Along with the policy of reform and opening to the outside world, people in China have gradually accepted foreign music, among which Blues and Rap from Afro-Americans are the most popular. At the very beginning, the Whites don’t accept them and believe that they don’t belong to music, let alone art. As time flies, Blues and Rap spread rapidly in the U.S.A and then sweep the whole world. However, though the Black music has generally been accepted and beloved in the society, racism is still haunting the United States, the Blacks have not been treated fairly and equally as the Whites, and the social lives of the Blacks would not be improved substantially. Base on the analysis of the root and development of Blues and Rap and their social functions as voices of the Blacks, the paper tries to demonstrate the social conditions of the Blacks in America.
Abstract ...........................................................I
Key Words ..........................................................I
摘 要 .............................................................II
关键词 .............................................................II
Introduction .......................................................1
I. Blues as the Voice of the Blacks ................................2
A. The Original Blues ..............................................2
B. Blues in the 20th Century and its Social Function ...............3
1. Blues in the1920s............................................... 3
2. Blues in the 1940s--1960s .......................................3
3. Blues in the 1980s ..............................................5
II.Rap as the Voice of the Blacks...................................7
A. Rap in the 20th Century and its Social Function..................7
1. The Birth of Rap.................................................7
2. Rap in the 1970s-1990s...........................................7
B. Rap in the 21st Century..........................................10
Conclusion..........................................................12
Ackonwledgements....................................................14
Notes...............................................................15
Bibliography........................................................16