3. History/etymology

The use of colour to pigeonhole people of a darker complexion has a long history dating back to the first millennium, when the term Moorish was used to initially describe people (mostly Muslims and Arabs) from Spanish colonised areas of Northern Africa. Within Europe from the 15th century, the term Moor was extended for black Africans and later negro, from the Latin niger meaning 'black', was used. Although the word “colored” was used more extensively to describe the people, “negro” had been academically publicised from as early as 1900 (American Folklore Society, 1900). “Negro” and “negro music” are no longer used today but they still carry some historical and cultural weight; in 2010, for example, the United States Census Bureau included "Negro" on the 2010 Census, alongside "Black" and "African-American" (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010) because a significant number of older black Americans still identified themselves with the term (UPI, 2010). The term “negro music” was most common amongst black American musicians and academics, as the “negro” was deemed less offensive than “colored” in United States until the 1970s, when Afro-American became a brief overall definer. This was due to the growing influence of the “afro” hairstyle during this period, coinciding with the “blaxploitation” era of film. By the 1980s, African American became the definitive term. In the 1980s, Jesse Jackson became the first major proponent for its usage (Baugh, 1999). It was final stage in a line of different identifiers for people of African descent, from the days of slavery. The term “black music”, however, is predominately used within academic circles while more significant use within society is found in Europe (see Chapter 12 for more information)
“Urban contemporary” or “urban music” was coined by radio DJ Frankie Crocker (University of Delaware, 2004). Crocker was notable in his refusal to play The Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight on his radio station because it was “too black”, however, he subsequently relented and the song eventually became a hit (Watkins, 2005). Urban also has the advantage of being an international identifier for music that would otherwise have been called “black music”. “African-American music” is another possible alternative terms for “black music”, although this may be more specific to black Americans of African descent. As most popular black music stemmed from the United States, this term encompasses a majority of the music described within the “black music” umbrella. In an article about the use of the term “black music”, BBC Radio 1 DJ Mista Jam (2010) claimed people get “very touchy with the obvious racial connotations” but argued that the term could be “culturally and historically correct“, despite possible alienation. De Lerma (1975, p.517) distanced black music from Western music, claiming the “difference becomes more obvious the closer its roots are to Africa”. Brackett (2005) explored the contradictions and relationships between identity and musical genres. He used “race music” as an example of a genre with ambiguous identities. He explained that the genre had been relabelled numerous times and despite its link with African-Americans, Brackett claimed “it would be a mistake, however, to assume that this linkage has been straightforward or consistent” as “non-African Americans have recorded music that has been classified in this category” as well as “purchased, consumed, and listened to the music classified in this category” (Brackett, 2005, p.75). The latter argument seems somewhat flimsy as a genre’s listeners don’t necessary define that genre. However, he later made an interesting point when discussing the etymology of the word genre: “If the term genre evokes stasis and spatiality […] then to describe a text as ‘participating’ in, rather than ‘belonging’ to, a genre emphasizes temporality” (Brackett, 2005, p.77). This could be extended towards “black music” as the term may no longer be defined exclusively by its racial identity and thus leave it redundant in the present day. Brackett refers also to Tagg’s Open Letter about ‘Black Music’, ‘Afro-American Music’ and ‘European Music’ (1988) and while he agrees with Tagg’s reasoning, he does pose some possible counterarguments. For example, Tagg (1988) claimed that because physiological traits could not be heard, and music held cultural traits, there could be no “black music”. Brackett put forward the idea that genres were not “static assemblages” of musical characteristics but there were also “social connotations about race and gender” and that they were only coherent in relation to other genres at that time (Brackett, 2005, p.80)