Framing the Black Atlantic

Abstract

Music is an integral part of human culture. The history of African American music is greatly tied to the music that was transfered through the Atlantic trade networks. In analyzing the musical culture of sailors and the musical traditions of tribal music in Africa there is a distinct cultural transfer that led to unique slave music. The Black Atlantic, coined by Paul Gilroy in his book The Black Atlantic, was a framework of trade not only of material goods, but cultural ideas. The slave trade thrived within this fabric of interconnecting societies and led to the modern day ramifications that so affects modern day African American music. This paper will demonstarte the plantation culture that emerged from this trade, but first it will look at the key influences that shaped this music. It will assert that the slave trade profoundly affected modern music and that the key proponent of this was the space that the Atlantic created.