Flipside: Black Music Month
Posted: 6/18/2008

You can hear it anywhere.  The streets of Detroit.  The streets of Philly.  The streets of LA.  Even the streets of Japan.  It’s hip-hop music.  The music has grown so large that it is seemingly more of a culture than just music.  The music itself is dominated by the black experience and is often referred to as black music because of its origin.  Now the culture and music that inspires it has grown so large that even the government recognizes its influence.  This recognition comes in the form of Black Music Month.

June has been dedicated to the observance of black music.  The original proclamation was drafted in 2002 by President Bush and has been nationally recognized since.  Who would have thought that a little battle rapping and disc Jockeying on the east coast would lead to such influence or notoriety?

As a kid I remember hearing NWA from my brother’s radio.  My mom made him turn it down because she thought the lyrics were too harsh for my young ears.  In my defense, I figured I’d heard worst around the neighborhood, so I took my brother’s cassette tape (yes I said cassette tape) and listened to it when my mom wasn’t home.  Looking back on it, yes, I was a bad kid, but I feel as though I was a part of history now.  NWA was the first group of its kind with a major record deal.  Ice Cube was spitting harder than ever, Dre was putting down the beats, and Eazy E was singing the hooks.  History.

Most youngsters remember Eazy E bringing out Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and the rest of them think Cube is an actor.  These guys were holding down the west coast at a time when hip-hop seemed to be stuck on the east coast.  They were some of the originators of hip-hop.  The originators of Black Music.  Take this month and observe the roots of black culture and the music that inspires us.  Catch ya’ on the FLIPSIDE.

-Quincy Lewis
quincy@detroitfashionpages.com

 

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COMMENTS

Submitted by WINSTON MCGEE on 6/20/2008 9:41:31 AM
I GREW UP IN A MOTOWN HOUSE HOLD I KNEW ALL THE HITS FROM MARVIN, TO SMOKEY ROBINSON AND MIRACLES, THE JACKSON 5, FOUR TOPS, ARETHA FRANKLIN...U GET THE POINT... BUT THE FIRST RAP SONG I CAN REMEMBER WAS ROB BASE " IT TAKES TWO" MY MOM THOUGHT IT WAS SOME NONSENSE BECAUSE SHE WAS A TEENAGER WHEN MOTOWN HIT, BUT JUST LIKE BACK IN THE SIXTIES THEIR MUSIC DEFINED A GENERATION.