
rock and roll, which featured a strong
backbeat. Prominent exponents of this style included
Louis Jordan and
Wynonie Harris. Rock and roll music became commercially successful with recordings of white musicians, however, such as
Bill Haley and
Elvis Presley, playing a guitar-based fusion of black rock and roll and
rockabilly. Rock music became more associated with white artists, although some black performers such as
Chuck Berry and
Bo Diddley had commercial success. In 2017,
National Public Radio wrote about the career of
Sister Rosetta Tharpe and concluded with these comments: Tharpe "was a gospel singer at heart who became a celebrity by forging a new path musically ... Through her unforgettable voice and gospel swing crossover style, Tharpe influenced a generation of musicians including
Aretha Franklin,
Chuck Berry and countless others ... She was, and is, an unmatched artist." As the 1940s came to a close, other African Americans endeavored to concertize as classical musicians in an effort to transcend racial and nationalistic barriers in the post-war era. In 1968
Henry Lewis became the first African-American instrumentalist in a leading American symphony orchestra, an early "musical ambassador" in support of
cultural diplomacy in Europe, and the first African-American conductor of a major American symphonic ensemble in 1968. The term "rock and roll" had a strong sexual connotation in
jump blues and R&B, but when DJ
Alan Freed referred to rock and roll on mainstream radio in the mid 50s, "the sexual component had been dialed down enough that it simply became an acceptable term for dancing". R&B was a strong influence on rock and roll, according to many sources, including a 1985 article in
The Wall Street Journal titled, "Rock! It's Still Rhythm and Blues". The author states that the "two terms were used interchangeably", until about 1957.
Fats Domino was not convinced that there was any new genre. In 1957 he said: "What they call rock 'n' roll now is rhythm and blues. I've been playing it for 15 years in New Orleans". According to
Rolling Stone, "this is a valid statement ... all Fifties rockers, black and white, country born and city bred, were fundamentally influenced by R&B, the black popular music of the late Forties and early Fifties".
Elvis Presley's recognition of the importance of artists such as
Fats Domino was significant, according to a 2017 article: the "championing of black musicians as part of a narrative that saw many positives in growing young white interest in African American-based musical styles". At a press event in 1969, Presley introduced Fats Domino, and said, "that's the real King of Rock 'n' Roll" ... a huge influence on me when I started out". By the mid-1950s, many R&B songs were getting "covered" by white artists and the recordings got more airplay on the mainstream radio stations. For example, "Presley quickly covered "Tutti Frutti" ...So did Pat Boone", according to
New Yorker. "In 1956, seventy-six per cent of top R.&.B. songs also made the pop chart; in 1957, eighty-seven per cent made the pop chart; in 1958, it was ninety-four per cent. The marginal market had become the main market, and the majors had got into the act." The 1950s also saw increased popularity of
blues, both in the US and the UK, in the style from the early 20th century.
Doo-wop also become popular in the 1950s. Doo-wop had been developed through vocal group harmony, employing different vocal parts, nonsense syllables, little or no instrumentation, and simple lyrics. It usually involved single artists appearing with a backing group. Solo billing was given to lead singers who were more prominent in the musical arrangement. A secularized form of American
gospel music called
soul also developed in the mid-1950s, with pioneers such as
Ray Charles,
Jackie Wilson and
Sam Cooke leading the wave. Soul and R&B became a major influence on
surf music, and with chart-topping girl groups including
The Angels and
The Shangri-Las. In 1959,
Hank Ballard released a song for the new dance style "The Twist", which became a new dance craze in the early '60s. In 1959,
Berry Gordy founded
Motown Records, the first record label to primarily feature African-American artists, which aimed at achieving crossover success. The label developed an innovative, and commercially successful, style of soul music with distinctive pop elements. Its early roster included
The Miracles,
Martha and the Vandellas,
Marvin Gaye,
Stevie Wonder,
The Temptations, and
The Supremes. Black divas such as
Aretha Franklin became '60s crossover stars. In the UK,
British blues became a gradually mainstream phenomenon, returning to the United States in the form of the
British Invasion, a group of bands led by
The Beatles and
The Rolling Stones who performed blues and R&B-inspired pop with both traditional and modern aspects.
WGIV in
Charlotte, North Carolina, was one of a few radio stations dedicated to African-American music that started during this period. The British Invasion knocked many black artists off the US pop charts, although some, like
Otis Redding,
Wilson Pickett,
Aretha Franklin and a number of Motown artists, continued to do well. Soul music, however, remained popular among black people through new forms such as
funk, developed out of the innovations of
James Brown. In 1964 the Civil Rights Act outlawed major forms of discrimination towards African Americans and women. As tensions began to diminish, more African-American musicians crossed over into the mainstream. Some artists who successfully crossed over were
Aretha Franklin,
James Brown, and
Ella Fitzgerald in the pop and jazz worlds, and
Leontyne Price and
Kathleen Battle in classical music. By the end of the decade, black people were part of the
psychedelia and early
heavy metal trends, particularly by way of the ubiquitous Beatles' influence and the electric guitar innovations of
Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was among the first guitarists to use
audio feedback, fuzz, and other effects pedals such as the
wah wah pedal to create a unique guitar solo sound.
Psychedelic soul, a mix of psychedelic rock and soul began to flourish with the 1960s culture. Even more popular among black people, and with more crossover appeal, was album-oriented soul in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which revolutionized African-American music. The genre's intelligent and introspective lyrics, often with a socially aware tone, were created by artists such as
Marvin Gaye in ''
What's Going On, and Stevie Wonder in Innervisions''.
1970s In the 1970s, album-oriented soul continued its popularity while musicians such as
Smokey Robinson helped turn it into
Quiet Storm music. Funk evolved into two strands, a pop-soul-jazz-bass fusion pioneered by
Sly & the Family Stone, and a more psychedelic fusion epitomized by
George Clinton and his
P-Funk ensemble.
Disco evolved from black musicians creating soul music with an up-tempo melody.
Isaac Hayes,
Barry White,
Donna Summer, and others helped popularize disco, which gained mainstream success. Some African-American artists including
The Jackson 5,
Roberta Flack,
Teddy Pendergrass,
Dionne Warwick,
Stevie Wonder,
The O'Jays,
Gladys Knight & the Pips, and
Earth, Wind & Fire found crossover audiences, while white listeners preferred
country rock, singer-songwriters,
stadium rock,
soft rock,
glam rock, and, to some degree,
heavy metal and
punk rock. During the 1970s,
The Dozens, an urban African-American tradition of using playful rhyming ridicule, developed into street jive in the early '70s, which in turn inspired hip-hop by the late 1970s.
Spoken-word artists such as
The Watts Prophets,
The Last Poets,
Gil Scott-Heron and
Melvin Van Peebles were some innovators of early hip-hop. Many youths in the
Bronx used this medium to communicate the unfairness minorities faced at the time. DJs played records, typically funk, while MCs introduced tracks to the dancing audience. Over time, DJs began isolating and repeating the percussion breaks, producing a constant, eminently danceable beat, over which MCs began rapping, using rhyme and sustained lyrics. Hip-hop would become a multicultural movement in a youthful black America, led by artists such as
Kurtis Blow and
Run-DMC.
1980s Michael Jackson had record-breaking success with his 1980s albums
Off the Wall,
Bad, and the
best-selling album of all time,
Thriller. Jackson paved the way for other successful crossover black solo artists such as
Prince,
Lionel Richie,
Luther Vandross,
Tina Turner,
Whitney Houston, and
Janet Jackson. Pop and dance-soul of this era inspired
new jack swing by the end of the decade. Hip-hop spread across the country and diversified.
Techno, dance,
Miami bass,
post-disco,
Chicago house, Los Angeles
hardcore and Washington, D.C.
Go-go developed during this period, with only Miami bass achieving mainstream success. Before long, Miami bass was relegated primarily to the
Southeastern US, while Chicago house had made strong headway on college campuses and dance arenas (i.e. the warehouse sound, the
rave). Washington's Go-go garnered modest national attention with songs such as
E.U.'s Da Butt (1988), but proved to be a mostly regional phenomena.
Chicago house sound had expanded into the Detroit music environment and began using more electronic and industrial sounds, creating
Detroit techno, acid, and
jungle. The combination of these experimental, usually DJ-oriented, sounds with the multiethnic NYC disco sound from the 1970s and 1980s created a brand of music that was most appreciated in large discothèques in large cities. European audiences embraced this kind of
electronic dance music with more enthusiasm than their North American counterparts. pictured in 2002. From about 1986,
rap entered the mainstream with
Run-D.M.C.'s
Raising Hell, and the
Beastie Boys'
Licensed to Ill.
Licensed to Ill was the first rap album to enter the No.1 Spot on the
Billboard 200 and opened the door for white rappers. Both of these groups mixed rap and rock, appealing to both audiences. Hip-hop took off from its roots and the
golden age hip hop flourished, with artists such as
Eric B. & Rakim,
Public Enemy,
LL Cool J,
Queen Latifah,
Big Daddy Kane, and
Salt-N-Pepa. Hip-hop became popular in the United States and became a worldwide phenomenon in the late 1990s. The golden age scene would end by the early 1990s as gangsta rap and G-funk took over, with West Coast artists
Dr. Dre,
Snoop Dogg,
Warren G and
Ice Cube, East Coast artists
Notorious B.I.G.,
Wu-Tang Clan, and
Mobb Deep, and the sounds of urban black male bravado, compassion, and social awareness. While
heavy metal music was almost exclusively created by white performers in the 1970s and 1980s, there were a few exceptions. In 1988, all-black heavy metal band
Living Colour achieved mainstream success with their début album
Vivid, peaking at No. 6 on the
Billboard 200, thanks to their Top 20 single "
Cult of Personality". The band's music contained lyrics that attack what they perceived as Eurocentrism and racism in America. A decade later, more black artists like
Lenny Kravitz,
Body Count,
Ben Harper, and countless others would start playing rock again.
1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and today is one of the top selling black American musicians in modern history. In 2008, his album (
Tha Carter III) sold one million in its first week.
Contemporary R&B, the post-disco version of
soul music, remained popular throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Male vocal groups such as
The Temptations and
The O'Jays were particularly popular, as well as
New Edition,
Boyz II Men,
Jodeci,
Dru Hill,
Blackstreet, and
Jagged Edge. Girl groups, including
TLC,
Destiny's Child,
SWV, and
En Vogue were also highly successful. Singer-songwriters such as
R. Kelly,
Mariah Carey,
Montell Jordan,
D'Angelo,
Aaliyah, and
Raphael Saadiq of
Tony! Toni! Toné! were also popular during the 1990s.
Mary J. Blige,
Faith Evans, and
BLACKstreet popularized a fusion blend known as
hip-hop soul. The
neo soul movement of the 1990s, with classic soul influences, was popularized in the late 1990s and early 2000s by such artists as
D'Angelo,
Erykah Badu,
Maxwell,
Lauryn Hill,
India.Arie,
Alicia Keys,
Jill Scott,
Angie Stone,
Bilal, and
Musiq Soulchild. A record review claimed that D'Angelo's critically acclaimed album
Voodoo (2000) "represents African American music at a crossroads ... To simply call [it] neo-classical soul ... would be [to] ignore the elements of
vaudeville jazz,
Memphis horns,
ragtime blues, funk and bass grooves, not to mention hip-hop, that slips out of every pore of these haunted songs."
Blue-eyed soul is soul music performed by white artists, including
Michael McDonald,
Christina Aguilera,
Amy Winehouse,
Robin Thicke,
Michael Bolton,
Jon B.,
Lisa Stansfield,
Teena Marie,
Justin Timberlake,
Joss Stone,
George Michael, and
Anastacia. Blue-eyed soul, typically executed by Caucasian musicians, is known for its infectious hooks and melodies. It emerged from a blend of rockabilly influenced by white artists
Elvis Presley and
Bill Haley, as well as doo wop inspired by Dion and The Four Seasons. Notable artists in this genre include Righteous Brothers, Hall & Oates, The Rascals, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Dusty Springfield, Boy George, and George Michael.
David Bowie's
Young Americans album is considered a significant late contribution to blue-eyed soul. Within underground circles, the
Afro-punk movement garnered attention in the early 21st century, in large part due to the
eponymous documentary released in 2003. This movement, including an annual festival has also contributed to bringing further light to the role of black people in
punk rock since its origins in the 1970s. Along with the singer-songwriter influence on hip-hop and R&B, there was an increase in creativity and expression through
Rap music.
Tupac,
The Notorious B.I.G. ("Biggie"),
N.W.A,
Lil' Kim,
Snoop Dogg, and
Nas broke into the music industry. '90s rap introduced many other subgenres including
Gangsta rap,
Conscious rap, and
Pop rap. Gangsta rap focused on gang violence, drug dealing and poverty. The hip-hop movement has become increasingly mainstream as the
music industry has taken control of it. Essentially, "from the moment 'Rapper's Delight' went platinum, hiphop the folk culture became hiphop the American entertainment-industry sideshow." in 2006. 50 Cent was one of the most popular African-American rappers of the 2000s with his iconic albums being
Get Rich or Die Tryin' and
The Massacre. In the early 2000s,
50 Cent was one of the most popular African-American artists. In 2005, his album
The Massacre sold over one million albums in its first week. In 2008,
Lil Wayne's album
Tha Carter III also sold more than a million copies in its first week. Within a year of
Michael Jackson's unexpected death in 2009, his estate generated $1.4 billion in revenues. A documentary containing rehearsal footage for Jackson's scheduled
This Is It tour, entitled ''Michael Jackson's This Is It'', was released on October 28, 2009, and became the highest-grossing concert film in history. During the early 2010s, Drill music which is known as a raw and more violent version of rap also went mainstream. This wave of music came mainly from Chicago with many rappers being at the stage of the come up with the most notably being
Chief Keef who blew into stardom after his tape
Back from the dead and Studio Album
Finally Rich. In 2013, no African-American musician had a
Billboard Hot 100 number one, the first year in which there was not a number-one record by an African-American in the chart's 55-year history.
J. Cole,
Beyonce,
Jay Z, and half-Canadian
Drake, were all top-selling music artists this year, but none made it to the
Billboard Hot 100's number one, leading to much debate. Black protest music went mainstream in the 2010s. Beyoncé, her sister
Solange,
Kanye West and
Frank Ocean released black protest albums. Beyoncé released her first "black protest" album
Lemonade in 2016. The album was dedicated to
Black Lives Matter. In 2020, Beyoncé released
"Black Parade" during Juneteenth following the
murder of George Floyd.
Kendrick Lamar,
J. Cole,
The Game,
Janelle Monae and D'Angelo and the Vanguard have also released music for
Black Lives Matter. In the 2020s, African-American musicians have continued to make significant contributions to the global music scene. In 2025, Beyoncé made history at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards by winning Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter—her first win in the category after four previous nominations. She also became the first Black woman to win Best Country Album. Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar's song Not Like Us won both Song of the Year and Record of the Year, making it the most awarded song in Grammy history. == Cultural impact ==