Is the American rap industry in the filiation of the soul industry under Motown?

Résumé du document

The African heritage is fundamental to black American music. The African American population, by its very name, asserts its African identity. The influence of African music is so strong that to the rest of the world, black music represents the spirit of the United States. It is quite difficult to date the birth of black American music. We can say that it was born in the XIXth century when African slaves had begun show the influence of their experiences in the new world in their music. In fact, as for Southern and Cashmore music, the most important thing in black music is not the color of the skin but rather the social conditions of Blacks and their common experience of struggle (slavery, exile, discrimination) in the United States. A sense of cohesion emerges from this, with a unity of purpose and identity. Black music reflects the conscience of Afro-American people, their rejection of their marginalized situation and their desire to make things change. As for Stephen's soul, it is a fusion of music that owes much to blues and gospel, is an ideology and a call for hope.

Extraits

[...] Many indies experienced difficulties in receiving wide distribution, promotion (if any), and prompt payment from music retailers. Consequently many of the former indies now have distribution contracts with such major labels ("majors") as CBS, Warner Brothers, RCA, MCA, and Atlantic; others are now wholly owned by the major record companies. In such arrangements the indy and the major jointly design the marketing of the rap artist. ( . ) Representatives of those indies that have remained independent of the majors have expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of rap that the majors are placing on the market. [...]

[...] Free from the influence or control of the major record labels the indies created and discovered new rap talent and created the market for rap by word of mouth and street-level promotion tactics, personally urging retail record stores and video outlets to carry their artists' products[61]. ( . ) Most of the indies began with limited resources and zero credibility. To survive, they had to have enough capital to function until their artists' music was in demand by the public. [...]

[...] But with Rock Roll and the explosion of Elvis those clear distinctions began to get fluzzy. Elvis was a white artist who sang black music. What was it? Country, Pop, Rock Roll or none of the above. If you picked C you were right, that is, if the record sold a million copies. Pop means popular and if that ain't, I don't know what is.( . ) ( . ) Motown's rise presents a perfect parable of black capitalism in action. For Gordy, attention to economics was a family tradition. [...]

[...] Is there an heritage of Motown today? This question is obviously related to the Afro-American music influence on the music industry as a whole. Craig Werner[8] points out this fact when he says that the best music of the eighties grew out of the blues impulse, insisting on the reality of brutal experience over and against nostalgic fantasies and self-righteous lies Cashmore emphasizes the importance of the slavery experience on modern black popular culture. It is naive to try to appreciate contemporary black culture without a comprehension of the limits within which it was forced to develop Blacks have simply worked within the limits of white cultural domination. [...]

[...] Those who worked with black performers faced the problem of producing "emotional" and "exciting" music while at the same time producing arrangements that were palatable to white radio-station owners and disc jockeys. In short, their intention was to create an effect rather than to allow the singers full freedom in expressing their own experience.' The textural content of both southern and northern rhythm blues reflected values and philosophies peculiar to their environments. Southern performers projected images and implied acceptance of the reality of their day-to-day existence. [...]