R 'n' b, soul, pop, rock 'n' roll, jazz, dance, blues...there are so many different categories of music but which ones can be classed as black music and which can be classed as white music?
The concept of 'black' and 'white' music is useful when looking at the history of popular music.“It wasn't until the late 1950s that black music became popular with white audiences...in doing so the “popular” (white) and blues (black) music began to crumble” (Kenn Chipkin; Real Rock Guitar).
Elvis Presley was heavily influenced by black artists and covered many of their records which led to major hits (e.g. Mystery Train by Little Junior Parker). Race records introduced black music into the music industry and this allowed record companies to explore an untapped market. This led to the birth of new genres as they became merged with 'white music' and created hybrid genres such as jazz, soul, pop, rap.
Race is no longer an issue when looking at popular music as there are so many genres that draw in different races, but the concepts are helpful when looking at the history of music.
There are some relatively interesting ideas explored here.
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