The evolution of music won’t stop
Like RUN DMC bringing us Hip Hop
When I say “Hip”, you say “Hop”
HIP – HOP, HIP - HOP
Before that they scrunched your face up like it stunk
Like James Brown giving us that funk
When I say “Give me that”, you say “Funk”
Give me that – Funk, Give me that - Funk
The generation before took it smoothly
Like Big Mama Thornton giving us R&B
When I say “R &” you say “B”
R & - B, R & B,
The generation before got even more bold
Like Chuck Berry bringing us rock’n’roll
When I say “rock’n’” you say “roll”
Rock’n’ – roll, rock’n’ -roll
The generation before added some pizzaz
Like Ella Fitzgerald giving us the jazz
When I say “We got”, you say “the jazz”
We got – the jazz, we got – the jazz
They turned field hollas into soulful grooves
Like Robert Johnson giving us the blues
When I say “we got”, you say “the blues”
We got – the blues, we got - the blues
After slavery, music was their favorite past time
Like Scot Joplin giving us ragtime
When I say “Rag”, you say “time”
Rag – time, Rag - time
Want to know how “American” music was made?
You have to start with the triangle slave trade
Enslaved Africans had their languages forbidden
But many things survived, especially their rhythms
Rhythms of the djembe, bata and shekere
Survived in reggae, samba, salsa and merengue
African influence in music remains still
You can hear it from Cuba to Brazil
Especially here in the United States
This element makes our music great
Find Africa all over, here’s an example
the Ngoni from Mali turned in to the banjo
The rhythms can be heard so easily
From jazz in new Orleans to go-go in DC
Begin with field hollas, slaves singing at work
The other kind of songs they sang were spirituals in church
The foundation of our musical recipe
African music is part of the American legacy
Freed slaves had music as their favorite past time
Like Eubie Blake giving us ragtime
When I say “rag” you say “time”
Rag – time, rag – time
Field hollas evolved into soulful grooves
Like Betsy Smith giving us the blues
When I say “we got” you say “the blues”
We got – the blues, we got – the blues
The next generation added some pizzaz
Like Louis Armstrong giving us the jazz
When I say “ we got” you say “the jazz”
We got – the jazz, we got – the jazz
The next generation got even more bold
Like Sister Rosetta Tharpe bringing us rock’n’roll
When I say “rock’n” you say “roll”
Rock’n – roll, rock’n – roll
The next generation took it more smoothly
Like Aretha Franklin giving us R&B
When I say “R &” you say “B”
R & - B, R & - B
The next we scrunched your face up like it stunk
Like George Clinton giving us that funk
When I say “give me that” you say “the funk”
Give me that – funk, give me that – funk
The evolution of music won’t stop
Like Roxanne Shante bringing us Hip Hop
When I say “hip” you say “hop”
Hip – hop, Hip - hop