Rock Firsts By Black Artists
We would not be sitting here talking about rock music if it weren\u2019t for people of African descent\u2026if you start in the present and begin to trace things backward to important innovations and accomplishments, nine times out of ten, you\u2019ll end up exploring something from black culture\u2026\nAnd we can go way, way back\u2014right to 1619 when the first slave ship arrived in north America at the British colony of Virginia carrying about 20 captives\u2026\nOver the centuries that followed, the people of Africa, consisting of many different communities, nations, tribes, and cultures, were brought to the west by force creating wounds that have yet to heal\u2026\xa0\nBut more than just bodies made the trip across the Atlantic\u2026these were human beings with identities, history, traditions\u2014and music\u2026and these songs and rhythms helped sustain them during those brutal times\u2026\nThere were work songs, protest songs, satirical songs, songs meant to be sung in the fields and streets, songs that were games in themselves\u2026some had regular rhythms while other contained syncopated beats from traditional dance\u2026\xa0\nOver the centuries, the music evolved, mutated, and spread\u2026spirituals and gospel\u2026blues and boogie-woogie\u2026ragtime and jazz\u2026rhythm and blues and bebop\u2026and in the early 1950s, this music with its rich history and traditions was incorporated with country, western, hillbilly, r&b, and a few other ingredients to become what we call \u201crock and roll\u201d\u2026\nAlong the way, there were many musical firsts, and landmark contributions by black artists that changed everything\u2026without them, what we call \u201crock\u201d today and so much of its culture would simply not exist\u2026\nThese people and their accomplishments need to be recognized; commemorated, and celebrated\u2026this is an episode on rock firsts by black artists\u2026\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices