Culture Through Music

Introduction

I. As a young boy I was raised in a gambling and bootlegger's house. If you've never seen what a bootlegger's house is like, watch the movie Lackawanna Blues. Being in that environment we always had to have good music for the crowd. Every Monday I would go with my grandma to the record store for new records. I was priviledged to be around gospel, blues, soul, Jazz, and funk. What started with my grandma continued as I got older continuing my weekly trips to the music store as I eventually got into rap, grunge, and rock.

II. As a young man, I didn't realize how much I was exposed to different cultures through music, but In researching this speech it made me understand just how much I've been influenced by music and the value of cultural exchange in music.

III. Today I would like to introduce to you how culture has been spread through soul, hip hop and house music.

(Transition: First we look at Soul Music)

Body

I. Soul music of the 60's embodied black culture of the times.

A. Culture Critic Nelson George writes, "As the sixties progressed, soul signaled not simply a style of pop music but the entire heritage and culture of blacks." (Jones, 2007, p.677) This social use of soul quickly became commodified, resulting in soul magazines, soul barbershops, soul hair-care products, and an enduring TV show called Soul Train. (Jones, 2007, p.677)

B. Otis Redding and Sam Cooke are two artists who represented soul music.

1. Otis Redding's song "Change is Gonna Come" was in tune with the civil rights struggle of the day and Sam Cooke's "Sittin on the dock of the bay" became an icon for the era, selling over 4 million copies worldwide.

(Transition: Next we look at Southern Hip Hop)

II. Southern Hip hop was an avenue in which black culture has been spread.

A. Southern Hip Hop of the 90's provided social commentary, challenged the system, and introduced the world to southern culture.

1. Groups like Outkast and Goodie Mob showed the world what Southern culture was like through their music and eventually, "moved to the forefront of America's hip-hop culture industry." (Darren, 2006, p.55)

2. Outkast's song millennium provides a snapshot of what urban culture is like. Everything from the volatility of the environment to church corruption and shattered American dreams are discussed in one verse.

3. The Census 2000, Ethnographic study, correlates with early hip hop messages. It goes on to say that nearly 80 percent of ethnic respondents agreed with the survey item "I do not trust the government." (Crowley, 2003 p.36 para 3)

4. Goodie Mob's song Soul Food,