Blues People Blog

If society as we knew it were to suddenly fall apart around us, what use would this blog be? Would the reading be that just took up my time, the tuition for this school and the opportunities it presents? Nothing. Western cultures and ideas are made to believe they are superior, but if suddenly our economy and culture collapses we become a primitive and tribal society, my book knowledge won’t be of much use when I can’t go to the grocery store and buy my own food. Our knowledge is only valuable within the system, so when Africans were taken here their knowledge no longer held value. These same biases shine through when “westerners” refused to attempt to appreciate African music; the unconventional (to Western nations) rhythmic patterns and instruments disgusted the ears of the Western listeners who refused to give the music a try. They thought there way was the only way to ‘do music.’ Little did they know that the music they were refuting would eventually give way to Blues music and start a musical revolution. If these music analysts were to have approached their listening of African music more holistically how would the landscape of music shifted? Pop music already has many of these influences, but had it been accepted into popular music more readily would the Beatles have happened? Would we be further into the musical cycle? Twilight Zone: suddenly, another bug named band are out playing different rhythms and time signatures and the world never hears from Lennon and the gang.

However, knowledge is only as important as the culture makes it, and the same goes for musical knowledge, while Western music critics degraded their odd styles in Africa the same music seen as terrible to Westerners, is extraordinary music to an African. This acceptance never came about and then the Blues was born—no longer an African music, because only a rejected American could be so blue.