Urban Music (Urban Contemporary Music)
Urban Music, also commonly referred to as Urban Contemporary Music, is an aggregate of musical genres that developed in the 1970s in the United States as a form of music radio programming. The programming category gained particular traction in the 1980s and 1990s as an alternative to both Afro-American orientated stations that featured hard soul, funk, hiphop and rap material and to mainstream, white-orientated popular music radio programming, which only featured a small number of Afro-American acts, many of whom had gained mainstream acceptance through exposure on the music video channel MTV. DJ Frankie Crocker is commonly regarded to have pioneered the approach through his work as music programmer for Manhattan-based radio station WLIB-FM, which commenced broadcasting in 1974. His early programming combined established R&B material with the burgeoning style of Disco and later went on to include elements of rap, hip hop and reggae, both in general programming and niche slots. This approach proved highly successful with radio audiences and was ...
Back in the day, music is not readily available online at the tip of your fingertips. Fifty years ago, you would listen to the radio and that’s how you knew what records to buy. Radio stations in large music cities such as Los Angeles, New York or Nashville normally set the standard for the most popular music. New music emerges in their city, than gets released on their local radio stations, and the music becomes a smash hit. This is not the case for the small town radio station of CKLW in Windsor, Ontario. As television was drastically changing the radio industry, CKLW had to change to keep up. This change is what resulted into CKLW- The Big 8, a radio station that created new standards of radio hosting as well as rock and roll music. CKLW influenced not only music throughout North America but the entire music industry such as Bill Drake's "Boss Radio” technique, and how this station influenced its home city of Windsor, Ontario. CKLW evolved from a small city radio station to become “The Big 8” a huge nationwide music icon that was responsible for not only changing the music industry but changing the face of radio forever.
Today, CKLW is a news and information station for the Windsor-Essex community. Now in Windsor, Detroit radio dominates once again. Now, 68% of Windsorites listen to Detroit radio stations. The Big 8 still had a tremendous influence in shaping the face of radio, in creating megahits in music industry, and held a huge community presence in its hometown of Windsor, Ontario. CKLW was a small town radio station that became one of the biggest radio sensations of the 1960’s and1970’s. The Big 8 developed into an icon for not only music and radio; but, also brought out the music fanatic in everyone.
By the 1930’s the movement had shifted yet again and began to incorporate larger bands in what came to be known as “swing.” Broadcast radio was also an important factor by this time, giving swing music a far-reaching national influence. The size of the bands had a standardizing ...
Paul, Minnesota University, Banfield informs students of Rhythm and Blues' history and how it came to be from unsung musicians who innovated the sound during the end of World War II to its involvement with Hip-Hop. Its sub-genres include Doo-Wop, Soul, Funk, Dance and Disco that are credited for evolving the music's five decade reign on the charts. Along with artists such as The Temptations, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Bobby Womack and Isaac Hayes who gave this music its raw energy and prowess to define an era of racial tension and the need for change. From the late 60's to the early 70's, Rhythm and Blues brought out a gritty sound to shout for a need to change by giving a voice to those who want change to happen. According to his book, Representing Black Music Culture: Then, Now, and When Again? Banfield talks about the “the rise and (he argues) the fall of black music from the early 1960s to the present. However, Banfield paints a vivid picture of the development of and trends in the music that have led up to the current rap scene and pressure on artists to become publicity. Sensations rather than bona fide
Jazz is an American genre that developed from ragtime and blues in the early twentieth century in urban areas of the U.S. This genre is characterized by strong, prominent meter, improvisation, distinctive tone colors, and performance techniques. The development of Jazz made a postive, lasting impact after World War One ended. It became a way of bringing young people together. Jazz became the basis for most social dance music and provided one of the first opportunities for public integration. Subcultures like the gangs of New York and Chicago encouraged the subjugation of the black artists to the white man’s economic and social power, often resulting in gang leaders having complete control over
As the United States entered the 1920's it was not as unified as one might think. Not one, but two societies existed. The Black society, whose ancestors had been oppressed throughout the ages, and the White society, the oppressors of these men and women. After emancipation the Whites no longer needed the Blacks, but were forced to live with them. The Blacks despised the Whites, but even so they became more like them in every way. Even though these two races had grown so similar over the past century and a half, they were still greatly diversified. One aspect of this great diversity was the difference in music trends. The White society was still in love with the European classical music. The Blacks on the other hand had created something all their own. Jazz, Blues, and Ragtime originated in New Orleans in the 19th century, but by the 1920's it had become famous throughout America. The Whites tried to suppress the Blacks with new laws, but the power of this strengthened race was too great. The Negro music of the 20th century had a huge affect ...
Houston kicked off the Southern hip-hop trends in the 1980's with pioneers such as the Geto Boys and UGK. Both groups we're overtly conscious discussing not only poverty, but also the implications of drug dealing and violence (Smith, 2004; Sanneh 2005). The early 1990's brought in Houston's signature chopped and screwed sound when DJ Screw made his name is a "psychedelic remixer" (Sanneh, 2005.) But the Houston sound took a while to expand to the rest of the US because like the other epicenters the sound of the artist on the independent labels stayed local (Speyer,
Jazz music prospered in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Jazz was created by African Americans to represent pain and suffering and also represented the adversity that racial tension brought. (Scholastic) African American performers like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie “Bird” Parker came to be recognized for their ability to overcome “race relati...
After many of World War II’s harmful effects, the 1950s served as a period of time of musical change that reflected the dynamic of society as well as the traditional norms and values. Many factors contributed to this transformation. For example, the civil rights movement heightened many racial tensions, and the music produced consequently manifested this tension in itself. Rock-n-roll and R&B music universalized music typically associated with African-Americans, and many African-American musicians gained fame; however, as with any relatively-widespread success, there were many musicians as well who missed their opportunities due to the same racial segregation. While “radical” genres such as R&B and rock-n-roll laid the foundation for music future forms of music, the standard pop, jazz, and country music adhered to traditional values, and thus continued to maintain popularity amidst phenomena such as the Elvis craze.
The birth of Rock and Roll Music was a mixture of popular music and African American country blues and hillbilly music. However, Rock and Roll music was influence since the 1950’s by two particular African American artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin` Wolf. Through their distinct voices, style, deliverance, and performances that helped the music in the 1950’s give rise to this new style of music genre Rock and Roll. During the World War II era, this style of music was looked at; as traditional music and, through the music people could tell their story, not just about their struggles but the real struggles going on around them, like, isolation between black and white people. Most artists were sharing their values and trying to associate through
In the works An Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson and Slave Songs of the United States by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison, both stories include the topics about music from the African-American perspective. Although both works are quite different, there are some similarities between the stories. An Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Slave Songs of the United States both show the difficulty of an outsider trying to transcribe music from a somewhat “unknown” and challenging perspective. Although they are similar in this aspect, their plans, understanding of the music, and musicking experience greatly differ from each other.
After WWII played out, population shifts occurred in the US. With southern traditions, and music, coming into contact with new urban based music, the audience that followed it, and mixing the sounds of the “boogie woogie” of rhythm and blues, the soulfulness of gospel, and throwing a dash of country twang in there, the recipe for Rock ‘n’ Roll was finished, and a whole new genre created. “The sound of the city”. Although an exciting new period for a lot of 1950s youth, “th...
Even when one becomes an artist in the industry, there are many troubles that go along with the tag of being a recording artist in the urban division. One example is seen in the article, “The Business of Rap: Between the Street and the Executive Suite” by Keith Negus, where columnist, J.R. Reynolds, mentions the closing of the urban division at Capitol Records in 1996, calling it “the systematic extermination of black music at Capitol Records”, saying that it did not make any sense because the genre was doing well in the market (528). The black music division is often subject to this kind of cutting compared to others. Negus also states that “despite the influence of rap and hip hop on the aesthetics of music, video, television, film, sport, fashion, dancing and advertising, the potential of this broader cultural formation to make a contribution to music industry business practices is not encouraged” (534). The sad fact of the matter is that this is true. It is almost like the larger companies take from the smaller urban divisions in order to make themselves look better without giving credit where it is due and in turn, because those companies are not seen to be doing well in the market, they are dropped from the label. Ted Swedenburg explains this in the article “Homies in The ‘Hood: Rap’s Commodification of Insubordination”, when he states that “while the major academic rock critics usually acknowledge black musicians’ essential contributions to pop and occasionally write sympathetic a...
By the late sixties FM radio had replaced AM radio as the focal points being Rock and Roll music, then into the seventies psychedel...
Black culture in our society has come to the point where it is allied with pop culture. The most popular music genres, slang terms, to dance forms it all comes from black culture. Hip hop emerged from black culture, becoming the soul of it that is seen in the media. Hip hop helped the black community by creating new ways of expressing themselves, from breakdance, graffiti, rap and other music, to slang. This culture was rooted in their tradition and created from something new. Hip hop created a new form of music that required the use of turn tables, ‘cuts’, loops, rhythm, rhyme, stories, and deep-rooted emotions, but also incorporated black oral forms of storytelling using communal authors.