SPEAKING IN TONGUES TO SPEAKING OVER DRUMS:
THE EFFECTS OF THE TRANSATLANTIC TRADE ON AFRICAN/BLACK MUSIC
Ohene Cornelius
Dr. Margaret Bass, Faculty Mentor
The influence Black culture, especially music, has had on the American society for the past 500 years has reshaped and reformed many old ideologies held about Africans and African Americans. In the present, Hip Hop plays an important role in America as a way of informing, entertaining, and employing those in and around the culture. The mass appeal of Hip Hop came about after its noticeable appeal to the Black communities during the early to late eighties; the commoditization and acceptance of Black culture has, in turn, been a predictable trend in American society since the trans-Atlantic trade. In presenting the reasons behind and solutions to the continuing struggle of the ‘minority,’ the researcher has written from a creative standpoint so that everyone can understand and relate to the present day catastrophes of Black nihilism, cultural bias, consequences of American-built racism, and the effects of capitalism on ‘Negro Music.’