Music of the African diaspora
Music of the African diaspora is a sound created, produced, or inspired by Black people, including African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including some Caribbean music, Latin music, Brazilian music and African-American music.
Music of the African diaspora was mostly refined and developed during the period of slavery. Slaves did not have easy access to instruments, so vocal work took on new significance. Through chants and work songs people of African descent preserved elements of their African heritage while inventing new genres of music. The culmination of this great sublimation of musical energy into vocal work can be seen in genres as disparate as gospel music and hip-hop. The music of the African diaspora makes frequent use of ostinato, a motif or phrase which is persistently repeated at the same pitch. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody. The banjo is a direct descendant of the akonting created by the Jola people, found in Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. Hence, the melodic traditions of the African diaspora are probably most alive in blues and jazz.
Background
Many genres of music originate from communities that have visible roots in Africa. In North America, it was a way that the early slaves could express themselves and communicate when they were being forcibly relocated and when there were restrictions on what cultural activities they could pursue. The sorrows of song were the only freedom slaves had working on cotton fields, and overall through labor tactics. This burden of slavery became a gateway for other genres of music such as the blues. For example, Black music does not just encompass sounds of the U.S. black experience but also a global black experience that stretches from Africa to Americas.The term for many coming from places of "Black" origin can be perceived in a derogatory manner by cultures who see the term as a blurring of lines which ignores the true roots of certain peoples and their specific traditions. To refer to musical genres with strong African-American influence, such as hip hop music, is very limited in scope and is not adopted by academic institutions as a true category of music. The individual aspects and collectively of black music is surrounded by the culture in itself as well as experience. Black music is centered around a story and origin. Many artist start song with the things they experience firsthand. Musical Blackness was a way of communicating and a way to express themselves during hard times such as slavery. Their songs were used to give guidance to one another and tell stories. The varieties of sounds and expressions used in the music helped stress their emotions.
Black music began to reflect urban environments through amplified sounds, social concerns, and cultural pride expressed through music. It combined blues, jazz, boogie-woogie and gospel taking the form of fast paced dance music with highly energized guitar work appealing to young audiences across racial divides.
Genres
Genres include spiritual, gospel, rumba, blues, bomba, country, rock and roll, rock, jazz, pop, salsa, R&B, samba, calypso, soca, soul, disco, kwaito, funk, ska, reggae, dub reggae, house, Detroit techno, amapiano, hip hop, gqom, afrobeat, bluegrass, and others.Middle East
- Liwa and Fann at-Tanbura, performed in Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Mizmar is performed in the Hejaz and Tihamah regions of Saudi Arabia.
Caribbean
Cuba and Latin music in the Caribbean
The roots of most Cuban music forms lie in the cabildos, a form of social club among African slaves brought to the island. Traditional Afro-Cuban styles, include son, Batá and yuka and Rumba. The Cuban contradanza, which became also known as the Habanera, the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African rhythm pattern, gained international fame in the 19th century. The habanera "El Arreglito" composed by the Spanish musician Sebastian Yradier, was adapted to become one of the most famous arias in Georges Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen, "L'amour est un oiseau rebelled".Dominican Republic
is a popular guitar music that originated in the Dominican Republic. Having strong African and Spanish influences it is therefore also considered to be music of Latin America. The subjects of bachata are often romantic with tales of heartbreak and sadness. The original term used to name the genre was amargue, until the more neutral term bachata became popular. The Dominican Republic gave birth to merengue in the 19th century, and it quickly became a vital component of that nation's musical culture. Melegue is a fast-paced 2/4 beat that combines bass guitar, accordion, guira, and tambora. Couples grasp each other tightly and move their hips and feet in time with the fast-paced music throughout the energetic dance. Similar to bachata, merengue was originally connected to the lower classes but rose to national popularity in the 20th century and has subsequently expanded globally.Haiti and Francophone music in the Caribbean
an music is familiar to people in the English-speaking world as Méringue. It developed during the early decades of the 19th century. When jazz became popular worldwide, mini-jazz was created as Haiti's local variety. Kadans, Haitian Creole for cadence, followed the mini-jazz era. Kadans had an influence on the development of Zouk in the French-speaking Antilles of the Caribbean. Haiti's most well-known modern music genre is compas music. It was first popularized in the 1950s by Nemours Jean-Baptiste.Zouk music
is a style of music originating in Guadeloupe and Martinique during the 1980s,It has many influences, from Haitian, calypso, beguine and compas. Beyond its roots in the Caribbean, zouk has become more popular throughout the French-speaking world, especially in France, Quebec, and Francophone Africa, where regional varieties of the genre have emerged. African nations such as Cape Verde, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast have seen the fusion of zouk with indigenous music genres to create new hybrid styles such as Afro-funk.The conventional zouk sound has a slow tempo, and it is sung in Antillean Creole, although it also has varieties that have developed in francophone Africa. It is popular throughout the French-speaking world, including France and Quebec.
Former British West Indies and the Lesser Antilles
Jamaica
Early forms of Afro-Caribbean music in Jamaica was Junkanoo.Mento is a style of Jamaican music that predates and has greatly influenced ska, which was also fused with African traditions, American jazz and blues. Subsequent styles besides ska include, rocksteady and raggamuffin. Along with the rise of ska came the popularity of deejays who began talking stylistically over the rhythms of popular songs at sound systems, known as toasting. This would later give birth to dancehall and pioneer rapping that later emerged in New York. Reggae stems from early ska and rocksteady, but also has its own style of Jamaican authenticity.
In Jamaica, African diasporic music is made to portray resistance through music in order to strengthen the communal bond and identity for groups that share collective memories of oppression, suffering, etc.
Lesser Antilles
As is the case throughout the Caribbean, Lesser Antillean musical cultures are largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European traders and colonizers. The African musical elements are a hybrid of instruments and styles from numerous West African tribes, while the European slaveholders added their own music into the mix, as did immigrants from India. In addition to African and European influences, East Indian immigrants, who were brought to the Caribbean as indentured laborers after the abolition of slavery, also contributed to the region's musical diversity. East Indian musical traditions, particularly those rooted in Hindu devotional music and folk forms like chutney, further enriched the evolving musical culture of the Lesser Antilles.Trinidad and Tobago
In Trinidad and Tobago, whose calypso style is an especially potent part of the music of the other former British colonies, which also share traditions like the Big Drum dance. Trinidadian folk calypso is found throughout the area, as are African-Caribbean religious music styles like the Shango music of Trinidad. Calypso's early rise was closely connected with the adoption of Carnival by Trinidadian slaves, including camboulay drumming and the music masquerade processions. In the 1970s, a calypso variant called soca arose, characterized by a focus on dance rhythms rather than lyricism. Soca has since spread across the Caribbean and abroad.Steel drums are a distinctively Trinidadian ensemble that evolved from improvised percussion instruments used in Carnival processions. Steel bands were banned by the British colonial authorities. Nevertheless, steel drums spread across the Caribbean, and are now an entrenched part of the culture of Trinidad and Tobago.