. For example, Regaeton is a hybridization of American hip-hop containing similar messages of sex and money as the American version, yet also political messages specific to their state. Salsa, a mashup of afro-caribbean rhythms from Cuba and Puerto Rico (Manuel, 1994) originally began in the New York by Hispanic Caribbean migrants as means to hold onto national identity, however it has resisted American influence artistically even though commercially it is distributed by major American music corporations. Mexican music has gone through many transformations, Texano, Mariachi, Banda-some of these transformations can be attributed to Mexico’s shared border with the United States. When you think of Samba and Bossa Nova, Brazil is what comes to mind. However, the globalization of these two styles of music has pushed other styles of Brazilian music to the wayside into regional categories. …show more content…
In his book, From Bomba to Hip-hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity, Juan Flores describes pop culture as “energized moments of freedom specific, local plays of power and flashes of collective imagination.” He continues to explain that culture becomes popular because it is created by those whom make up the majority, the poor and powerless. He states that the irony of popular culture is the dependence and desire for what is excluded and disdained (Flores, 2000). This phenomenon is well documented not only in music genres of other countries but also in our own music genres such as Gospel and Soul, even Country. All of these genres began from the disparaged or poor social classes. (find citation for
The movie ‘From Mambo to Hip-Hop’ is a great documentary about a revolution in the entertainment industry. It talks of evolution on Salsa music and Hip-Hop culture in suburbs of New York. South Bronx is a ghetto neighbourhood. The people living in the area are challenged economically. There is a record of high cases of violence that exist in the streets due to high crime rate and drugs being traded as a means of survival (Gordon, 2005). Most of the people living in the area are descendants of African immigrants who could trace their origin in the Caribbean islands with a large number Latin American population too.
In Stuart Hall’s “What is This “Black” in Black Popular Culture?” the historical implication of popular culture in the U.S is examined and the influence that blackness has in it is deconstructed. According to the text, the departure of European concepts of culture after WWII sparked a hegemonic shift as the United States emerged as a world power. Due to this, the U.S. became the epicenter of global culture production. However, since America has always had a large ethnic population due to slavery, the true face of American popular culture was black American vernacular traditions. Even today, slang that emerge from black ghettos and communities become highly popular with people of other races. In fact, much of black culture is not just our culture,
The history and development of salsa “cannot be separated from the history of migration”, meaning that the music developed and changed as it traveled the globe (Román-Velasquez: 211). Due to its global influences and popularity, salsa represents many cultures: “Initially associated with the Spanish Caribbean populations of Cuba and Puerto Rico, salsa was soon claimed as the voice of the New York City barrio and as representative of the experiences of the Latino community in the United States” (Román-Velasquez: 211). The term salsa describes more than just the music, but also “ a 'manner of making music' which is a flexible blend of many genres and which is continually reblended and given slightly different 'flavours' in different locations” (Román-Velasquez: 211). As salsa globalized, so did salsa dancing, adding another performance factor to the genre. Salsa clubs and fans in
Salsa is one of the most distinctive genres of the 1900s in the music industry; characterized by a very lively, powerful and danceable upbeat. Salsa is a fusion of many Latin musical genres that combines rhythms, instruments and musical elements primarily from the Cuban son based on a three-two beat with syncopation rhythmic pattern known as the clave and Afro-Cuban dance. The roots of salsa originated in Eastern Cuba, but by mid-century the Havana came to be home to this music and many foreign musical genres such as the American Jazz and popular music. Even though, salsa genre has evolved differently across Latin America with the unique sounds of their country of origin, such the Colombian salsa and Puerto Rican salsa, it is still today the most popular style of dance in many Hispanic communities
In the words of rapper Busta Rhymes, “hip-hop reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the negative truth that society tries to conceal. It’s a platform where we could offer information, but it’s also an escape” Hip-hop is a culture that emerged from the Bronx, New York, during the early 1970s. Hip-Hop was a result of African American and Latino youth redirecting their hardships brought by marginalization from society to creativity in the forms of MCing, DJing, aerosol art, and breakdancing. Hip-hop serves as a vehicle for empowerment while transcending borders, skin color, and age. However, the paper will focus on hip-hop from the Chican@-Latin@ population in the United States. In the face of oppression, the Chican@-Latin@ population utilized hip hop music as a means to voice the community’s various issues, desires, and in the process empower its people.
The purpose of this study is determine why and how African American music that’s is so deeply rooted into the community is being culturally appropriated. This is a topic that has been the on the foreground of race for years. Activists and celebrities like Adrienne Keene, DeRay McKesson, Azealia Banks, and Jesse Williams helped bring the issue into the national attention. Most of the world or better yet the appropriators have very little knowledge of what the word actually means. In order to understand the problem we must first understand the word Culture and Appropriation. Culture being defined as the beliefs, ideas, traditions, speech, and material objects associated with a particular group of people. Appropriation the action of taking something
Music is essential to any culture. Its a vital part of being human and can significantly impact our lives. No matter where one is from, music is an escape that everyone seeks because they can relate to it. This social link keeps us tied to the world, even with different cultures and languages. Afro-Latinos have helped shape the music in America, many times with help from other cultures. Many types of music Hispanics have produced have impacted the United States. One of these types of music is named Bachata. Hispanics in the US have helped shape bachata, even though it originated in the Dominican Republic. With its profound lyrics many can relate to, its catchy rhythm and simple dance, bachata is as popular in the US as it is in Central America. In the 1980s and 1990s, the growing Dominican population in the United States became an important fan base for bachata. Dominican Yorks influence of traditional bachata with the artistic and cultural diversity of life in New York, making bachata one of the fastest growing music genres of the 21st century (Pacini Hernandez.)
Last Sunday I went to jazz bar in Manhattan and I listened “Latin Jazz?E Latin jazz is “a fusion of African and indigenous rhythms from the entire Latin American Diaspora with the language of jazz?E It was first known as coop, but you are now familiar with it as afro-Cuban. When talking about afro-Cuban jazz, it is difficult to not mention certain turning points in history that made this music possible. The roots of much, of the music might be traced back to African Cuban slaves. In Cuba itself, music and dance are so essential to national character that you can not disentangle them from the country’s history. “The story of Latin jazz music is thus one of religions and revolutions, power and liberation, the collision of civilization?E In the United States we can never completely understand our own music, without referencing it to Cuban music. There are various characteristics that can define Latin jazz ranging from the savant grade to more popular forms. Some forms of popular music that most people are familiar with would have to be the mambo, salsa, cha-cha, and afro-Cuban jazz. These types of music were originated from north America, but to elaborate further, Latin immigrants can to new York and brought with them distinctive rhythms that blended together. Theses types of music and other music are contagious and an evolutionary process. No one person can take the credit for Latin jazz of any form of music that comes into the united s...
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
Latin music is a mix of different sounds, beats, and rhythms obtained from Spain and Latin America. The styles of Latin music are: el mambo, la rumba, la zarzuela, flamenco, el tango ,el merengue, la cumbia and salsa El mambo and the rumba are kind of similar in sounds but experts can distinguish them by their beats. They say that the mambo’s musical has unexpected beats and that the rumba starts with a group of improvised verses. La zarzuela and the flamenco are both folkloric music from Spain, but they differ in two points. La zarzuela is from Spanish opera and the flamenco has an influence of arabic and gypsy melodies. El tango is the music from Argentina and it’s characterized by its slow and soft rhythm. El merengue has a fast beat and a tropical rhythm and it started in the Dominican republic. The cumbia has a moderate to rapid melodious verses and choruses. Musicians play it with accordions and drums. Finally, la salsa became popular in Miami and New York and it’s characterized by the use of trumpets and other brass instruments. (Monkeyshines)
Music has been influencing American culture since the Native Americans. It was used for ceremonial purposes, recreation, expression, and healing. This means that music can define a culture. American culture today is very electric and confused and music in America can reflect this. Most popular American music today is like this. For example a song such as “Party Rock Anthem.” It was one of the most popular songs of 2011 among the American youth and it was very energetic but its moral standing was corrupted, and this is a good example of the way music can influence us and define us at the same time. Currently, American culture is controlled by the hip-hop culture, specifically the youth. The media and other political groups seem to place the blame for the corruption on our youth on rap and hip hop. However, though some rappers have violent or misleading lyrics, rap, just like other forms of music, cannot be understood unless it is studied without the framework of its history.
Music is an essential aspect of human cultures all over the world. Music helps guide the listener’s emotional responses and aids in developing the listener’s lifestyle customs. So many different genres of music exists in the world today, varying in tempo, language, general topic, tone, and culture, intended to affect certain religious groups, age groups, situations, or ethnic backgrounds. Genres are not necessarily constant in maintaining one sound; most genres have changed over time to become suitable for contemporary societies. Genres can be created from a combination of two or more different genres or a change in style in one genre. Hip-Hop is a prime example of one of these created genres; it is a unique genre and now wide spread across the world. Countries like China, Mexico, Paris, and more, all enjoy listening to Hip-hop music and even have Hip-hop artists of their own. Hip-hop eventually evolved into more than just a music style but also a lifestyle, relating to art like graffiti and the way people dress. The history and foundation of hip-hop is an interesting topic because hip-hop has undergone changes in style, content, theme, and even purpose.
To list a few, the Latin American music culture includes Mexico, Costa Rica, Columbia, Brazil, and many others further south. However, the geographic area of the Latin American culture extends far past North and South America as there are influences from Africa and Europe (Thomas, 2011). These influences come following many historical events, such as Slavery in the eighteenth-century, the colonization from Britain. As a result of Latin-America having such a vast geographical footprint, the music culture is very diverse. Having multiple different cultures mixed into one, enculturation is bound to happen.
As one moves past the initial onslaught of rhythmic beats that calypso has to offer, it is difficult to miss the way in which it reverberates with negative and demoralizing images of women to their male counterparts. Whether it is within the lyrics of Sparrow’s “Drunk and Disorderly” or Square One’s “My Ding-a Ling”, an ample number of verses are often dedicated to making lewd comments about the female body and the suggestive body language described through thinly veiled rhymes and puns, can be offensive depending on the listener. The half naked models being displayed on the various album covers of calypso, soca and rap mix tapes further reinforces these negative connotations. This bandwagon has been jumped upon by many, including the rap genre in the last two decades, wanting to capitalize on a marketing strategy that generally purports to flag consumer attention, playing on their sense of eroticism. The sections titled “Music, Sex, Sexism” and “Woman Rising” within Peter Manuel’s text: Caribbean Currents, dive into the many issues surrounding gender within music as well as female portrayal specifically in calypso. Observations can be made simply by reading through the textual comparisons. Many aspects of this subject area allude to the fact that the issue of gender portrayal in music can be construed differently depending on who the critical listener happens to be. With the increased awareness and heightened sensitivity to the way in which females are portrayed in popular media, it is important to reflect on the impact these lyrics have on male-female relationships within the communities who most often enjoy this music genre.
With the music being the highly profitable, capitalist enterprise that it is today, it is no wonder that it is controlled and regulated by a few large conglomerates that exist is today’s world. It is important to make clear that although evidence is being presented of the positive aspects of globalization through music that there is overwhelming evidence that cultural imperialism is more than it seems on the outside. One must keep in mind that cultural imperialism, globalization and the creation of a global village is a business. People are profiting at other people’s loss of cultural identity, they are sold a culture and heritage. With the every growing N’Sync fan clubs and Britney clones, the world is turning into a stage for pop culture and its glamorous unattainable standards.