A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF WILLARD WHITE AND LAWRENCE BROWNLEE
From the past, African-American males held significant roles as singers in the United States. Stretching from the street vendors,’ musical sounds in the 18th century in Philadelphia to the Motown’s irresistible dance tempo, the male Black’s music had dominated the entire cities of the United States. This assertion implies that the African-American male singers have impacted the music genres, which has contributed towards the American music sound. Considering the victory and suffering encountered by the Blacks in the United States, their positions in the music industry is still a victory to be celebrated. Their music has shaped the Americans’ identity, which has been the basis of impacting the lives of many individuals around the world.
The African males who were taken to the United States came from distinct ethnic groups and approached the music industry in unique ways. Some male Blacks brought music equipment, while others developed new ones while in the states, which shaped a new look to the American opera music. For instance, the “banshaw,” which is currently recognized as banjo was one of the Blacks musical instrument that significantly shaped the American’s opera music due to its flexibility to be used in different grounds. Besides, African-American males engaged in the construction of percussion musical instruments, such as drums that were used mainly during opera vocals. This situation can be reflected in the 1700s, where the colonialists illegalized the use of drums by the Black males in their plantations after discovering that it was a communication medium among themselves. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Moreover, in the Southern plantations, the male Blacks developed their musical techniques in opera music, that later grew into country music, gospel, and bluegrass. Besides, the African-American male fiddler slaves offered the Southern American gentries dance music, which has partially contributed towards the development of country fiddling. Also, male slaves in America were restricted from buying their musical instruments, and as a result, they used their bodies and local made devices during opera singing, which developed unique musical orchestra. For instance, the polyrhythm was the Blacks product that is still relevant in the current American society.
In the United States, African-American male singers used opera to advocate for the Negro spiritual movement during the slavery era. In American societies, the Blacks engaged in musical composition to spearhead their spiritual theme, as a response to the harsh treatment that they were being subjected to. Besides, they used music to stir the slaves’ body and spiritual freedom desires, which were meant for safety purposes and the solace of the servitude’s hardships. Most of the Black male songs were tailored around coded messages, for instance, “Wade in the Water,” and “Follow the Drinking Card,” signalled a break free to the North, while other songs, such as “I’m Troubled in Mind,” contained the African-American slaves’ despair feelings. Also, spiritual songs, such as “Go Down, Moses,” had stronger messages that were purposed to criticize the Blacks slavery through Biblical allegories. Other male Black singers used their positions to offer their colleagues a surpassed means to slavery, such as “Ride on, King Jesus, Ride on.” From the examples above, Negro spirituals resembled a traditional culture of the Black male singers, for instance, singers, such as Hall Johnson (1888-1970) laid this theme in the piano background as a method of conserving the African beauty.
Furthermore, the Black singers composed songs that reflected the African Christianity life. During slavery, the male Blacks were prevented from engaging in religious groups, as a result, they started creating secretive spiritual songs in their respective camps. These songs were characterized by the African form of shared cultural spirituality, for instance, the “Ring shouts,” a song composed of African chants and rhythm that was conducted in a shambling manner. In the North, some African-Americans in the early 1800s started creating religious groups, different from those that existed in American societies. Some of the male Blacks were later instructed by various churches, such as Society of Friends and Methodist so that they can spiritually advance. This practice saw the evolvement of complete African America religious organizations. For instance, In Philadelphia, Richard Allen, who was once a slave, led to the establishment of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1793. Also, in 1801, the first African American hymnal from various Blacks songs was published by Allen, which was intended to be used in their churches.
The male African American singers developed their songs as a means of unifying the Civil Rights Movements. According to the Library of Congress, Black individuals composed opera songs as a means of expressing themselves on the race relation issue. For instance, in 1899, James Weldon Johnson composed lyrics, such as “Lift every voice and sing,” “Woke up this morning with my mind on Jesus,” and “Woke up this morning with my mind on freedom,” which were sang in 1900 by John Rosemond Johnson (his brother). These songs acted as media of motivation towards the Africans, which engaged them more in the Civil Rights Movements.
Finally, the blues were developed by the African American singers as a mark of their historical event. Blues illustrated the period when the Blacks were moving northward, where they engaged in this lyrical composition, characterized by cultural traditions experiences in the United States. Further, male Blacks used this genre to express love, spiritual, and sexual issues as part of human life. Also, African-American male opera singers intended to express their unique African roots. The use of call-and-response and blue notes were some of the techniques used by male Blacks in their songs in the United States. These unique features that were incorporated in the songs was an indication of their unique African culture before getting absorbed in American societies. The NMAAHC collection illustrates most of the redolent features that the Black male opera singers used in the nineteenth century. For instance, a wooden drum has been represented to show how it was used in opera music by African-American males in South Carolina’s Sea Islands, off the coast.
In conclusion, in the United States, the African American male singers strategically participated in the opera music industry, which has portrayed their unique roles. From the slavery era, the male Blacks used opera music platform as a way of expressing their grievances about the harsh conditions that the colonialists subjected them to. As a way of expressing their feelings, it later contributed to evolvement of various music genres, such as banjo and country fiddling. Such examples hold the basis of empowering the minds of other African-American males to pursue their music vision, despite the harsh environment since the results may not be seen today, but in the future, they will be used.
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