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Listen to spoken word artist, Tabu Hazel, performs her poem, Superwoman. Used with permission from Tabu Hazel.
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Orson Welles and H.G. Wells A Closer Look Today it’s hard to believe Orson Welles’ broadcast of The War of the Worlds caused a nationwide panic. We are used to media productions that are not what they...
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Listen to singer and songwriter Abbey Elmore as she performs, Love You Freely Mix. Used with permission from Abbey Elmore.
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Listen to s inger and songwriter Abbey Elmore as she performs, Make My Day. Used with permission from Abbey Elmore.
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After slavery ended, some African American churches shifted from traditional spirituals to a new kind of religious music called gospel. This style of music brought together the elements of the “shout”...
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Spirituals developed at the same time as work songs on the plantations. Although they were religious songs with a Christian message, spirituals were also heartfelt expressions of the slave experience...
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Jazz music was born out of the blues. The key element was syncopation (syn-co-pa-tion) that stressed the off beats of the rhythm. In the same way that Gullah language is a mixture of African and...
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Country music as we know it today grew out of blues and folk music. In country music’s earliest form, southern musicians both white and black, created music for the working class that told stories...
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After the Civil War and emancipation, freed men and women struggled to find work and make a new life for their families. The songs about these difficult times were called the blues, a musical style...
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IRA GLASS A Closer Look This American Life first aired in 1995 on public radio station WBEZ Chicago. The producers write on their website, "We're not really formatted like other radio shows at all...
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Reggae music is a Jamaican style of music that has roots in African music and rhythm and blues, or early rock and roll. Reggae songs are usually about social issues, politics and the Rastafarian...
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European slave traders brought Africans to the New World on ships as early as the 1400s. These voyages across the Atlantic Ocean are called the Middle Passage. It was a terrible experience for the...
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African call-and-response patterns and improvisation survived the Middle Passage and became two of the basic elements of one of today’s most popular forms of music. In the 1970s, rap music began in...
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Enslaved Africans sang songs as they worked to help keep the pace of the task they were doing. A leader called out a verse or yell and others responded. This is the call-and-response singing tradition...
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Blues and country music contributed to a style called rhythm and blues. This was an early form of what we now call rock and roll. It appealed to a younger audience that liked to dance to the sounds of...