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FROM SLAVE FIELDS TO RAP SKILLS: A Journey Through Black American Music The Africans brought with them sounds of their ancestors as they came ashore to this country. Polyrhythms and work songs were parts of their heritage. As slaves labored in the fields, the music became a way of adapting to a new language, a new religion and a new, but difficult way of life. Often times the songs were a means for them to communicate with each other and express their troubles and hopes for a better life. It has also been said that some songs were used to signal the flight to freedom. Examples of these songs are “ Swing lo Sweet Chariot” and “ Steal Away.” These songs were sung to notify the slaves that the “ Underground Railroad,” conducted by Harriet Tubman, would come through tonight. A unique kind of song grew from the experience of the Africans brought to America in slavery. That unique song was the African American spiritual. The old spirituals had no known composers and were not written down. They passed from generation to generation of singers and are still sung today. These songs originated in the South before the Civil War. Some spirituals are slow and full of emotion. Others are lively, with strong rhyth