Motown: A Cultural Phenomenon in Music Genres - Essay Sample

Introduction

Motown became prominent as both music style and a model because of the particular sound that emanated from the label (Sykes, 2016). Moreover, the original form of music associated with Motown was R&B, and gradually the music style changed to other genres of the mind-blowing music category. Sykes (2016), further posited that the Motown music genre greatly impacted the culture of the American inhabitants. Besides, modern music genres, such as pop music and the contemporary soul, significantly advanced by following the blueprints of the famous Motown genre. Moreover, Motown music became an essential tool for uniting all the races within the American boundary. Additionally, during the Motown music tradition, racial segregation became mitigated because the songs were for all human races such as the whites, African Americans, the Jews, and the Gentiles. Comparison of the musical Motown musical elements and the cultural politics of the Americans focuses on how some typical examples of Motown music mitigated racial segregation among the American natives.

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According to Colbert (2017), the Motown music genre was an essential element among the American community in shaping the people's attitudes, perspectives as well as controlling political effects on the land. Besides, the music genre addressed several issues about the cultural politics within America, hence, shaping social and political uproars. In both the Motown music category and American cultural politics, education was a paramount concern. In 1963, for instance, the Motown recorded a series of music that encouraged and announced public service of learning. The music helped the teenagers never to give up on their quests for academic excellence. The lyrics of the songs "Don't Drop Out" and "Back to School Again" became prominent in communicating essential information about returning to school. It, therefore, became undisputed that the Motown songs changed the beliefs of most of the youths concerning education in the American culture. Just like the message in the Motown songs, the government also became concerned about the teaching of the American citizens through reducing education levies and providing incentives for higher learning opportunities.

Besides, the Motown songs articulated some of the significant achievements made in the American political domains. In this light, both the Motown music culture and political influence became concerned about the youths living in American streets with nothing to do. Releasing of the Motown song "Things Are Changing" targeted the achievements envisioned in the United States' federal government programs. The song "Things Are Changing" played an essential role in convincing the American teenagers of the increasing number of employment opportunities in businesses. However, such business opportunities were targeted to the African Americans Per se because they were in the front line in raising the dominant employment opportunities that exhibited the American community by then. During the period when the song "Things Are Changing" was released, President Lyndon Johnson implemented the Civil Rights Act that empowered African American activities within the context of equal treatment for all American inhabitants.

Nevertheless, President Johnson Lyndon and the Motown music category condemned the harsh treatment of African Americans in social places such as hospitals, schools, and churches. The black people in America, for instance, became segregated in their churches and schools. Besides, the White business owners rendered employment opportunities only to the White Americans and neglected the African American group. Based on such racial segregation, both the leadership of President Lyndon Johnson and the Motown songs condemned any form of harsh treatment that the African Americans faced in America. The song "Things Are Changing" therefore, gave hope to the disillusioned black generation of equal employment opportunities.

However, Motown music categories also played leading roles in protesting against the immoral actions envisioned in the political domain. The song "Greetings," for instance, opposed government drafting of soldiers to engage in the Vietnam War (Austin, 2017). Based on this assumption, Motown music crusaded for different opinions to the public. The drafting of the soldiers to be partakers of the Vietnam War was against the wishes of most soldiers due to fears of being separated from their families. Based on this assumption, the Motown music category released the "Greeting" song to compel government actions of forcefully drafting soldiers to participate in the Vietnam War. Besides, Motown produced a hit song to protest against the death of John Kennedy. The songs based on John Kennedy's death changed the perspective of people about life and death. The members of the public became aware of their rights to live and speak freely without political interference.

Nonetheless, before the implementation of the Civil Rights Acts in 1960, African Americans and other colored raced were highly discriminated against. Such discriminations were propelled by the unfavorable political policies that deemed the African Americans and the colored races inferior to their White counterparts. However, the Motown music band became vocal in articulating such public discriminations. The government and Motown music band varied in their opinions of the treatment of the colored raced inhabiting the American land. Whereas the political interventions promoted racial segregation in America before the 1960 Civil Rights Act, the Motown music band brought the American natives together through their performance. The music targeted all the races in America, and the concerts for dominant performances also were inclusive of the White and African American individuals. Besides, the Motown founder suggested that all songs should be honest and portray excellent ideas. The notion of songs being good with elegant ideas empowered most of the Motown artists to crusade for equity of human rights rather than encouraging discriminative misdemeanors. Besides, Motown music became a platform for the African American self-expression and the best forum where the blacks could showcase their inborn talents. Moreover, the fact that Motown was the first African American record label empowered the black people in America to realize more success in various endeavors.

Conclusion

The Motown music genre played changing roles in shaping the perceptions of people based on their various beliefs. Some of these beliefs and opinions were aligned to the federal requirements, while others protested against dominant political ideologies. The American political culture of racial segregation was entirely counter-attacked by the Motown music record, where the Motown songs anticipated for equity for African Americans. Nonetheless, the Motown genre crusaded for equal treatment of all races regardless of individual social background. However, the similarity of Motown music and the cultural politics of the American community falls in the fact that both cultures supported education for the young generation as well as giving hope to unemployed youths. For instance, Motown produced several hits that motivated the young adults to continue in their pursuit of education and articulated the positive political changes towards equitable employment opportunities for all races.

References

Austin, D. (2017). Greetings from Detroit: Historic Postcards from the Motor City. Wayne State University Press.

Colbert, S. D. (2017). Black Movements: Performance and Cultural Politics. Rutgers University Press.

Sykes, C. E. (2016). The Motown Legacy: Homegrown Sound, Mass Appeal. In Issues in African American Music (pp. 124-148). Routledge.