African Americans and the Genre Rock and Roll - 1128 Words

In 1951, Alan Freed, a European American disc jockey for a Cleveland radio station, first coined the term rock’n roll. Fifty years later, if you were to poll the general public on which race would dominate that genre of music, the response would be overwhelmingly whites. But rock’n roll is not a white mans music. African American’s were and still are an essential cornerstone of the genre known as rock’n roll. But rock’n roll simply would not exist if it werent for African Americans. Their presence is felt in almost every genre of music known to the United States. Early twentieth century black musicians helped shape, influence and create my favorite genre of music today. The roots of modern american rock and roll music, are firmly planted in Africa. As the native Africans were torn apart from their family’s and brought to the new world their lives were immediately and drastically changed forever. Finding themselves immersed in a complet ely new environment with a foreign culture, they thankfully persevered and carried on with their own traditions and most importantly to this paper, musical ones. Most American slaves originated from Western and Central Africa. The West Africans carried a musical tradition rich with long melody lines, complicated rhythms (poly rhythmics) and stringed instruments CITATION. The West Africans music was also strongly integrated into their everyday lives. Songs were preformed for religious ceremonies and dances and music was often aShow MoreRelatedThe Origins Of Rock And Roll1090 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"African Americans invented Rock and Roll, without their musical contributions we would not have the genre.† As an eager, attentive History 105 student I have had to opportunity to learn a great deal about the origins of the genre of Rock and Roll. 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Society is such a powerful entity and its influences on art are very often overlooked. If one person has the ability to independently influence and conduct change, imagine the available influence that is made possible with society as a whole during notable periods of development and change throughout the history of America. As discussed