Issues in Popular Music
In the late 1980’s a hip-hop group by the name of Public Enemy began to gain prominence and popularity amongst the majority of African-Americans and other ethnicities. With their politically and racially charged lyrics, they amassed millions of fans in the United States and across the globe. In this essay, I hope to elaborate and argue about their somewhat controversial music that united an ample black audience under the common theme of black power and the fight to completely end racial oppression.
Rap and hip hop music, both have been related and linked to black music but has the term ‘black music’ been used correctly or should the term ‘black music’ even exist? According to Philip Tagg, he argues that blackness is often characterized as ‘blue notes’, ‘call-and-response techniques’, ‘syncopation’ and ‘improvisation’ but none of these characteristics can be categorized as black music. He further argues that the consideration of black music is a matter of stereotyping which can be related to racism or ethnicity. Ref: longhurst page 118-122. Oliver on the other hand has a sociological approach to his point of view; he argues that ‘black music’ would be considered as such if its listeners, performers and creators accept it. With such an approach, problems may arise from the listeners. For example, Michael Jackson can be seen from the listeners’ point of view as white or black. This type of perception can be meaningless to some but when it comes to the origin of Jackson’s music and the way his music is released and sold, it will not only show the characteristics of his music but also to the political connection it has.
Political hip-hop was developed in the early 1980’s, which was inspired by the ‘political preachers’ in the late 1970’s. Artists began using politics in their music to send out messages to the world and to cause awareness to the people. One of the best groups known for their political hip-hop is Public Enemy. (Rose, 1990) Public Enemy was
Rap and hip hop music, both have been related and linked to black music but has the term ‘black music’ been used correctly or should the term ‘black music’ even exist? According to Philip Tagg, he argues that blackness is often characterized as ‘blue notes’, ‘call-and-response techniques’, ‘syncopation’ and ‘improvisation’ but none of these characteristics can be categorized as black music. He further argues that the consideration of black music is a matter of stereotyping which can be related to racism or ethnicity. Ref: longhurst page 118-122. Oliver on the other hand has a sociological approach to his point of view; he argues that ‘black music’ would be considered as such if its listeners, performers and creators accept it. With such an approach, problems may arise from the listeners. For example, Michael Jackson can be seen from the listeners’ point of view as white or black. This type of perception can be meaningless to some but when it comes to the origin of Jackson’s music and the way his music is released and sold, it will not only show the characteristics of his music but also to the political connection it has.
Political hip-hop was developed in the early 1980’s, which was inspired by the ‘political preachers’ in the late 1970’s. Artists began using politics in their music to send out messages to the world and to cause awareness to the people. One of the best groups known for their political hip-hop is Public Enemy. (Rose, 1990) Public Enemy was
Bibliography: Longhurst, B. (2007). Popular Music & Society. Polity Press. Pareles, J. (1989). Public Enemy Rap Group Reorganizes After Anti-Semitic Comments. The new York Times . Public Enemy. (2007). Retrieved from vh1: http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/public_enemy/bio.jhtml Reeves, M. (2008). Sombody Scream! In Stumblin through black power revisited (pp. 70-91). New york: Faber and Faber. Rose, T. (1990). "Fear of a Black Planet": Rap Music and Black Cultural Politics in the 1990s (Vol. 33). Journal of Negro Education. Watson, P. J. (2009). Rap Group Public Enemy Warn Of “The Obama Deception” . truthNews.us . .