Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Culture, the thing that defines a group of people, is truly interesting. Culture is a phenomenon that is directly linked with the development of its respective group of people. Furthermore a people’s culture is expressed through its works, whether it be in politics, literature, athletics, or art. Art is a unique form of expression because humans can directly play on three of the human senses, sight, taste, and hearing. Among the three senses, hearing is the primary sense. Humans rely heavily on hearing for communication. As a result, it is one of the easier senses to pleasure. Music is the art of sound that pleasures hearing and it has been in existence since humans have aurally communicated with each other. Music is one of the defining aspects of a culture because it is a direct expression of the people. Music is one of the main devices that a culture uses to entertain its people; but does it just stop at entertainment? This is a very prominent question when looking at the history of African American music. African American music has been called “(…) the musical Lingua Franca of the world [because] everyone listens to African American music and relates to it.”(Ramsey). African American music is a style that has always