FREE ESSAY ON MUSIC AND CULTURAL IDENTITY (NEW ORLEANS)

MUSIC AND CULTURAL IDENTITY (NEW ORLEANS)

Throughout history, music has made dramatic impacts on the way civilizations and
communities function and behave. Likewise, the behavior and attitudes of people in a
community add to the flavor and attitude of the music made within the culture. Examples
of this sort of connection include the Baroque era in Europe, where the character of the
common citizen and the music were very refined and structured, or in England during the
70?s, where the citizens and the music displayed anger and revolt against the monarchy.
New Orleans has always been a city that provides inspiration for musicians and artists,
and likewise, the creations that come from this city strike chords with many other
cultures worldwide and have impacted communities just the same. The sound and vibe of New
Orleans, especially right after the Great Depression, helped to release what can be
called the ?American free spirit,? by making the nation a more colorful, free, and honest
place to live. 
There are three distinct sounds of New Orleans, all of which first developed in small
urban areas, and caught on throughout the region. These New Orleans-bred styles of music
are jazz, blues, and a more recent genre, bounce music. In all these forms, life in New
Orleans in its urban context is depicted through the music?s portrayal of emotion,
action, and event. The music has also helped to shape New Orleans? cultural identity,
which is undeniably different from any other culture in the world in language, behavior,
ethic, and daily life. The laid back, sexual, and nostalgic attitudes of the New
Orleanian are heard through the crooning of the blues. The high-spirited,
?dirty-dancing,? conversational mannerisms are spoken through jazz music. The rhythmic
chanting of a bounce rap displays the tendency of those in New Orleans to party until the
early morning, their desire for easy money and better living (the American Dream), and
most importantly, the pride he has for his home in the South.
Congress called jazz ?a rare and invaluable national treasure of international
importance? that is the ?most widely recognized indigenous art form? in the United States
(McDonough 11). Ellis Marsalis states ?jazz is the most American of art forms, the
distillation of the American Spirit? (Scherman 73). Apparently, from these quotations,
this form of music we know as jazz has had quite an impact on a nation. Many believe
Buddy Bolden was the first to play his cornet without sheet music to a basic folk beat,
and thus introduced one of the most important aspects of jazz music, improvisation. Louis
Armstrong, once called the ?Johann Sebastian Bach of jazz music? by Wynton Marsalis
(popular band leader), reportedly had once, while singing a ?folksy? blues/country tune,
dropped his music on the ground and instead of picking it up, began to ?scat? or sing
gibberish that sounded perfect with the beat, as he improvised the notes and sounds with
his mouth in tune with the song. ?Jazz,? Duke Ellington once told a newspaper reporter,
?is freedom? (Ponce 92). When attending a jazz show, you will rarely hear songs played
the same way twice. Jazz is also very interactive and conversational ? often the
musicians will ?trade fours,? which means they will improvise soloes for four measures
and then ?pass? to another performer. Improvisation makes for a very conversational style
of music, and it is social by nature. There is the freedom to formulate an infinite
number of emotions through the music, and if you?re attending a jazz show, you have the
freedom to dance and sing until you get tired. This was not an accepted behavior for
popular American music prior to the 20?s.
Few of the founding pioneers of New Orleans jazz music were able to see their later
successes, for it wasn?t until after America?s entry into World War I and the end of the
Great Depression that jazz music gained recognition nationwide and evolved into big band
and swing. At this point, jazz had become the locus of American music. It spread very
quickly as many of the jazz musicians had left New Orleans to head North during the Great
Migration, which was caused by a plague of boll weevils on southern crops, a succession
of floods in the Mississippi Delta, and the availability of factory jobs in the North
(Lemann 122). Today, jazz is still very popular, and the style has grown and evolved in
many directions.
The blues has played a similar role in New Orleans? cultural successes. In the early
1800?s, slave owners of the South wanted to prevent their slaves from singing various
African songs and chants; first, because their songs praised gods other than the
Christian god, and secondly, various African musical activities had been associated with
attempted slave escapes and revolts. Instead, the slave owners encouraged their slaves to
sing Christian psalms and hymns. The slaves would sing the songs with less enthusiasm
than their native songs, but would ?croon? them in a style that is now typical of blues
music. This form of the blues is not what became popular internationally, but it is the
root of what blues is today (Pincheon 4).
Blues became the first adult secular music America ever produced. It was the black
musicians? way of venting without displeasing the whites. It again, was a form of
freedom. As the blues evolved, it also brought about more positive messages, and became
simply a soulful way of expressing joy, praise, or sorrow. ?[The blues] has a sexual
meaning, the ebb and flow of sexual passion: disappointment, happiness. It has a whole
religious connotation too, that joy and lift? (Marsalis 39). The blues are about
accepting tragedy and moving forward ? which is a timeless and endless quality. The blues
can be conversational, poetic, sound narrative, or about life history. Before the blues,
there were few public outlets of frustration, especially for African-Americans, and there
were absolutely no sexual connotations within any other forms. The city of New Orleans,
especially downtown, is one of the most secular cities in the United States. Bourbon
Street boasts sexuality, alcoholism, decadence, and most importantly, happiness ? all
traits that the Blues helped to define in the city.
The blues also helped to integrate the black culture into white communities across
America. Until the 1960?s, a common view was that whites were the mind, blacks were the
body. Blacks were supposed to be incredibly potent, sexy, tough, and having a natural
sense of rhythm ? everything the common white man wanted. Elvis Presley was one of the
first white men to publicly dance as the black blues singers did, equipped with a sexy
sway, rising on his toes seemingly on the verge of some impossible groin-propelled leap.
Presley?s moves were body shouts, and the croon of his blues singing had everyone craving
for more. Girls across America instantly understood it and went nuts screaming for more.
Boys understood it as well and started dancing by themselves in front of their mirrors
imitating him. The blues sang this freedom, like jazz did, which made it tremendously
popular around the United States.
Bounce music is a relatively new form of music that arose in the early 90?s with MC T.
Tucker?s remixing of a sample from hip-hop group Show Boys, where he replaced the lyrics
with a chanting that is a combination of rap about New Orleans life, and a sort of
instruction on how to do different dances such as ?Monkey on a Stick? and ?Calio Wobble.?
Terius Gray, one such bounce rapper, grew up in the 9th ward in New Orleans? Magnolia
division, one of the nation?s top crime areas. He used to make his living by capturing
alligators for fifty dollars apiece. Now known as Juvenile, he and producer Mannie Fresh
own Cash Money Records, which, after the release of Juvenile?s album 400 Degreez, is
worth over $100 million dollars. Bounce music is simple, and takes little production, yet
weeks before a new Cash Money album is released, ?there are people from all around the
New Orleans area busting down doors to get it? (Aiges 2-3).
Included in the music are references to wealth and riches, and how money to make an album
was acquired through illegal actions. Percy Miller, also known as Master P, who was on
the Forbes 400 list last year for his success as a music producer, on his album Ghetto D,
unashamedly tells of how he sold crack to make money for studio time, and also includes a
recipe on how to make the illicit drug (Schruers, 6). Even more appealing are the
references to different parts of New Orleans, and the dangers of living there. 
?Move all your valuables, cuz them boyz at your throat with them calicos (knives) I mean,
me myself, I just don?t wanna see nobody get hurt
Wanna live? Keep your black ass from out of my turf
You look like one of them boys who ain?t never been f*cked over
I?m bout to change that, send that boy to the Nolia.? (Juvenile 6)
Many people from the New Orleans relate to this music, and its popularity and style has
spread throughout the nation. The music gives hope for young and poor kids living in an
urban environment, familiarizing them with the dangers. The contagious second line beats
and raps about drinking Colt 45 and smoking Swisher Sweets (the least expensive brands of
party goods), remind them that being poor does not mean you can?t have fun.
The cultural creations that come out of New Orleans continually enhance the American
experience. These musical forms, born and bred in the city, have grown, evolved and
helped to shape a more tolerant and free-spirited America. The music from New Orleans is
honest music, straight from the soul, and from life experience ? the content of the music
is not meant to shock people, but to, as Aaron Neville (a New Orleans resident) put it,
?tell it like it is.? These qualities in any form of art across the nation are what keep
America growing culturally.
Bibliography
WORKS CITED
Aiges, Scott. ?Home-Grown Bounce Music Rules Big Easy's Rap Roost.? Billboard 19 March
1994. pp. 2-3.
Gray, Terius (a.k.a. Juvenile), ?Welcome to the Nolia.? Cash Money Records. Produced by
Mannie Fresh, 1998. 
Lemann, Nicholas. ?The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld.? 
The New Yorker 13 March 2000. p. 122.
Marsalis, Ellis Jr. ?New Orleans Jazz Funerals.? American Visions Oct-Nov 1998. p. 39.
McDonough, John. ?Crescent City Cadence.? National Parks May-June 1995. p. 11.
Mueller, William and Marda Burton. ?Life by the Mississippi.? Saturday Evening Post April
1989.
Ponce, Pedro. ?Jazz: An American Elixer.? Humanities July-August 2000. p. 92.
Pincheon, Bill. A Deeper Territory: Race, Gender, Historical Narrative and the Recorded
Field Blues.? The Western Journal of Black Studies Spring 2000. p. 4.
Sandmel, Ben. ?A Vibrant Legacy: New Orleans Rhythm and Blues is Still Going Strong in
its Home Town.? The Atlantic April 1989. p. 15.
Scherman, Tony. ?What is jazz?? American Heritage Oct 1995. p.73.
Schruers, Fred. ?Survival of the Illest: New Orleans' Master P Builds a Hip-Hop Empire
from the Underground Up.? Rolling Stone 27 November 1997. p. 6.
The Original Hip-Hop Lyrics Archive. 6 June 2000. http://www.ohhla.com/index.html.
Accessed on November, 15, 2000.