Dr. William E. Smith pens an essential book in the literary canon of musical ethnology as it concerns the legacy of African music across the African diaspora, especially with the visual performance art of Hip-Hop. If anyone is looking to enter into professional Hip Hop academia or wishes to tie their interests with music into the professional discourse of Africana studies, this book is the perfect nuanced conversation and guide.
Dr.William E. Smith does a brilliant and thorough job of assisting the reader in understanding Hip Hop as a global, powerful force, focusing on the Washington DC area as a case study for rap music’s lyrical structure and connections to the legacy of African culture. It becomes unequivocal that Dr. William E. Smith’s research is sound, as the book is filled with gems that gives the reader information of how to truly to engage with the most powerful musical culture to date from a technological standpoint, lyrical standpoint, neurological standpoint, psychological standpoint, sociological standpoint, and historical standpoint. The meticulous graphs, interviews and conversations are genuine and reveal information that a musician or music ethnologist would have wished to have had earlier when entering into their professions.
In African-American music, there has always been a struggle for control over the means of identity formation. The hegemonic culture of America has traditionally taken African-American cultural artifacts and used them for its own purposes while simultaneously calling these artifacts “American,” completely glossing over the origins of creation. At the same time, African-Americans are still denied the same respect as full Americans and racism is an ever-present concept.
—(Smith 38, 2005)
Dr. William E. Smith (W.E.S.) is an active musician, producer, composer, author and educator who has released nine albums and several singles as a solo artist and with his group, The W.E.S. Group. In addition to publishing this book, Dr.William E. Smith is an assistant professor of music technology at Bowie State University. Prior to that, he taught classes at Howard University, was the music industry coordinator and online ethnomusicology program coordinator at North Carolina Central University and was the jazz ensemble director at American University in Washington, DC. Dr. Smith has written music for TV and film including the Steve Harvey Show, Jimmy Kimmel Show, as well as performing internationally in the United Kingdom, Morocco, India, and South Africa.
Reading this book will change your life in the way that you think about music in and if you choose to engage in the music industry. Purchase the book on Amazon whenever you get the chance as you add it to your summer reading list.
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