- Negro Spirituals are the earliest form of African American music and were derived from the struggles of slavery, forced mass migration, and assimilation.
- Blues music was created after the abolition of slavery, and reflected the ongoing struggles of new life as a “freedman”. It eventually evolved into Rynthm & Blues.
- George W. Johnson was the first black man to commercially record music in 1890.
- Jazz has roots at the beginning of Slavery in America, and rose again to prominence in the 1940s with the end of ragtime and blues.
- Tommy Edwards was the first black musician to place on the Top 100 List in 1958.
- Ella Fitzgerald was the first Black artist to win a grammy for her song “”A- Tisket, A-Tisket” in 1958.
- Negroe Spirituals evolved into Gospel music which rose in popularity throughout the 20th century.
- The first vocal blues recording was by “Mamie Smith” in 1920, entitled Crazy Blues. She’s known as the Mother of Blues.
- In 1921 Black Swan Records was created in Harlem, It was the first black-owned record label.
- Rhythm and Blues were first categorized as “ race music” and were widely disregarded by the White public in America.
- In 1955, “Tutti Fruit” was released by Little Richard, it was one of the first records widely listened to by both white and black audiences.
- Big Mama Thorton was the first artist to sing “ Hounddog”, this song sold millions of copies and was later famously stolen by Elvis Presley.
- Jimi Hendrix came out with his debut album, Get that Feeling in 1967. It created the genre of psychedelic rock.
- Stevie Wonder released his debut jazz album “ The Jazz Soul of Life” when he was only 12 years old.
- Marvin Gaye helped to shape the sound of Motown Records and eventually became known as “ The prince of Motown”
- Ray Charles was doing a crossover with ABC records and became one of the first black artists to have creative control of their work at a white label.
- Hip-Hop started in New York in the 1970’s, the main tenets are MCing, DJing, Breakdancing, Graffiti, and Knowledge,
- Thriller was released in 1982, and still holds the records for best selling album of all time.
- Diana Ross left The Supremes in 1970 and released her first solo record the same year. She was named as the best female singer by Guinness World Records in 1993.
- At the beginning of NWA’s rap career in 1986, they were banned from most radio stations due to the language and content of their music.
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