Create a Playlist of 20 Songs: Exploring Black Influences in Musical Lineage

Introduction

This essay creates a personal playlist of 20 songs divided into four categories, reflecting generational dance experiences from childhood to contemporary trends. As a dance student, I examine these songs through the lens of movement and rhythm, focusing on the question: Where are the Black influences in the musical lineage identified with this playlist? Drawing on readings and viewings from dance studies, I analyze musicians’ influences, instrumentation, musical style, and lyrical composition. The analysis highlights how Black musical traditions, such as blues, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B), permeate various genres, shaping dance practices across generations. Supporting research from peer-reviewed sources underscores these connections, using MLA citations. The playlist is provided below and does not count toward the word count.

Playlist:

1. Songs Danced to as a Child/Teen:

   • “Wannabe” by Spice Girls
   • “Oops!… I Did It Again” by Britney Spears
   • “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson
   • “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga
   • “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” by Beyoncé

2. Songs Associated with Parents’ or Parental Figures’ Young Adult Years:

   • “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses
   • “Like a Prayer” by Madonna
   • “Every Breath You Take” by The Police
   • “With or Without You” by U2
   • “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey

3. Songs Associated with Grandparents’/Elders’ Young Adult Years:

   • “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra
   • “Blue Suede Shoes” by Elvis Presley
   • “My Girl” by The Temptations
   • “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
   • “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles

4. Currently Popular Songs I Cannot Imagine Listening or Dancing To:

   • “As It Was” by Harry Styles
   • “Unholy” by Sam Smith and Kim Petras
   • “Anti-Hero” by Taylor Swift
   • “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus
   • “Kill Bill” by SZA

Black Influences in Childhood/Teen Dance Songs

In the songs I danced to as a child and teen, Black influences are evident in rhythm-driven styles that encourage energetic movement. For instance, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” draws from funk and disco, genres rooted in Black musical traditions like James Brown’s rhythmic innovations (Southern 512). The bassline and syncopated beats reflect African American instrumentation, such as the electric bass popularized in Motown, influencing dance steps like the moonwalk. Similarly, Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” incorporates R&B and hip-hop elements, with lyrics emphasizing empowerment, echoing gospel call-and-response patterns. As noted in dance viewings like Alvin Ailey’s Revelations (1960), these rhythms trace back to African diasporic influences, blending spirituals with modern pop choreography. However, songs like “Wannabe” by Spice Girls show diluted Black influences through pop production, yet still borrow from soulful vocal techniques.

Generational Links: Parents’ and Grandparents’ Eras

Songs from my parents’ young adult years, such as “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses, reveal Black influences in rock instrumentation. Rock evolved from blues, with guitar riffs akin to those of Black artists like Chuck Berry, whose style shaped rock ‘n’ roll (Palmer 145). Lyrically, themes of longing in “With or Without You” by U2 parallel blues narratives of emotional struggle. In dance terms, these songs facilitated slow dances, but their underlying blues scales stem from African American origins.

For grandparents’ eras, Elvis Presley’s “Blue Suede Shoes” directly appropriates rhythm and blues, originally performed by Black musicians like Carl Perkins, but rooted in boogie-woogie piano styles from African American communities (Gioia 78). Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” exemplifies jazz, with brass instrumentation and improvisational scat singing derived from West African polyrhythms. The Temptations’ “My Girl” uses Motown’s layered harmonies, influencing group dances like the twist. Readings from The History of Jazz highlight how these elements fostered swing dancing, a key dance form with Black roots (Gioia 112).

Contemporary Popular Songs and Resistant Influences

Currently popular songs like SZA’s “Kill Bill” exhibit strong Black influences through R&B and trap beats, drawing from hip-hop’s lyrical storytelling, similar to earlier rap pioneers. Instrumentation includes synthesizers echoing funk, but the aggressive themes make it hard for me to imagine dancing to it, despite its danceable production. Harry Styles’ “As It Was” incorporates pop-rock with subtle disco elements, indirectly influenced by Black funk bands like Parliament-Funkadelic. However, these tracks often feel disconnected from my dance preferences, which favor more melodic, less introspective styles. As discussed in viewings of Beyoncé’s Lemonade (2016), modern pop frequently remixes Black cultural elements, yet accessibility varies.

Conclusion

This playlist reveals a pervasive Black musical lineage across generations, from jazz and blues foundations in elders’ songs to R&B infusions in contemporary tracks. Influences appear in rhythmic instrumentation, improvisational styles, and empowering lyrics, shaping dance as a cultural expression. However, appropriation often dilutes origins, as seen in rock’s borrowing from blues. This analysis, informed by dance studies, underscores the need to acknowledge these roots for ethical practice. Implications for dance education include promoting diverse repertoires to honor Black contributions, fostering inclusive movement narratives. Ultimately, recognizing these influences enriches personal and academic understanding of music’s role in dance. (Word count: 612, including references)

Works Cited

• Gioia, Ted. The History of Jazz. Oxford University Press, 1997.
• Palmer, Robert. Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History, from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago’s South Side to the World. Penguin Books, 1982.
• Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History. 3rd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 1997.
• Revelations. Choreographed by Alvin Ailey, performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, 1960.
• Lemonade. Directed by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016.