Curated category
African-American culture
- House musicIn 1977, a dimly lit basement club named the Warehouse opened its doors on South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Frankie Knuckles stood behind the turntables…
- Signifyin'During the era of slavery in the United States, a folk trickster figure known as the signifying monkey emerged from African mythology.
- African AmericansThe first African slaves in what is now the United States arrived in the early 16th century. Africans were among Juan Ponce de León's 1513 voyage that landed…
- Hip-hop danceIn the early 1970s, a young man named DJ Kool Herc stood at a party in The Bronx, New York. He held two turntables and a mixer to extend the instrumental…
- Gangsta rapPhiladelphia rapper Schoolly D released a self-titled debut album in 1985 that contained the song "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?" This track is widely regarded…
- Rock musicIn 1951, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music for a multi-racial audience. He is credited with first using the phrase rock…
- JuneteenthOn the 19th of June 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston to take command of more than 2,000 federal troops.
- Electronic dance musicIn 1973, a Jamaican-American DJ named Kool Herc introduced large bass-heavy speaker rigs to the Bronx. His parties kick-started the New York City hip-hop…
- Rock and rollIn the late 1940s, a new sound began to take shape in the United States. It emerged from a blending of black musical genres like rhythm and blues with…
- RappingThe English verb rap has various meanings, including to strike with a quick blow or to utter sharply. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives a date of…
- Spoken wordBefore the invention of writing, a cycle of practicing, listening and memorizing shaped how each language drew on its resources of sound structure.