African-American Music (Weekly Blog #7)

African-American music is a general term given to a range of musics and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans. Many of their ancestors were brought to North America as slaves, bringing with them polyrhythmic songs from hundreds of black African ethnic groups across West and sub-Saharan Africa. The joining in the Americas of African peoples from different regions and from multiple cultural traditions merged their music with influences from polka, waltzes and other European styles. African-American genres have been influential across socio-economic and racial groupings internationally, and has also become popular on a global level. African-American music and all aspects of African American culture are celebrated during Black History Month in February of each year in the United States.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_music