The Evolution of Black Music

Oftentimes people need to look into the past in order to understand how the present got to be where it is. Music follows the same rules, meaning if it weren't for yesterday we wouldn't be where we are today. Many young people today do not realize the frauds that our people had to face in the past in the music industry.I will discuss the timeline of music, frauds our people faced, and the struggles they encountered. The special artists deserve recognition for their accomplishments and should be honored by people around the world. Music began with Afrikans but during slavery we sang field songs. Gospel came from field songs and the blues came from gospel. During those times, gospel was referred to as race music. Soon enough this music was an interest of Europeans and they then called it "Rock and Roll". It was from these songs made by black people that we got R&B, and Rap music. Their were many great black artists of the past. Artists such as Big Mama Thorton, Etta James, Ray Charles, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye. These artists faced many frauds from the music industry. For example, Big Mama Thorton had the song "Hound Dog" stolen from her by Elvis Presley, which is one of the many songs he is famous for "making". Also, Elvis plagiarized the song "My Babe" from Little Walter. Our people encountered an uncountable amount of struggles and hardships in order to become a professional artist. Today it seems that anyone who can make a beat can be called an artist. People in the past faced extreme racism and still rose to be great artists. They didn't let other people who tried to pull them down keep them on the ground, they rose. Their were many other hardships besides slavery and racism that we faced and passed. In Conclusion, our ancestors don't get enough recognition for being the great people they were. Elvis's versions of our songs weren't even close to being as good as ours. Our spirit kept us going and we should respect that. Too little people are informed on great black artists of the past. They were great and will forever be.