"Is it Because I'm Black?" is classified under the music genre funk/soul. Funk music is described as a mix of Rhythm and Blues (R&B) music with soul music. This song incorporates the electric guitar, one of the most popular instruments used in funk music, as well as the soulful singing and strong backbeat that ties it with R&B. Soul music -- unlike R&B and funk -- puts greater emphasis on the vocalist rather than the musical instruments and backbeat, like in the song "Is it Because I'm Black?". Syl Johnson's voice in "Is it Because I'm Black?" is a voice of pain and sorrow from racial discrimination, one of the very sources that soul music found its roots. The song is primarily centered around the vocals of Johnson to focus in the message he tries to portray; he basically begs to know why he is being held back from achieving his dreams by repeatedly asking the question "is it because I'm black?".
- Jessica Foster
Great job on showing how the style of the song makes the lyrics more powerful and conveying. Maybe you can talk about why racial discrimination is one major topic of soul songs. Is it because of the African American culture or something else?
ReplyDeleteI really like your analysis of this genre. You used really powerful, and in my opinion very accurate, descriptions of Syl Johnson's voice and how it impacts the song and genre. You did a great job of hyper-linking the different music genres you mentioned, as well as giving brief explanations in your writing to make the paragraph flow easier. Honestly, I really don't have any suggestions for this post, the only recommendation I can give is agree with Peijo in that maybe you could include an expansion on the relationship between soul music and racial discrimination.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Young
I agree with Pei-Jo and Ryan about expanding on the relationship between the then-evolving genre and race. However, I also think some additional examples of funk/soul, particularly with rhetorical drives, might help us see this as truly within a conceptual framework.
ReplyDelete