AFRAM individual response #4

The reading that spoke to me the most this week was "Country Music is Also Mexican Music." I have never been the biggest fan of Country music largely due to the fact that I feel like I cannot identify with the music as much. I always subconsciously attributed this to it being music that is primarily for and by white people in rural areas but I realized this is not necessarily the truth. I did not realize that country music's roots can be traced to Latin origins in the 20's. As a Latin American male I had grown up listening to music from my grandparents home country Panama, however they also played Mexican Ranchera music quite often. After doing some research and listening to the music referenced in the reading I was able to draw parallels between the instruments used in older Mexican music and modern country music. This is a common trend that I have seen in this course that has shown that much of our contemporary music draws influences from black and latino music in the 20th century.

The other reading I greatly enjoyed was from Chapter 4 of American Sabor. I was greatly interested in this article in part because there was a Spanish translation which allowed me to read the article with a different mindset. Furthermore I learned even more about the musical innovations of the 1970's. I have always greatly enjoyed the Hip Hop genre and have looked into the historical context behind much of the songs that tackled issues pertaining to social justice. What I did not know was that there were extensive connections between the hip hop and punk genres in the 1970's that both extensively critiqued the music establishment, racism, capitalism, and other issues. Both genres were born in small hole in the wall venues that could be considered "underground" and many of the earliest fans were minorities in urban areas.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rryDND06LHU

This song is one of the songs that I remember from my childhood. Much like modern country music, this piece uses many of the same instruments and serves as testament to their shared origins.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMwWlaC2A6Q

Although this song is more modern, I always thought this song felt older as it reminded me greatly of the music my abuelos played when I was younger. This song sounds closer to what Americans would consider to be "Country" although it is entirely in Spanish.