Black N Blues

Blues is ALL Black

Origin- The Blues was born in the South, the Mississippi Delta, by Afrian Americans and was birthed from folk music in the early 1900’s. Blues was a secular genre of music which opened up a space for African Americans to express their hardships. The narratives from African American artist about their troubles after enslavement and trying to find a better life came out when listening to the Blues. Many of the early Blues artist would be found along the railroad, sharecropping, or in jails. 

Elements

Blues was mostly played by the guitar and was sung by the artist. The call and response aspect was evident in the Blues genre and played an important role. A vocal call would earn a instrumental response. Another key element of the Blues is the polyrhythms, which is the swithching or overlapping of phrases and rhytms played and sung. 

Influences on other Genres
White groups such as the Beatles stole the Blues sound and altered it for the white youth making millions. They called it Rock. Other genres that were influenced by the Blues included R&B and Gospel. The same beats and rhythms can be seen in today's genres can be traced to the Blues.
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Social Implications
The Blues gets it's influence from the hardships of Jim Crow, and the music started to turn more political as artist started to sing about the difficulties many blacks were facing in the South.
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Primary Performers
The Blues had many primary performers as it came from African Americans in the streets. Singers like Bessie Smith gave a strong name to the Blues as a powerhouse singer. Bessie became the genres most popular female singer of her time.
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Commodification

White men went to the heart of the Blues in Mississippi to find black Blues artist to record. These white men would record blacks and head back North to sell the black artist's music to make money. This is how recording labels like Rock Records startd. White men would even go into the local prisions to find the true heart of Blues music. Other forms of commodification could be seen as early forms of Blues would be mocked in menstrual shows around the country by other black men in black face for white entertainment.

Kailen Aldridge
Kailen Aldridge @myopinion
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Traces of the Blues can still be found all throughout today's music, proving that the blues was a very rewarding genre of music. I am thankful to be able to learn about the Blues and the amazing artist that came out of the genre.