Curated playlist
African-American music
- House musicFrankie Knuckles began splicing records because the music ran out before dancers wanted to stop.
- BebopBebop began as a nonsense syllable in a 1928 scat-singing record. It later named a music made for musicians.
- Neo soulNeo soul began as a marketing label, and many of its artists disliked it.
- Soul musicSoul music blended church gospel with dance-floor rhythm and blues. It began in African-American communities.
- Swing musicSwing music took off when young dancers rushed the floor at the Palomar Ballroom in 1935.
- DiscoA loud drum sound in disco began as a recording mistake. Earl Young's hi-hat was pressed too loud on a 1975 song.
- JazzJazz got its name from a wobbly baseball pitch in 1912. A minor league pitcher described his "jazz ball" in print.
- Rock musicThe Beatles' first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1964 drew an estimated 73 million viewers.
- Hip-hopHip-hop began at a back-to-school party in a Bronx recreation room.
- RagtimeScott Joplin told pianists to play ragtime slowly until they caught the swing.
- Contemporary R&BIn 2004, all twelve Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs came from African-American artists.
- FunkJames Brown told his band to hit the first beat hardest. Funk began in African-American communities in the mid-1960s.
- Trap musicTrap music is named after a building where drug deals happen. The Atlanta sound later reached pop charts worldwide.
- Rock and rollBefore it named a music genre, "rock and roll" described a ship's motion on the ocean.
- Rhythm and bluesRhythm and blues was invented as a new name to replace "race music". Billboard's Jerry Wexler had it ready by 1948.
- Hip-hop cultureThe name hip-hop began as a way to mock a friend who joined the Army.