Black History Month is a time to celebrate Black people and everything they’ve given to the world. It’s a time for reclaiming narratives and shining a light on the beautiful stories, histories and complexity of Black heritage. With such a rich and varied timeline, there is an abundance of perspectives to tap into when discussing Black people, and the month is a mission towards that very goal.
Popular music, in particular, has been transformed thanks to the contributions of Black communities. Mixcloud certainly wouldn’t exist without them. Blessing us with such incredible sounds, genres and movements, we are proud to host mixes and shows that display the breadth of music from Black voices. To that end, we’ve searched our platform for some of the most important sounds to impact the globe, in celebration of Black History Month. There are so many we could’ve chosen, from Jungle and Hip-Hop to Amapiano and Ragga and we certainly acknowledge their impact. The eight we’ve chosen showcase how Black music has found roots around the world – from London to Louisiana – and give just a taste of how far back the contributions of Black communities really go.
Blues
Inspried by the diverse music of Africa and Negro spirituals sung during slavery in the United States, Blues emerged as one of the first modern genres in the late 19th century. Typified by its signature chord progression and call-and-response lyrical form, Blues would pave the way for sounds such as Jazz, Rock & Roll (more on those later), R&B and Country after it. But it had a significant impact in producing some of modern music’s first superstars, such as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Jimmie Rodgers. And later titans like Ray Charles, B.B. King and Bob Dylan among many others who would incorporate Blues in their own expansive music. The simplicity of Blues has made it transferable to so many other sounds, allowing it to be carried into 2024 by Ronnie Baker Brooks, Shemekia Copeland and more.
Jazz
Another sound emanating from post-slavery America, Jazz is one of the most undeniable sounds around, despite being over 150 years old. Developing side by side with Blues in the 1860s and 1870s in cities like New Orleans and Kansas City, it’s undeniable because it comes in so many shapes and sizes. Whether its Bossa Nova coming from Brazil or Afrobeat emanating from Nigeria, its notes, swings, chords and progressions are devised at the whim of the musicians, making it so exciting.
Jazz is adaptable, owing to its extremely open style that can be borrowed and formed like a mold of clay by everyone from Miles Davis to Gilberto Gil to Fela Kuti. Even new-age Jazz groups like Ezra Collective and Sons of Kemet are carrying its true essence into the present day. The genre continues to stand the test of time and we can only thank our lucky stars because it has helped build popular music and given us so many incredible, consequential artists to generations.
Rock & Roll
Where would popular music be without Rock & Roll? A tough question, but it speaks to the ingenuity of African American communities that we don’t have to find out. The sister genre of Blues and Jazz and R&B, Rock & Roll’s humble origins in the 1940s and 1950s in the inner cities of Memphis, St Louis, New York City, Detroit, Chicago and others, precipitated an explosion of a permanent musical presence in the world, rivaling Jazz and Classical music for how much it continues to endure.
Musicians like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, T-Bone Walker, Fats Domino and Sister Rosetta Tharpe were the trailblazers, influencing Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and a legion of artists to make their mark in the genre. Berry’s ‘Maybellene,’ Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around The Clock’ and Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti’ were just a few of the records that would open the door for Rock & Roll to make a real impact, capturing the imagination of American youth – regardless of skin color – and music cultures across the world.
What’s more, when you look at all of Rock & Roll’s splinter genres like Rock (without the Roll) Progressive, Alternative, Grunge and countless others, you slowly see the trajectory of popular music being mapped out before your eyes. That’s a considerable contribution!
Funk
Through Funk, music was given a fresh dose of groove. Emerging in the 1960s, the sound took the best of Rock & Roll, Soul, Gospel and R&B and regurgitated one of the most danceable genres around. There’s a reason why ‘getting funky’ is a popular turn of phrase: the genre itself!
James Brown is often called the Godfather of Funk, bringing the sound into mainstream music with a swagger and finesse only he could muster. Then, contemporaries like Sly & The Family Stone, George Clinton, Parliament, Funkadelic and Chaka Khan would take it to new levels, inserting elements of Psychedelic Rock, Jazz and Disco to the recipe of Funk. Its DNA is embedded in sounds like Hip-Hop, wherein producers like DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Diamond D have been sampling Funk records since its inception. The genre lives on through the likes of Anderson .Paak and Janelle Monáe, while sub-sounds like Funky House and UK Funky have pushed it into the 21st century in new and daring fashion. One time for the Funky crew!
Disco
Much like Funk, Disco makes you want to dance. Created by Black, Hispanic and LGBTQIA+ people in cities like Philadelphia and New York, it’s incredibly indebted to these communities that helped it grow into a modern titan of sound. The source of Disco was the club, and throughout the 1960s and 1970s, venues like New York City’s Paradise Garage and Studio 54 and West Hollywood’s Studio One were the places to check out the sound. This served to create communities off the strength of loving the genre.
Then, Disco got bigger, by way of artists such as Nile Rodgers, Chic, The Jacksons, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, KC and The Sunshine Band and countless other disciples making timeless music. Think of Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive,’ Barry White’s ‘You’re The First, The Last, My Everything’ and Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ as quintessential records that filled the clubs and topped the charts as the genre soared. But its popularity was often demonized by the mainstream press so much so that anti-Disco protests were a common sight in America in the 1970s.
While Disco’s run was somewhat short – declining in popularity by the early 1980s and making way for Electronic dance music – it has seen a surge of late, picked up by new age acts like Roisin Murphy, Hercules and Love Affair among others. Disco has given us anthems to last a lifetime, records that will ring out at a party, cookout or any kind of function. That’s its shining legacy.
House
When it comes to electronic dance music, House is an almost mythical sound at this point, a blueprint for what came after it, building the blocks for modern dance. Created by DJs and producers in Chicago’s Black and LGBTQIA+ communities, its four-to-the-floor brilliance could flip even the grooviest genres, like Disco, on their head, wrapping sweet vocals over more mechanical production that was funky in its own way.
Through pioneers like Frankie Knuckles, Marshall Jefferson, Jesse Saunders and Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk, House took over the world, infiltrating dancefloors across the globe and the music charts. Thanks to early tracks like Jefferson’s anthem ‘Move Your Body,’ ‘House Nation’ by The House Master Boyz and The Rude Boy of House and Phuture’s ‘Acid Trax,’ House caught the imagination of generations of future artists, including Madonna, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston who would utilize the sound on their own records. Thus, spreading the word and showcasing the capabilities of House music.
Much like the genres mentioned above, House is incredibly adaptable and that is part of what makes it stand the test of time, splintering into other sub-sounds like Deep House, Tech House, Acid House, Gqom and Kwaito that bring new elements with them. House now stands as one of modern music’s great inventions.
Techno
Developing alongside House in the mid-1980s, Techno has etched its own path of history. Inspired by the likes of Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder, Black youth in Detroit crafted a sound typified by a BPM roughly between 120 and 150, and four-to-the-floor goodness pulling from Soul, Funk, House and other sounds. Here, the Belleville Three as they would become known – Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson – were making the first Techno records, along with Eddie Fowlkes, Blake Baxter and others, ushering in the Detroit sound of soul and groove.
Once it became popular in places like the UK and around Europe – played by DJs like Carl Cox – Techno’s wings flew, thanks to artists like Moodymann, Jeff Mills and Theo Parrish among many. These days, the likes of Amelie Lens, OK Williams, Mad Miran and Tammo Hesselink are breathing new life into Techno. But its initial impact was dealt by Black individuals looking to capture their experiences in audio form. Techno can stand next to House as an incredibly important genre in writing the next chapters of dance music, following in the footsteps of all of the genres before it.
Grime
It’s been around for over 20 years now, but Grime is affecting the world in ways we’re still finding out. Born in the inner city areas of East London by legions of underprivileged Black youth, the brash sound, combining Dancehall, Ragga and UKG, is also an attitude. Grime is how you speak, what you wear, the way you walk and the music you make. It encapsulates the ingenuity of Black communities in the 21st century, from spitting lyrics on pirate radio stations like Deja Vu FM and Rinse FM to putting out records like Lethal Bizzle’s ‘Pow’ and Skepta’s ‘Shutdown’ claiming dizzying mainstream success and cultural relevance.
We can thank Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, Skepta, Bizzle, D Double E, Kano and others for its visibility on a wide scale, despite its long history of being demonized by British mainstream press and voices due to its violent lyrics. But grime has continued to endure and now, in countries like Japan and Brazil, it’s global, with healthy scenes that are hyperlocal but still retain the gritty essence of the original genre. Grime is alive and well!