Fashion and music is a big part of all cultures. But a certain group of people has been one of the most significantly influential. African Americans have proved themselves to be the blueprint of many things regarding culture and have influenced other cultures globally.
To start off, clothing. The way that black people dress has been seen in the media for a very long time. Whether it’s them actually wearing it, or it being mimicked by others. “I think my people definitely influence fashion all the time because a lot of like the pop culture trends you’ll see are originated from what black people used to do or still do. Like street wear and long nails.” -quote from Fadela Ali. Street wear is definitely a big part in how many people all dress today.
It started around the 80’s and 90’s. The hip-hop community was the one who popularized it. The baggy pants, air Jordan’s, over-sized hoodies, all of it. They would pair it all with each other and express themselves through fashion. The hoodies were mostly a northern thing to help with the coldness of their climates, but then they started to patternize it to make a statement. Many celebrities of the 90’s were the ones to truly popularize it and the big influencers people seem to remember. For example, TLC, LL Cool J, Micheal Jordan, and Biggie. These popular celebrities were the ones making the headlines with their style.
Another part of black culture that is prominent in other ways is music. Aside from most country artists now being white, the genre originated from black people. The banjo specifically was an African instrument. White people would call their songs “coon songs” and used it as a form of mockery in minstrel shows. Later, they adopted this style as a form of their own to the point that people now don’t know the true history of it.
A different, less tragic example of music is rap and hip-hop. Some people describe rap and hip-hop as being more vulgar and aggressive based on stereotypes, but a lot of the time it’s quite the opposite. Rap is poetry put onto a beat so their words and lyrics are heard differently. From an article, they quote “Hip-hop music culture is a product of African American, Afro-Caribbean and Latino inner-city communities plagued by poverty, the proliferation of drugs, and gang violence in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.” The first name for it was ‘b-beat’, mostly played at local house parties and clubs. When film producers started capitalizing on it, that’s when it all became less local and more national. Being more wild spread to share.
In short, African American culture has definitely impacted a lot of how we live now. Music and fashion are main components in American culture, and for that we have to thank black people.
Sources:
“How Black Culture Popularized Streetwear”
