Curated playlist
African-American culture
- House musicFrankie Knuckles began splicing records because the music ran out before dancers wanted to stop.
- Signifyin'In signifyin', an insult can be a way of showing affection. It is an African-American language tradition.
- African AmericansAfricans sailed with Juan Ponce de León to Florida in 1513. That is older than many histories acknowledge.
- Hip-hop danceHip-hop dance began without studios, counts or choreographers. Now it has conservatories and West End shows.
- Gangsta rapGangsta rap first went by a different name: reality rap. Schoolly D and Ice-T said they described a world they knew.
- Rock musicThe Beatles' first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1964 drew an estimated 73 million viewers.
- JuneteenthJuneteenth marks the day enslaved Texans learned they were free, 900 days after the Emancipation Proclamation.
- Electronic dance musicGhost production means a hired producer makes a track that a DJ releases under their own name.
- Rock and rollBefore it named a music genre, "rock and roll" described a ship's motion on the ocean.
- RappingRap does not stand for Rhythm And Poetry. Scholars call that a backronym invented after the word existed.
- Spoken wordSpoken word is poetry judged by its sound, not by how words look on a page.