It is an undeniable fact that the USA is for all intents and purposes the mecca of music in the modern world based inter alia on interest for music, number of musicians, and music economics. Indeed, the music industry in America is the largest in the world from a pecuniary perspective with many international musicians striving to have a piece of the US music market. However, as with almost all other elements of the US culture, race is an integral aspect of American music (Quickfall, 2011). From the past history of music in America to its current state, race and racial considerations including racism and racial discrimination have always been a fundamental issue. Whereas there are very many races represented in the USA, the most prominent ones when it comes to music are the Whites, the Blacks, and the Hispanics. Each of these races has its unique cultural affiliation that to some extent is reflected in their respective music. Unfortunately, in some cases, talent and interest in music are stifled as interlocutors and commentators try to box musicians to their respective cultural affiliations.
The success of the current musical scene in America cannot escape a racial past as it is closely affiliated to African slavery. A careful analysis of most modern American music in spite of its racial affiliation will show that it stems from a combination of pre-slavery white music and African influences carried to the US by slaves. African slaves carried with them a powerful heritage comprising inter alia of drumming, the playing of wind instrument, and dancing. When they came to America, they were mainly compelled into Christianity where they took the hymns and Africanized them (Quickfall, 2011). The emancipation of slaves came with the civil war, which is one of the greatest conflicts in American history. A lot of musical instruments were manufactured for use by soldiers and marching bands. When the war ended and a lot of these instruments became available, they would be taken up by former slaves, and incorporated into their music gradually leading to the creation of Jazz music. Most of the modern American music, despite its race of preference, whether white, black or Hispanic has borrowed something from the Jazz movement.
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Unfortunately, Jazz music found an exponentially divided America deep inside what was termed as the Jim Crow era. There was a lot of racial discrimination at the time and also de facto racial division. White musicians, therefore, adopted jazz and other black forms of music and either created white versions of it or simply adopted it as it was (Quickfall, 2011). Among the common examples of jazz music being adopted by whites was the black face movement where white people would dress like black people, paint their faces black then mockingly sing black music. With the proliferation of electronic media and the commercialization of music, race begun to control what kinds of music becomes financially beneficial for musicians. For example, those who focused on black music such as jazz would be celebrated for their talent and originality but they could barely make a living out of their music. On the other hand, white musicians who adopted black music gained prominence in electronic media making them a lot of money (Quickfall, 2011). From as early as this period, therefore, race begun to have an adverse effect on music and musicians.
The stranglehold that the white people had on electronic media and money would gradually reduce during the course of the 20 th century as the US economy became more homogenized. It became possible for blacks to even sell predominantly to a black audience or Hispanics to a Hispanic audience and still make a living, even a fortune. However, over and above the pecuniary changes, a cultural evolution also took place in the 20 th century as people begun to identify with racial cultures that are not affiliated with their biological race. For example, many white people are big fans of predominantly black or even Latino music. Similarly, some black and Hispanic people will also show a preference for the music preferred by other races. Most importantly, many music lovers appreciate good music in spite of the racial affiliation of either its singer or its origin. The love of music without interrogating it from the basis of race is commendable and should be encouraged but normally, this is not the case.
Normally, each of the three major races has the genre of music that is most affiliated and associated with them. The blacks, for example, are mainly affiliated with R & B, Jazz and in the later years of the 20 th century, through to the 21 st century, Hip Hop. On the other hand, white people are mainly associated with Rock and country music (West, 2017). Finally, Hispanics are mainly affiliated with Spanish-like music mostly with themes about love. When it comes to audiences, there are no solid rules as many white people love R & B just as many black people love country music (West, 2017).
Although musicians endeavor to reach out to cross-racial audiences, acrimony will normally ensue when a musician seeks to focus on music that is not predicated on their race. It is normal, even common for a musician to be dubbed as unauthentic or unoriginal simply by preferring music that is not normally affiliated with the musician’s culture. For example, hip hop is predominantly a black music genre but Eminem just happens to be one of the best hip hop musicians ever, despite the fact that he is white. Unfortunately, Eminem has been attacked by both fellow whites as well as black Americans. The former argue that he is acting black by singing black music while the latter argue that he is infringing on their market. It is easy to imagine that there are tens of white musicians who would have made epic hip hop artists, yet they avoided the genre to escape the backlash. The same treatment is visited upon Hispanics who seek to focus on white or black music or blacks who seek to focus on white music.
Conversely, musicians who are of a mixed race find themselves in a quagmire as they have to decide which racial affiliation they will base their music on. A good example is depicted in Sangweni (2015) which reports in an episode of the TV series Empire where Alicia Keys using the stage name of Sky Summers does a duet with Jamal Lyon about black power. According to the narrative in the series itself, Summers is of a mixed race but normally does music affiliated to her white heritage. However, instead of the African American MC at the function appreciating Summers for the black power song, he viciously attacks her singing black music yet she does not normally associate with black people. Indeed, the attack begins with the question “so you are black now?” The above reflects a meticulous attempt by respective races to keep other races out of their musical enclaves, an approach that can only be detrimental to the development and enjoyment of the music itself.
When it comes to the issuing of music awards, the same approach of racial preferences, almost a form of discrimination is undertaken. White people have their own awards such as the Brit Awards that may not necessarily be called white music awards but are calibrated in a way that most of the awards will go to white people. Black people have inter alia the Music of Black Origin (MOBO) awards where the kind of music focused on will ensure that most awards go to African Americans (Quickfall, 2011). The Hispanics also have the Latin American Music Awards where a majority of the awards will go to Hispanic musicians. Even in the mainstream awards such as the Grammy’s, there are still classes of awards that are carefully calibrated to fete the leading musicians within every major racial class in America. These classifications of awards continue to propagate the differences between the music made by artists of different races to the detriment of music itself as creativity is limited to racial affiliation.
Race still plays a crucial role in American music, but this role cannot necessarily be considered as a positive one. For the sake of clarity, the racial affiliation of music cannot be ignored as it is a cultural issue and race is closely affiliated to culture. However, race should not be used as a limiting factor to talent and creativity. Similarly, music should not be used as a tool to divide people along racial lines as it would be more suitable as a tool for bringing the different races in America together. Those musicians who have a talent for or interest in the music that is mainly affiliated to another race should be encouraged, not discouraged. A white rapper, a black Country Music group or a Hispanic Rock band should all get support both from their own race and also from the race that prefers that kind of music. Providing nondiscriminatory support for all talent will have an overall positive effect on music.
References
Quickfall, T. (2011, January 19). What is 'black music'? How are race and identity conveyed in the music media? Retrieved from https://essentiallyeclectic.wordpress.com/what-is-‘black-music’-how-are-race-and-identity-conveyed-in-the-music-media/
Sangweni, Y. (2015, November 19). Alicia Keys premieres new song for 'Empire'. Retrieved from https://www.essence.com/entertainment/exclusive-hear-alicia-keys-powerful-duet-jussie-smollett-empire-soundtrack/
West, C. (2017). Race Matters, 25th Anniversary . Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press
