I recently listened to a lecture on the Harlem Renaissance, and it got me thinking about the movement's legacy. How does America continue to feel the effects of it, and in what light are African Americans regarded today compared to the early century? Without the Harlem Renaissance, much of the popular music today, such as hip-hop and R&B would not exist. Music both directly and indirectly influenced by the Harlem Renaissance dominates the radio waves. Virtually all pop music features overwhelmingly strong ties to hip-hop, as 8 of the top 10 songs on the Billboard top 100 have strong ties to the early jazz movements. Do these artists realize how strongly their music is influenced by the New Negro movement? Arguments leaning either way are tenable, but it is safe to assume that those uneducated in the movement are oblivious to its impact.
African Americans hold deep stock in the pop culture of today. Their faces are featured on many magazines in the grocery store checkout line, many of them, specifically musical artists such as Beyonce, Jay-Z and Kanye West, are idolized by their fans. However, does their prominence lose some of its substance as many of their fans are passive toward their favorite artist’s musical heritage?
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The more we, as an audience, understand the predecessors of the music we listen to, the more meaning we can find in the text. This is true for all art. We have a responsibility to the music.
ReplyDeleteYeah i agree that popular music today (including rock) traces its origins back to African-Americans living around the Harlem Renaissance. I too agree that most people today are passive or oblivious to how much the Harlem Renaissance has influenced the music performed by people like Beyonce and Jay-Z. I too think the artist do loose a bit of substance because of this ignored connection to Artist of today and Artists of the Harlem Renaissance.
ReplyDeleteIt is important for any musican to understand the tradition of the music they play. However, I don't find it apalling or susprisung that modern day rappers or other black american musicans are whoely ignorant of the impact of the Harlewm Rennisance. It makes more sence for artists of this gerneration to look back on the early rap, hip-hip, and R&B from the 1960's-1980's as their 'roots'. I feel as the harmelm rennisance was more then a musical awakening (poets like Langston Hughes and painter Jabob Lawreence are examples of this), the movement should be characterized more as an insipiring force in relation to today's black cutlure, and not a direct cause.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great reflection for black history month! Yes, many listeners sadly are ignorant to the roots of all music and fail to realize the importance of African American culture and how it has shaped our own.
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