Latin American Transculturation

Moreno asserts that ““Too many times, we have read our history books that have been written by Europeans, and it has had a tremendous impact in the way we view our culture and listen to our music. I do think that our identity is lost with it and at some point, we try to find it again later in life” (7). Students are able to see a different point of view rather than only the perspectives of textbook writers who at times deprive students from the full truth and the media who exaggerates or embellishes the truth. Many artists and musicians express their anger and oppression through music and students are able to listen to this and get the complete synopsis of problems happening in the world. For instance, in “The Embodiment of Salsa: Musicians, Instrument and the Performance of a Latina Style and Identity,” Patria Roman-Velasquez argued that the embodiment of salsa develops through specific practices whereby instruments, performance techniques, vocal sounds, bodily movements and ways of dressing are encoded and experienced as part of a particular Latin identity. Therefore, this expressing that music has much of an influence in Latin identity and the construction of identity and

The use of song literature, dance and rhythm was just one of the many pieces of cultural elements enslaves brought over to the U.S. from West Africa. The

African American influence in music has been an ever present and controversial subject in American history. Stemming from many different cultures, religions and backgrounds, large portions of American music was introduced by, and credited to African Americans. Although in many cases, this music was used for entertainment by the masses or majority, contrary to popular belief, black music served a greater purpose than just recreation. Dating all the way back to the beginning of slavery in the U.S. during the 17th century, music has been used to make a statement and send a message. As African American music progressed over the years, there were common themes expressed as the genres evolved. It has been an open letter to the world, documenting and protesting the ongoing oppression faced by blacks in the United States, as well as an outlet for frustration. For many African Americans, the music gave them the only voice that couldn’t be silenced by their oppressors.

On last Wednesday I was able to attend one of the “Choreographing Histories, Presents, and Futures” series presentations. Imani Kai Johnson one of the assistant professors of critical dance studies presented her research on hip-hop dance cyphers. She introduced her research topic to us as the “Double-Consciousness in the Global Cypher”. Johnson opened up the series by sharing one of her chapters from her new book that is currently in progress. In the chapter she explained her experience she had traveling to Germany. While she was in Germany she happen to run into a cypher of hip-hop dancers performing for one another. The energy of the cypher intrigued her so much that she felt drawn to this urban type of street dance. She noticed the energy

The roots of modern american rock and roll music, are firmly planted in Africa. As the native Africans were torn apart from their family’s and brought to the new world their lives were immediately and drastically changed forever. Finding themselves immersed in a completely new environment with a foreign culture, they thankfully persevered and carried on with their own traditions and most importantly to this paper, musical ones. Most American slaves originated from Western and Central Africa. The West Africans carried a musical tradition rich with long melody lines, complicated rhythms (poly rhythmics) and stringed instruments CITATION. The West Africans music was also strongly integrated into their everyday lives. Songs were preformed for religious ceremonies and dances and music was often a

Hispanic people are people of passion and richness. Throughout their history, they have experienced hard work in the migrant fields, discrimination, and exploitation. When the Depression came, they were accused of taking jobs away from ‘real’ Americans (Florido, 2015), From the 1940’s through today, people still complain about illegal Mexican immigrants who come to the U.S. They claim the immigrants are uneducated with no job skills, stay in poor housing, and lack education. It is against this backdrop that Chicano musicians write their music. They play with a soulful timbre that music lovers throughout the world seek as they attend their concerts, buy their albums, and download their songs.

Puerto Rican music is an evolving art form that expresses Puerto Rican culture and identity. The development of Puerto Rican music is also a reflection of their history, both being complicated by several layers. Social, political, and economic conditions are all related to the musical expressions of Puerto Ricans (Glasser, 8). Puerto Rican migration to the United States and the culture clash experienced by migrants is another layer complicating the evolution of Puerto Rican music (Glasser, 199). Musical expression has been affected by every aspect of life for the Puerto Ricans and therefore is an illustration of the Puerto Rican experience.

The Cuban community in the United States is one of the most rapidly growing Latin-American groups. They are known as Cuban Americans, and include not only American citizens or residents born in Cuba, but also long distant Cuban descendants. The areas with the highest concentration of this spicy ethnic group are South Florida, Tampa Bay Area, and North Hudson, New Jersey. South Florida is definitely the capital of the Cuban American community, since an estimate of almost seventy percent (70%) of the entire group lives there. The essence of this community does not stops with the country of precedence, other factors such as the culture and customs are truly relevant.

As Bame once said, “In dancing, each one finds themselves in ecstatic harmony with other participants, it heightens their sense of belonging and attachment and thereby generates social solidarity among them and the entire community”(40). Ultimately, African music and dance is a relationship that can’t be broken apart. It has been a huge part in life where everybody comes together within their communities and grow together socially and

Music is a universal understanding of one’s culture. It allows people from all parts of the world to come together to appreciate and love one another for their differences. My mother is Filipino and my father is Mexican. Though both ethnicities are rich in history, I have chosen to specifically focus on the land of my father, Jalisco, Mexico. With lively rhythms, different vocalists, and historical dances, Jalisco’s music comes together to tell a story.

Fela’s statement ,“[m]usic must awaken people to their duty as citizens and act” (Grass 1986: 142), preaches that, as Fela did with his life, people must take pride in their heritage and culture and let music inspire them to feel empowered as Africans. Fela’s music portrayed an image of African nationalism, and a rejection of European imperialist sentiments. His politically and socially aware music was made for the purpose of revolutionizing traditional thoughts that accepted the “alien system” of previously established European imperial traditions. Fela like many Garveyites, believed that African’s had a duty to honor their heritage and act on it’s behalf, as their true identities had been repressed for much too long a time. One sentiment that Fela thought was imperative to revitalizing African culture was, “Rediscovering their traditional religions… traditional methods of healing and indigenous lifestyle”. His music was made to inspire a rejuvenation of what it truly means to be a citizen of one’s own culture, although he applied African culture, this principle is applicable to any institution of cultural

Hip hip is a very popular genre in the United States, and this popularity has caused it to develop significant global impact. One of the forms of music that was created partially because of the globalization of American hip hop is the South African genre of Kwaito. Kwaito music, while staying true to its South African roots, has drawn significant influence from American hip hop. In this paper, I will use academic sources along with an interview of Kwaito music fan Jesse Marlow to explain the hybridity of the genre of Kwaito, and to discuss the degree to which Kwaito music has appropriated American hip hop and the morality of this appropriation. While Kwaito music has many different influences, one of the most important of these comes from

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, popular music and culture became significant influences on the lives of many individuals within the city of Los Angeles. East Los Angeles (“East L.A.” or “the Eastside”), in particular, was a center of flourishing musical, cultural, and social scenes with strong connections to the changing Chicano/a identity. Under this environment in which the Chicano movement (moviemiento) continued to prevail, a large number of socially aware and politically active, Latin-fusion “Chicano” bands were developed. One of such was the Ozomatli band, who strived to express their activist viewpoints through popular music. The spatial context of the band’s emergence, their links to past musical movements, and their implementation of a wide array of musical styles and genres all define their impact on Chicano identity in Los Angeles. Through their music, the Ozomatli band has showed much about the importance of the changing Chicano culture and served as the framework for cultural and social dynamics of present-day Los Angeles.

The term ‘hip-hop’ refers to a complex culture compromising of four elements: deejaying, rapping, rhyming, graffiti painting, and b-boying. These elements incorporate hip-hop dance, style, and attitude. “Hip-hop originated in the primarily African American economically depressed South Bronx section of New York City in the late 1970s” (Tate, pg.1). Hip-hop is a culture of fashion, language, music, movement, visual art and expression. The genre of hip-hop comes with a very significant history and evolution with its own heroes, legends, triumphs and downfalls. “Real” hip-hop is often stressed in the 21st century due to what is being passed off as hip hop, and it is often made clear that just because one takes a hip hop class, or listens to hip-hop music, does not mean they conform to the true immersion of hip-hop culture. Therefore, “real” hip-hop encapsulates the true essence of hip-hop culture, untarnished by impurities such as rapacious record labels, and vapid, materialistic subject matter. Due to the background of how and where hip-hop first emerged, the African American culture often feel responsible to protect what is for them, and to protect the culture of hip-hop entirely. Boyd states that even though hip-hop as a culture was created as a social movement, the “commercializaiton” of hip-hop demonstrated in film and media construes it to another form of urbanization and popularity”(Boyd, 79). However, in the two movies being examined in this essay (Save the Last Dance

Simpson’s review emphasizes Bambaataa’s ability to bring people together, to get everyone's “fists pumping”, placing “a smile ... on every face”, alluding to the transcendence of racial differences through the intersection of music movements hip-hop and rock, the merging of peoples in the 1980s. In the 1970s, hip-hop was as a voice for marginalized African American and Puerto Rican youth. This movement was a generational revolt against the status quo, and in the midst of it becoming global, it became commercial, about making money. Rather than valuing the music’s effects on the people, as the review of Bambaataa did, TOURE shows how the 1980s-1990s music industry had begun to commercialize it, stripping it of its focus on the backbeat and transforming it into something else. Rather than reflecting the voices and needs of youth at the time, it became something unachievable — above the people, effectively diluting its political