What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture - Softcover

Neal, Mark Anthony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415920728 ISBN 13: 9780415920728

Publisher: Routledge, 1998

Synopsis

Mark Anthony Neal reads the story of black communities through the black tradition in popular music. His history challenges the view that hip-hop was the first black cultural movement to speak truth to power. Beginning with the role of music in nineteenth century slave culture, Neal covers key black cultural movements (Harlem, jazz, blaxploitation films, Motown, hip-hop, etc.), the social forces and organizations that countered them, including the FBI and the Nixon administration, a myriad of artists (Marvin Gaye figures significantly), and the relation of black music to such forces as the black feminist movement, black liberation, and identity politics.

About this title

Review:

..."validates Neal's intellectual and practical contribution to the fields of popular culture and Black cultural studies."
-Deborah Elizabeth Whaley, "American Studies, Fall 2002
...".carves out a well-defined intellectual and theoretical space for the post-soul generation--the "soul babies of history."
-Deborah Elizabeth Whaley, "American Studies, Fall 2002
"Neal's cogent, coherent, and comprehensive "What the Music Said is arguably the definitive study of the relationship between 20th-century black American music and black American society as a whole."
-Bill Piekarski, "Library Journal
"Neal's grasp of the sociology of urban development is impressive, as is his familiarity with African-American studies scholarship and his knowledge of black popular music. Neal has undertaken to achieve a grand synthesis of popular culture and social research about the post-World War II black diaspora. Neal possesses encyclopedic knowledge of the music he surveys, while his pronouncements about its significance are incisive and insightful. [S]cholars interested in music, urban sociology, African-American studies, and cultural history will find "What the "Music Said to be wide-ranging in scope and penetrating in analysis. Indeed, since. Neal. undertake[s] to explore the ability of popular music to define community values, critique injustice, and inspire individuals to struggle for a more just society, perhaps [his book] should be considered appropriate reading for us all.."
-"History of Education Quarterly
""What the Music Said is a passionately written book. It provides expert analysis for those interested in the history of black arts, music and culture..."What the MusicSaid hammers home the point that black music is the spiritual and political connection to our communal souls."
-Trent Fitzgerald, "QBR, Nov/Dec 99

From the Author:

The power and pleasure of black popular music.
The core thesis of "What the Music Said" is simple; At any given historical period, black popular music reflects the political, cultural and social landscape of the African-American Community. This thesis is not new. Baraka (Leroi Jones) said as much in his classic "Blues People" and Nelson George extended Baraka's argument for a mass audience in "The Death of Rhythm and Blues." Both authors rightfully suggest that music was integral to efforts African-Americans to resist political and social oppression. While I share those concerns, I was also interested in broadening our understanding of the nuances associated with resistance, particularly in regards to the role of pleasure in the lives of black folk, particularly working class black folk. The "Chittlin Circuit" aesthetic has been given such little attention by scholars of African-American Studies and music. Like Robin Kelley's book "Race Rebels," I wanted to partially fill that void. The "Chittlin' Circuit" was brought to life to me every Sunday morning, as my father sat transfixed in the living room listening to great black male Gospel groups like The Soul Stirrers, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and The Highway QCs and Hammond B-3 specialist like Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff. Those Sunday mornings were a reprieve from the 60 hour work weeks and minimum wage pay that my father earned to support his family. I wrote the book, in part, to give tribute to folks like my father who struggled during the week and found their humanity on the weekend in dancehalls and storefront churches alike. As a post-Civil Rights child I was also driven to respond to my generation's claim that contemporary forms of black popular music like Hip-Hip, in particular, were the first to "speak truth to power," or to "keep it real" as my students say. I wanted to show that, yes, Hip-Hop does provide a significant space for many black urban youth to voice their concern and displeasure about contemporary African-American life, but that Hip-Hop was connected to a larger tradition of black popular music, which has always played such a role in American society.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0415920728
• ISBN 13: 9780415920728
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216