MWusic News · Music History

The Originators

Blues, jazz, gospel, rock & roll, soul, funk, hip-hop, house, techno, Afrobeats — the sounds that rule the world were created and pioneered by Black people. This is the lineage every listener should know.

1. 1600s–1800s

   Spirituals, Work Songs & Field Hollers

   Enslaved Africans in America carried West African rhythm, call-and-response and blue notes across the ocean. Spirituals and work songs became the root system that nearly all American popular music grows from.

   The Fisk Jubilee SingersHarriet Tubman (coded spirituals)Unnamed ancestors whose songs survived

2. 1890s–1920s

   Blues

   Born in the Mississippi Delta and the Deep South, the blues gave the world the 12-bar form, the bent note and the honest lyric — the DNA of rock, R&B, soul and hip-hop.

   W.C. Handy — 'Father of the Blues'Ma Rainey — 'Mother of the Blues'Bessie SmithRobert JohnsonLead Belly

3. 1900s–1940s

   Jazz

   Created in New Orleans by Black musicians, jazz introduced improvisation and swing — America's first original art form, later spreading to every corner of the globe.

   Buddy BoldenJelly Roll MortonLouis ArmstrongDuke EllingtonElla FitzgeraldCharlie Parker

4. 1920s–1950s

   Gospel

   Black church music became gospel — the vocal power, harmonies and emotion that shaped soul, R&B and today's biggest singers.

   Thomas A. Dorsey — 'Father of Gospel'Mahalia JacksonSister Rosetta TharpeThe Clara Ward Singers

5. 1940s–1950s

   Rhythm & Blues and Rock & Roll

   Black artists electrified the blues into R&B and rock & roll. The guitar riffs, the backbeat and the stage energy all started here.

   Sister Rosetta Tharpe — 'Godmother of Rock & Roll'Chuck BerryLittle RichardFats DominoBo DiddleyIke Turner

6. 1960s

   Soul & Motown

   Soul fused gospel and R&B, and a Black-owned label from Detroit — Motown — built a hit factory that crossed every color line.

   Berry Gordy (Motown founder)Ray CharlesSam CookeAretha Franklin — 'Queen of Soul'Marvin GayeStevie Wonder

7. 1960s–1970s

   Funk

   Funk put the groove on 'the one'. Its basslines and breakbeats later became the raw material sampled by hip-hop.

   James Brown — 'Godfather of Soul'Sly & the Family StoneGeorge Clinton & Parliament-FunkadelicBootsy Collins

8. 1960s–1970s

   Reggae & Afrobeat

   From Jamaica and Nigeria, Black artists built global movements — reggae's message music and Fela's Afrobeat, the root of today's Afrobeats wave.

   Bob MarleyToots HibbertFela KutiTony Allen

9. 1970s

   Disco

   Disco came from Black and queer underground clubs, giving the world the four-on-the-floor dance groove.

   Donna SummerNile Rodgers & ChicGloria GaynorLarry Levan

10. 1973

    Hip-Hop

    August 11, 1973 — DJ Kool Herc's party in the Bronx. Breakbeats, MCing, DJing, graffiti and breaking became the most influential culture on Earth.

    DJ Kool HercGrandmaster FlashAfrika BambaataaThe Sugarhill GangRun-DMCRakim

11. 1980s

    House & Techno

    Black DJs and producers in Chicago and Detroit invented house and techno — the foundation of all electronic dance music worldwide.

    Frankie Knuckles — 'Godfather of House'Larry HeardJuan Atkins, Derrick May & Kevin Saunderson (the Belleville Three)

12. 1990s–Now

    New Jack Swing, Neo-Soul, Trap, Drill & Afrobeats

    From Teddy Riley's New Jack Swing to Atlanta trap and Lagos Afrobeats, Black creators keep inventing the sound of the future.

    Teddy RileyErykah Badu & D'AngeloOutkastT.I. & Gucci ManeBeyoncéBurna Boy & Wizkid

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