Contextual Study

• Introduction

O Formulating research questions and sources

The idea behind the research question for this dissertation was conceived in the first year of the course, when I wrote about a similar topic. The research material had to be cut down and I felt there was more to explore. Initially, the question was “Can the term ‘black music’ still be used in the industry?” but this was changed to “Should”, as upon further study, the term was still being used on a smaller scale and I wanted to question whether it should continue. The overall purpose was to identify significant definitions of the term “black music” as a way to classify a branch of music and conclude whether it should continue existing within the music industry
Having already written about the subject before, I retained the material and bibliography from my previous paper. The research from that came primarily from academic literature but surveys and focus groups were also carried out to gather public opinion. For this dissertation, I added journal articles, magazine articles and relevant blog articles as well as a unique listening survey where participants were required to guess the race of the singer just from the vocals and give reasons for their answer. This was to determine whether there was an inherent “blackness” in a voice or it was a misconception

The first item to discuss was a general definition of “black music” for the purposes of discussing it in the dissertation. I decided to look into the genres that had stemmed from the late 19th century when slaves were being set free to the present day. From there, I looked into historical, political and cultural aspects to substantiate this. There were a number of scholars (Oliver, 1990; Wilson, 1983; Frith, 2007) who agreed that the origins of black music derived primarily from Africa but use of the term “black music” would have been incorrect. Oliver stated that “there is no entity that is ‘Black music’” and that there is no sole definition (Oliver, 1990, p.127) which McRobbie echoed this sentiment, saying “the older ways of making sense of music by placing different styles into different categories, or by talking about white or black music as thought they are quite distinct, are equally inappropriate” (McRobbie, 1999, p.133). De Lerma held a black music conference and surmised with his peers that black music as a discipline within education was lacking and the term was too restrictive, as there were elements of European music within the Africans trends (De Lerma, 1970). There were also misconceptions within the black music traditions. For example, claims that black music had “emerged from transpositions of African drumming practices” were false, according to historical records, where examples of drumming in North America were rare and surviving material evidence was negligible (Radano, 2003, p.101)

O Linked theory

I found a number of academic sources looking at the concept of the term “black music” and associated genres. The most notable were David Brackett’s What A Difference A Name Makes (2003) and Questions of Genre in Black Popular Music (2005), Olly Wilson’s Black Music As An Art Form (1983) and Philip Tagg’s Open Letter about ‘Black Music’, ‘Afro-American Music’ and ‘European Music’ (1987). These helped form the basis of my contextual research

• What went well

O Research on jazz, rhythm & blues and hip hop

The research found for jazz and rhythm & blues was extensive and very informative. I was able to outline a basic history of jazz and discuss the elements that were unique to the genre and black music. I also found some interesting insights into rhythm and blues, particularly the mesh of the blues with pop and country. Finding academic research for hip hop music was difficult (explained in 14.3.3), however I counteracted this with a prior knowledge of the subject

O Survey

I was happy with the outcome of the black vocal style survey, where I asked participants to identify what race they thought three singers were just from the sound of their voices. The results were surprising in that they were mostly incorrect in their guesses however the reason for their answers did confirm a mini hypothesis I had; that people carry a perception of what a black singer sounds like

• What did not go well

O Spectrum of black music

The problem with discussing black music in such detail was picking the relevant information to make a good argument. Unfortunately, this process led to cutting out research that would have otherwise been interesting and important. For example, the subject of other music originating from Africa such as the music of Brazil and the Caribbean and music of the Aboriginal people of Australia could have been labelled as “black music”, but the depth of this material was too expansive. This information not only includes historical influences on modern black popular music but the current trends within these areas. For example, funk music in Africa became a huge hit during the 60s and 70s, allowing crossover success from artists like Manu Dibango (who was later sampled by a number of musicians including Michael Jackson). Mixed with Nigerian Yoruba music, highlife and jazz, afrobeat was born and still remains popular today. The didgeridoo has been used within “world music” as an example of ethnicity, particularly by acid jazz group Jamiroquai during the 90s

O Removed content

The information that was cut out from the dissertation (as explained above) included research material on Caribbean, South American - particularly Brazilian - and Aboriginal music. Black music from Britain was also omitted, which has contributed a large part to the black music tapestry. Because black music from these countries was not included in the final thesis, the overall analysis may not have been a full representation of black music as a subject. The dissertation was therefore centred on the progression of black music in the United States. The advantage of focussing on black music from the United States was that the research was well documented, allowing for a better argument
Research on Elvis Presley’s perceived appropriation of black vocal styles was omitted. While this would have been an interesting area to look at in relation to what makes “black music” black, I felt it was outside the scope of my research for the project. To counteract this, a survey was carried out to analyse preconceptions of black vocal styles. A group of 10 people were asked to listen to three vocal clips and determine the race of the singer and state why. This was done to ascertain a theory that there was a distinguishable quality to black vocals
Information about black musicians in “non-black music” was also left out for a similar reason. However, there was a brief paragraph within the analysis section on Jimi Hendrix and Charley Pride, two major black musicians in rock music and country music, respectively. The subjects of Afrika Bambaataa and afrofuturism were discarded, as they did not add to the arguments for or against the use of the term “black music”

O Academic research on “newer” genres

Academic material on genres such as hip hop and the origins and history of the term “urban music” were also quite scarce. I believe the reason for the lack of academic research into “urban music” is due to its status as a “radio format” rather than a literary definition. For example, information found on who coined the phrase was relatively easy to obtain but there was no reasoning as to why it was coined. The books I did use for hip hop, however, did contain substantial information on the subject but I would have liked to hear more scholarly opinions on its emergence and links to other genres and the political climate of its eras. I also had trouble in gathering research for the influence on technology on black music. I had prior knowledge of technology within hip hop but I required academic research to support the text. Instead, I researched examples of hardware and studio techniques and looked for black musicians involved in innovation of these techniques

• What I would do differently

O Plan research and write earlier

Due to technical difficulties, I was unable to obtain certain online journals. To improve, I would have planned my research earlier and more efficiently to allow for these problems

O Contact academics

I had originally planned to speak to academics within the subject of black music to get some more up-to-date opinions on their works. However, due to time constraints, this was not carried out

O More musical analysis

To improve the critical analysis of the dissertation, I would add more examples of theoretical black music characteristics, such as different techniques, lyricism and style of play

O More on white musicians in black music

One of the research questions was centred on white musicians in black music, whether they could perform black music and if there were any notable inclusions. Unfortunately, I could not include as many specific examples. This would have given a better answer for the research question and would be a major improvement to consider

• Scope to extend

O Add the omitted information

As means of extending this thesis further, adding the omitted information would be highly beneficial as well as discussions with more black music scholars. I would speak with black musicians and get their opinions on the term and how it affects their output. I would also try and obtain the opinions of white musicians who were involved in playing or orchestrating the genres mentioned in this dissertation to see how the term was received from a non-black perspective. As I stated in my analysis, I would discuss more black musicians in music perceived as “non-black” (ie. country music, rock, metal, et al). I feel more examination into this area of black music history might give more weight to the argument for or against the term’s usage and may even open up a separate argument of how music is perceived altogether. One particular area within this subject I would have added to the research was the black influence in European music, specifically classical music. For example, I had discovered a French composer named Joseph Boulogne who had been nicknamed the “black Mozart”. Looking at the subject of black music from a more industry-oriented perspective would also be something to consider. This may have given more clout to the question of whether the term should still be used within that realm of music. I would also add the omitted research on Elvis Presley’s vocal style as this could act as a different perspective to the black musicians within “non-black music”. It is widely known that Elvis’ voice was unique and did not have the same sort of timbre of other white musicians, especially within rock ‘n’ roll and pop of the 50s and 60s. A discussion on the claimed appropriation of black music and his subsequent success because of his so-called “black sounding voice” would be very interesting

O Rock music appropriation

The perceived appropriation of blues music by white musicians was mentioned in the dissertation but the subsequent developments were not. In his song Rock N Roll, Mos Def spoke about The Rolling Stones having not come up with their style, attributing it to Chuck Berry (Mos Def, 1999). Inversely, black musicians such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard made significant moves within the rock ‘n’ roll genre which led to the progression of rock music. Within rock, Jimi Hendrix, Prince and Lenny Kravitz are some of the biggest black musicians to have made a name within the genre, incorporating their own black music styles from R&B, funk, blues and gospel music

O Better survey

Extending the survey by adding more songs and obtaining more participants may have given a better conclusion. Coupled with more information on black vocal styles, this would add a further argument to the question of “blackness” within black music. If there was a psychological component within us to be able to identify a black voice without observing the singer, that could be a very important argument to consider. Looking at the social aspects of this would also be worth mentioning, as outside stimuli could trigger the assumption of a “black voice”.

O Deeper look into relevance in current media

During my research, I learned that the phrase “black music” was used a lot more in European media than in the US media. An example of such was in a German music shop that had a “black music” section. The term was also the unique selling point for BBC radio station 1Xtra, where they claimed to be the home of “new black music”. They attributed the use as an “umbrella term commonly used in the music industry to describe forms of music originating in what can be termed black culture” (BBC 1Xtra, 2013)

O Talk to musicians

An insight into the opinions of musicians, particularly those involved in black music, would have been interesting. The only non-academic opinions gathered for the dissertation were from the survey participants so thoughts from musicians into whether they agreed with the term’s use would add informative discourse. For example, Miles Davis often described jazz as a “nigga” term and “a white man’s word” (Maher Jr. and Dorr, 2009, p.90) and Max Roach denounced the word, claiming black musicians had never created it and echoing Davis’ sentiments stating it was created by white people of America (Roach, 1972). These kinds of perceptions would give a clear picture as to how the terms is looked at from those directly involved

• Include audio examples

To coincide with more theoretical analysis, I would consider adding some audio examples so the reader would get a better understanding of the unique musical characteristics discussed

• Marking criteria

The following headings are to be observed for the marking criteria:

• Ability to choose a dissertation topic relevant to the course and to formulate a suitable research question

I believe the question to be fairly original, although the subject has been visited before. The research question was relevant as it queried the importance of “black music” in today’s music industry

• Ability to show understanding of its historical, theoretical and critical context

I think I gave a lot of information on the historical context of black music, particularly in regards to negro spirituals, ragtime and jazz. What could have been improved was the theoretical and critical aspect, looking more into the specific techniques that made black music “black”

• Ability to find, manage and integrate information from a variety of sources

I used a variety of different research sources: online journal articles, newspaper articles, literature, blogs, musical examples and interviews. As explained in 14.3.3., there was a difficulty in finding relevant academic material into “newer” genres such as hip hop and modern jazz which meant I had to source blogs for appropriate research. Musical examples were included to give a better understanding of the techniques explained in the dissertation

• Ability to evaluate such sources critically

The sources were critiqued in an articulate way although the structure could have been improved with more balanced analysis in each chapter. The balance of primary and secondary material analysis could also have been improved to incorporate more secondary material

• Ability to develop a clear, in depth and well sustained argument in written form

I believe the argument was sustained and balanced to integrate both sides of the subject, for and against the use of the term, giving valid reasons for each. I also made sure to add my own thoughts on the source material throughout

• Ability to use appropriate academic conventions

The overall presentation of the dissertation was to a very high standard, conforming to academic conventions

In summary, I believe the dissertation to have qualified for a B grade. Significant rooms for improvement include theoretical analysis and better use of secondary material

• Conclusion

Studying this subject has been a fascinating experience. From the research undertaken, I uncovered many elements of black music that have since been overshadowed by commercialism. The term “black music” may no longer be appropriate within the industry and the media but as a historical, cultural and academic ideal, it has helped to keep its musical heritage alive. Units such as the Center of Black Music Research in Chicago and the Black Music Research Unit in Westminster have been integral parts of the academic process of black music. With each genre researched, I am more attuned to where certain stylistic elements come from and how they were initially perceived when they were first introduced. This sort of information is not always readily accessible within the media, which is why I discussed a different between black music in academic circles and black music in the media. I was not fully aware of the levels of racism within the music industry or the idea that white executives made black musicians perform in a “black” or “white” way based on their opinions of colour. The biggest problem I faced in writing this dissertation was finding evidence to suggest “blackness” within black music, without any white influence. I found fundamental elements to support the argument of black music, such as the African instrumentation that became the basis of stringed instruments like the banjo, the storytelling griots and the specific pain that created the blues. However, the fusion of white influences was always part of the progression. To conclude, the subject of black music has provided black people with a chapter in their own history and the history of the United States. The term may not be as prominent as it used to be but discussions of its purposes in academia and the industry today show how powerful the term still is