Neo Soul

Neo soul (also known as nu soul) is a musical genre of the late 1990s and early 2000s that fuses contemporary R&B, 1970s style soul, classical music, jazz, and elements of alternative-hip hop. It is the third major sub-genre of contemporary R&B, after the new jack swing of the late 1980s to early/mid 1990s and the hip hop soul of the mid to late 1990s. The "neo soul" term, originated by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late-1990s, is sometimes looked upon with disdain as nothing more than a marketing specialization of contemporary R&B instead of an honest revival of soul music. This is because most of the people who record in the genre and listen to it tend to be anti-mainstream preferring that the music favor underground credibility and soulfulness over mainstream popularity.

The latest major neo-soul artists to emerge are Alicia Keys and John Legend, whose style bears strong similarities to that of Stevie Wonder and British songstress Corrine Bailey Rae who has topped the charts with her self-titled debut CD, receiving three Grammy nominations.

Gospel Music

Gospel music is believed to have first come out of African-American churches in the first quarter of the twentieth century or, more loosely, to both black gospel music and to the religious music composed and sung by predominately white Southern Gospel artists. While the separation between the two styles was never absolute both drew from the Methodist hymnal and artists in one tradition sometimes sang songs belonging to the other.[dubious — see talk page] The sharp division between black and white America, particularly black and white churches, kept the two apart. While those divisions have lessened slightly in the past fifty years, the two traditions are still distinct. In both traditions, some performers, such as Mahalia Jackson have limited themselves to appearing in religious contexts only, while others, such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Golden Gate Quartet and Clara Ward, have performed gospel music in secular settings, even night clubs. Many performers, such as The Jordanaires, The Blackwood Brothers, Al Green, and Solomon Burke have performed both secular and religious music. It is common for such performers to include gospel songs in otherwise secular performances, although the opposite almost never happens.
Gospel singer, songwriter, guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first great star of Gospel music, surfacing on the pop music charts in 1938. She remained popular through the 1940s, continuing to hit the charts and drawing tens of thousands of fans to see her perform live in venues across the United States. She lost the support of some of her church fans, now and then, when she performed in secular venues as well, as when she recorded songs not recognized as 'Christian'. The fans she lost were somewhat forgiving, as she remained true to her faith, for the most part, throughout her recording career which spanned the remainder of her life.
Although predominantly an American phenomenon, gospel music has spread throughout the world including to Australia with choirs such as The Elementals and Jonah & The Whalers and festivals such as the Australian Gospel Music Festival. Norway is home to the popular Oslo Gospel Choir and most importantly The Ansgar Gospel Choir. Gospel is also popular in the province of Quebec, Canada, where important gospel choirs such as Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir and Québec Celebration Gospel Choir are famous

Reggae Music

Reggae is a music genre developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term is sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, including ska, rocksteady and dub. The term is more specifically used to indicate a particular style that originated after the development of rocksteady. In this sense, reggae includes two subgenres: roots reggae (the original reggae) and dancehall reggae, which originated in the late 1970s.
Reggae is founded upon a rhythm style characterized by regular chops on the off-beat, known as the skank. The tempo is generally slower than that found in reggae's precursors, ska and rocksteady.
Reggae is often associated with the Rastafari movement, which influenced many prominent reggae musicians in the 1970s and 1980s. Reggae song lyrics deal with many subjects, including faith, love, sexuality and broad social issues.
Reggae's origins are in traditional African and Caribbean music; American rhythm and blues; and Jamaican ska and rocksteady. In 1963, Coxsone Dodd of Studio One asked Jackie Mittoo (pianist of The Skatalites) to run recording sessions and compose original music. Mittoo, with the help of drummer Lloyd Knibbs, turned the traditional ska beat into reggae by slowing down the tempo. Bob Marley, who played an important role in popularizing reggae worldwide, recorded ska, rocksteady, and nyabinghi-drumming records early in his career. By the late 1960s, reggae was getting radio play in the United Kingdom on John Peel's radio show.
The word reggae may have been first used by the ska band Toots and the Maytals, in the title of their 1968 hit Do the Reggay. Other theories are the term came from the word streggae, a Jamaican slang term for prostitute, or that it originated from the term Regga, which was a Bantu-speaking tribe from Lake Tanganyika.

Welcome

What's up party people! This is my first blog. I am doing some research on music and I invite you to share your thoughts and tell me what you think. I hope you find this site fun and useful as it develops.