Impact of Rhythm and Blues on African-American Culture Essay

Rhythm and blues, also known today as â€Å"R B†, has been one of the most influential genres of music within the African American Culture, and has evolved over many decades in style and sound. Emerging in the late 1940s rhythm and blues, sometimes called jump blues, became dominant black popular music during and after WWII. Rhythm and blues artists often sung about love, relationships, life troubles, and sometimes focused on segregation and race struggles. Rhythm and blues helped embody what was unique about black American culture and validate it as something distinctive and valuable. The term â€Å"rhythm and blues† was coined in 1947 by a white man named Jerry Wexler who was a reporter, editor, and writer for Billboard Magazine. The record†¦show more content†¦From the 1950s to the 1970s rhythm and blues bands usually consisted of piano, guitars, drums saxophone, bass, and were sometimes accompanied by background vocalists. New World Encyclopedia (2008) st ates As rhythm and blues combined the elements of jazz, gospel music and the blues, it thus created a very personalized form of melody and rhythm which has become known as one of the outstanding styles of American music. From jazz and its combination of African black folk music blended with European folk and pop music, rhythm and blues incorporated the syncopated beats supported by colorful chordal combinations to mirror the emotions and experiences of the composer and singer/musician. The term rhythm and blues has had several different meanings. In the early 1950s it applied to blues records, in the late 1950s it applied to electric blues along with gospel and soul, in the 1960s it was called soul music, and in the 1970s it was a blanket term for soul, funk, and disco. Much of the popular electric guitar-led blues bands like Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, and BB King that came from Memphis and Chicago were considered rhythm and blues since they appealed to the older demographic. The br oadcasting and recording industries did not solely represent the conquering racial assumptions of the 1950s, they internalized them and helped to continue them. Racial conventions permeated the organization and structure of the music industry at every level. The very existenceShow MoreRelatedAfrican American Music Culture1490 Words   |  6 PagesAfrican American Music Culture Jakiella James â€Å"African-American gospel music is a major influence in nearly all genres of modern popular music, from rhythm ‘n blues to jazz, from soul to rock ‘n roll. The musical genre is a unique expression of the black experience in America? The emotionally-charged, wailing vocals and syncopated rhythms give the music a distinctive style. 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