One large part of the 1970's at it relates to R&B music is Soul Train. Soul Train exploded opportunities for artists, especially black artists, to express their talents globally. It came after the show SOUL!, which had political commentary along with inspiring music. Soul Train was founded by Don Cornelius who moved his facilities from Chicago to Los Angeles. The story of Don Cornelius (1936-2012) and Soul Train has been presented by the BET series called American Soul. Dancers from every walk of life participated in the Soul Train atmosphere. Contests, live performances, and the soul train dance line encompass the show. Also, stars showed up to display not only classic music, but a great deal of soul. Many of the dancers on Soul Train were Damita Jo Freeman, Darnell Williams, Rerun, Rosie Perez, Cheryl Song, Jody Watley, Jeffrey Daniel, etc. Shalamar was a group that got its start from Soul Train. One big irony about Cornelius is that he had criticisms of rap (over its content in claiming that it didn't reflect positively on African American culture. He even said that the music of Public Enemy scared him when P.E. was all about empowerment. Yet, Cornelius love of music, courage, and contributions to black culture are always cherished by me), but he shown rap artists on the show in order to appeal to younger demographics. Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson authored Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation in 2013. This book was the subject of a VH1 documentary about Soul Train that I watched before. It was a great documentary. Cornelius was from and older generation, and many people of the old school didn't understand the complex nature of hip hop music. The Soul Train Scramble Board is one of my favorite parts of the show. The answer to the puzzle involved a prominent person of African American history. Soul Train lasted from October 2, 1971 to March 27, 2006 on TV. The Soul Train music awards continue to this very day. It started in 1987 to celebrate the top performers and songs in R&B, soul, hip hop, and gospel music. By 1995, Soul started the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards to celebrate women R&B artists. It was ended by 2006. Soul Train featured funk, jazz, disco, hip hop, gospel, dance, pop, and other forms of music too. The 1970's was the time of grassroots groups and powerful artists. The Staple Singers was a dynamic group of the 1970's. Their roots have been from gospel. That is why it is important to cite the fact that some of the greatest artists in history (like Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin) came right out of the church. Also, the Staple Singers presented soul and R&B songs. They came from Mississippi and moved into Chicago. Their singers are Roebuck Staples, Cloetha Staples, Mavis Staples, Pervis Staples, and Yvonne Staples. They topped the charts with songs like Respect Yourself, I'll Take You There in 1972, If You're Ready (Come go With Me), etc. Their music found in Let's Go It Again and The Weight represent their classic style. Always involved in civil rights, they expressed a great deal of social consciousness in desiring to see black people free from oppression. Mavis Staples is a long time civil rights activist who has continued the family tradition of outlining musical excellence to this very day in 2020. Other unsung groups of the 1970's were Donny Hathaway, the De Barge family, Minnie Riperton, Melba Moore, Florence Ballard, Bootsy Collins, Klymazx, Zapp, Roe Royce, Bar-Keys, Teddy Pendergrass, Tammi Terrell, Heatwave, George Clinton, Angela Winbush, the O'Jays, Deniece Williams, The Spinners, the Ohio Players, Evelyn Champagne King, the Sylvers, Atlantic Starr, Millie Jackson, Con Funk Shun, and other artists. Whether you have Isaac Hayes giving ballads about life in the urban areas or Midnight Star showing innovative songs, the 1970's saw a golden age of great R&B music. The sensitive voices of the Delfonics and the powerful voices of the Three Degrees certainly made people dance the world over. The group of the Three Degrees is based in Philadelphia with the Philadelphia northern soul sound. Martha Wash was ahead of her time with artistry too. Yarbrough and Peoples shined their light as well.
By the end of the 1970's, the rise of contemporary R&B existed. This time saw new sounds, the peak of disco, and the growth of the influence of artists. Contemporary R&B has drum machine backed rhythms, pitch concrete vocals, record production styles, and smooth lush style of vocal arrangement. Electronic sounds was more prevalent in music. R&B leaders at this time were Michael Jackson, Evelyn King, Donna Summer, the Village People, Anita Ward, Barry White, and other people. Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive by the late 1970's excelled on the charts. Fire was a song made by The Pointer Sisters signaled their music stretched generations. The Commodores had the record of Sail On. They worked with Motown for years. The song of We are Family from Sister Sledge pronounced the truth that family connections are sacrosanct. Quincy Jones inspired Michael Jackson. Jackson's Off the Wall album of 1979 was not only great vocally. It influenced music forevermore. Some say that Off the Wall had some better sounds than Thriller. Michael Jackson's song of Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough represented an universal record of total genius. The Jacksons' Blame It on the Boogie once again proved to the people that the Jackson family music dynasty is here to stay. This time saw funk music come alive too like with Chaka Khan and Rufus, Parliament Funkadelic, and Earth, Wind, and Fire. By the late 1970's, future legends like Prince and Luther Vandross made records. In fact, Prince's first album was called For You which was released by Warner Brothers Records on April 7, 1978. In 1979, he reached into new heights of greatness with his album of Prince. Songs like I Wanna Be Your Lover,, etc. evoked the modern Prince sound. He respected the talent of Patrice Rushen, who is another unsung great singer of that time period. Prince could sing, act, and play multiple instruments. Shalamar and other groups continued to make songs that made crowds come alive with excitement.
A new art form developed in the 1970's called hip hop. This art-form had influences from jazz, blues, and Jamaican sounds. Yet, hip hop grew to be an international cultural phenomenon. The founder of hip hop was the Afro-Caribbean named Kool Herc. Hip hop readily used disco and R&B sounds in their earliest records. The first commercial hit of hip hop was Rapper's Delight in 1979. The Sugar Hill gang was funded by the Mother of Hip Hop Sylvia Robinson. This time of the late 1970's saw hip hop in its infancy. New York City was the city where hip hop was born. By the early 1970's, NYC experienced many social changes and deindustralization. Many people left the city for the suburbs. Economic resources declined rapidly. With a weakened tax base, poverty increased and the social safety net crumbled. Tensions increased. The massive poverty and oppression found in Bronx, NYC inspired musicians to create a genre of music that spoke to the pain and the joy found in those suffering in poorer urban communities. Originally, hip hop was about Brothers and Sisters showing love to music while seeking a dream of living in a better world than the present. It was an art-form that highlighted DJing, break dancing, graffiti, and a social consciousness in love with the community. You can't have justice without love. Back then, many R&B artists didn't view hip hop as real music. Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Caz, and other artists of hip hop flourished by the late 1970's. Today, the most influential, popular music of the world today in 2020 is hip hop. Hip hop and R&B influenced each other ironically despite their differences. Yet, it is important to note that without R&B, there is no hip hop. Regardless if people love or not like hip hop, its roots come from us. Its ultimately origin is from the Motherland of Africa.
The book of Daniel mentioned information of the 2 feet and 10 toes of iron and clay as found in Daniel 2:33, 40-4. It mentioned that there would be 10 kings. Daniel saw the dream as the statue declining in value from the top to the bottom (while its political power increased from top to bottom), and a stone destroying it. Biblical scholars believe that the stone is the Messiah Yeshua ben Yeshua (Jesus Christ). The mixture of clay and iron has many meanings. After the Roman Empire ended, governments were mixed among more democratic nations and more authoritarian nations. Also, this mixture describes the mixture of righteous people and evil people in future existence. The Roman Empire in the West ended by 476 A.D by Germanic invasions of Rome. The Byzantine Empire, based in Constantinople, ended by 1453 by Turkish Muslim invasions. Many scholars from the city of Constantinople fled Turkey to go into Italy and Greece. Their scholarship inspired the development of the Renaissance humanism of Europe. Some scholars believe that the 10 toes where the 10 Germanic tribes that conquered the Western Roman Empire being the Alemmani, the Anglo-Saxons, the Burgundians, the Franks, the Herulians, the Lombards, the Ostrogoths, the Suebi, the Visigoths, and the Vandals. The 10 toes refer mainly to a early fulfillment of prophecy while the 10 kings appear to be a future event. Ephesians 2:20 admitted that Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone. Daniel 2:44-45 predicted that the God of heaven will setup a kingdom that will never be destroyed and a stone will end the statue.
The legacy of Illmatic is extensive. It was one of the most influential hip hop albums of all time. It reflected the sound of New York hip hop of boom bap. Large Professor, Pete Rock, and DJ Preimer after Illmatic continued to grow their legacies as some of the greatest hip hop producers in history. It inspired hip hop in the West, South, and the Midwest to continue to express their music without apology. Another part of its legacy that hip hop artists started to team up with many famous producers to develop their albums. Rappers searched for producers nationwide in developign their music more thorough. The album revived the Queensbridge rap scene. Before, pioneers like Marley Marl, MC Shan, and Roxanne Shante established their legendary status. Later, Mobb Deep and Capone-n-Norega established themselves as influential hip hop musicians. The album helped to increase the style of rapper AZ. Illmatic showed us that hip hop can include both the melodies found in West Coast hip hop, the gritty sound of East Coast hip hop, and the creative sounds of hip hop from the South including the Midwest. The irony is that Tupac Shakur loved the album Illmatic. Tupac blasted it during court cases. Journalist Dream Hampton gave Tupac a cover tape of the album. Hampton implied that Nas' lyricism inspired Tupac's Me Against the World album. Artists from across the country admitted that Illmatic inspired them to step their pen game up. Nas used a poetry in his rhymes that has been studied to this day. Lupe Fiasco, and other artists are inspired by Nas' music.
By March of 1997, the hip hop community suffered the losses of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. They didn't live to see 26 years old, so they were very young. Tupac wanted to incorporate his Black Panther influence mixed with a grassroots appeal to the people. The Notorious B.I.G. wanted to live the life of crime in order to provide for his family via hip hop music. Both men had many things in common like: love for their mothers, a victim of murder, they are some of the most influential musicians in history, and they were born in NYC. Their deaths signified an end to one era of hip hop music. Some debated if hip hop went too far with some artists showing lyrics of violence, death, misogyny, etc. Some wanted to ban hip hop altogether, especially gangster rap. It is a shame that 2 men lost their lives unjustly without both men having a chance to reach their total life potentials. Immediately, meetings came about to try to end tensions in the hip hop community (among the East Coast and West Coast). Many tensions were eliminated. By this time (of Spring and Summer of 1997), the biggest hip hop camp was Bad Boy Records. Death Row had legal issues and other problems. Many artists left Death Row, because it was a facing massive challenges. P. Diddy not only promoted Biggie's Life After Death album which would explode in record sales in 1997 and beyond. He promoted his own Bad Boy Records' artist in the No Way Out album. It was released on July 1, 1997 during the shiny suit era. Hip hop during this time saw the rise of both regional movements (like Ruff Ryders, Cash Money, The Dungeon Family, No Limit, Bone Thugs and Harmony, etc.) along with individual artists who grew into a higher level of a platform (like DMX, Jay Z, etc.). It was a transitional time in hip hop music. Hip hop wanted to cope with the pain of the lost of Tupac and Biggie while continuing its long legacy of musical expression. The truth is always obvious. The truth is that regardless of what time we live in, we have to follow what is right. Artists who promote the Golden Rule should be praised, and we reject injustice. Part of rejecting injustice, regardless of how many in the world hate this, is to not support music that degrades black people or any human being in an viciously wicked fashion.
During these days, it is certainly important to study prophecy. The prophet Daniel was a Jewish man who figured out the meaning of a dream from Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel didn't just outline the statue, but the beasts corresponding to the statue. The theme in Daniel's words is the empires that would control the land of Israel from the time of the Babylonian Captivity to the coming of the Messiah. For centuries, religious scholars have tried to find the meanings of the many passages of the book of Daniel. Also, it is clear that knowledge is ever increasing worldwide. We certainly have to be careful to respect the action of research while not believing in false doctrines. One major false doctrine is the belief that a mere human is divine or can become God (which is the essence of the New Age movement). The link among the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation is that both describes kings during the end time and the ultimate eternal Kingdom of God in prophetic terms. In life, tons of people rightfully realize that materialism, imperialism, sexism, racism, xenophobia, and economic exploitation are wrong. Soldarism and altruism make sense, because when the suffering prospers then we all will prosper.
By Timothy
