African American Social Change

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Social change is largely responsible for the betterment of society and improving the human condition. It is quite literally described as changes in human interactions and relationships that transform cultural and social institutions (by Theo S. Dunfe from Southern New Hampshire University). While it is clear that social change impacts portions of what makes a society prosper, there is reason to believe that in the non-vital field of music, social change is the most pivotal force in creating and evolving these sounds. The music itself has weight as well; it evokes emotion, influences behaviors, and connects people based on values, thus creating a feedback loop that makes change become exceedingly possible (Peralta, 2021). However, there certainly …show more content…
The music certainly did its part in the social change that would lead to the abolishment of segregation and other racist policies. As such the African-American music, which often had an air of prejudice around it, began to gain even more favor from other cultures because of the social change that was making it acceptable not to have a complete separation from African American culture. During rock and roll popularity, other genres like disco/funk began to rise from the underground and break into mainstream music in the 1960-70’s. Almost as if a foil to rock, disco was all about organized four on the floor dancing, syncopated basslines, string sections, horns, and electric pianos. This new method of creating music was in part a product of experimentation with electric instruments that produced new, more vibrant sounds. However, technological development is only the start, according to Portia K. Maultsby Ph.D., “[disco] emerged as a musical genre.frequented by African Americans, Latinos and gays where DJs played soul, funk, and Latin American music” (History of Disco, n.d). …show more content…
Disco had been the one thrown to the curb, due to a consensus boredom and the non creativity within the genre (similar to 1960’s mainstream rock). However, the finishing blow to Disco was the rampant homophobia because of the AIDS pandemic which threw disco permanently back into the underground. Certainly this was a social change that advanced the state of music, except it did build but destroy disco. Fortunately, the spirit of disco and the history of music that had built it, a fresh sound was brewing in the house parties of the Bronx that would take its place (Wheeler, 2016). Hip-hop took lyrics to a different level, implementing a sort of poetry to supplement the music and take the focus. Early Hip-Hop didn't quite have this level of sophistication and often only included drum beats and record scratches (Wheeler, 2016). Hip-hop evolution came from the Mc’s, which where the natural progression of the Dj’s that ran disco, Mc’s began to talk over beats and mixes of old records, which eventually led to rapping over these beats. Post-industrial decline, political discourse, and a rapidly changing economy caused these house parties to become popular as the people in the Bronx wanted an escape from a seemingly failing American society (Wheeler, 2016).
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