Afro-diasporic links to crunk

The thing that struck me most about the Singing Fishermen of Ghana was the intricacy of rhythm. There was a drummer and someone with a bell of sorts creating complex, but steady polyrhythms. Then there was the slower simpler rhythm of the lyrical line and the beat keeping of the feet or the oars striking the water in time to the song. Everyone was participating in the rhythmic quality of the music in some way. I imagine the women, shown in clusters to the sides, were grinding food or weaving in rhytm as well. This reminds me of being in the club or seeing Top Notch freestyling, he is making the lyrics while someone else makes the beat and the others are there grooving or at least bobbing their heads.

There is a reason that ‘Black people have rhythm’ (and white people don’t) is a stereotype. I haven’t seen any rock and roll with such rhythm and, although I love it and dancing to it, electronica is so inaccessible to people in the club because there isn’t anything obviously rhythmic to cling on to. But take stepping, children’s games, worksongs, hip hop, even toasts have a rhythmic quality to them. The simultaneously complication and accessibility of rhythm is a core aesthetic of Afro-diasporic music.

I also noticed that the community/solo role in many ways seemed to parallel hip hop and other forms of Black music. It is clear that this is in line with Afro-diasporic tradition. Although the worksongs had more collective singing, there was still often a leader. This leader would sing a bit and then the chorus would join it. Then, at certain times, other people would take the lead for a few lines. This reminded me of how artists will bring in other rappers to do a verse. I think crunk in particular plays on that notion of bringing others in both to do a verse and having very singable choruses (who can resist singing along to an OutKast song chorus, or a Gnarls Barkley riff or sample?)