From Kendrick Lamar’s evocative halftime show at the LIX Super Bowl to Doechii’s moving speech and Beyoncé’s first-ever Album of the Year win at the 2025 Grammy Awards, Black culture continues to permeate the American music industry, integrating itself as part of the modern cultural zeitgeist. You might even have songs by artists ranging from Dionne Warwick to Childish Gambino on your go-to playlist.

The roots of Black influence in popular music dates back to the 19th and early 20th century, especially with the rise of gospel, jazz, and blues in the 1920s. ‘Race records,’ vinyls recorded by and sold to African-Americans in a still segregated America, garnered mainstream interest, even among White audiences. These genres, intrinsically linked to Black culture, began to permeate the general musical landscape—even Billboard made a separate Race Records chart. But by 1949, the magazine renamed the chart to Rhythm & Blues Records, solidifying the aforementioned genres into the R&B we know today.

As these genres found their way into the radio, though, their sound was molded to be more ‘palatable’ to White listeners. It was most evident during the rock and roll wave, as Little Richard and Big Mama Thornton’s songs became hits… performed by White musicians. Commercial networks aired covers of Black music by White singers, and rock and roll found itself being whitewashed as Black songwriters were paid dust as their art was monopolized by record labels to promote their White faces. “When this music becomes mainstream, it becomes disassociated from Black experience and Black context,” said cultural critic and professor Lisa Tomlinson.

Throughout the years, however, Black music continued to evolve and persist, permeating the arbitrary lines created by the concept of race records. The 1960s and 1970s saw genres like soul and motown gain widespread popularity through artists like Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, and The Jackson 5. Around the same time, disco began to infiltrate the underground nightlife scene of New York City, gaining prominence among the queer community through Black female artists like Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor. Meanwhile, the Bee Gees and Saturday Night Fever cemented its mainstream success, a continuing trend of Black music’s crossover into White popularity that seemingly blurred the racial lines of the musical landscape.

Come the 80’s, however, Black musicians began to fall out of charts again. Disco died down following Disco Demolition Night, an anti-disco rally-turned-riot. Rock bands like Queen, Bon Jovi, and Fleetwood Mac were back in style, but the members consisted of mostly white musicians. While artists like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Whitney Houston were catapulted into pop royalty, it seemed like the racial confines of music fell back in place.

Reagan’s induction into the Oval Office might have partly contributed, alongside the establishment of MTV around 1981. In an interview with David Bowie, where the singer accused MTV of not airing enough Black artists during prime times, then-host Mark Goodman admitted to ‘narrowcasting’ to Midwestern audiences who “will be scared to death by Prince or a string of other Black faces” in an attempt to play music that “fits what we want to play with MTV.” Goodman’s defense was MTV’s rock-leaning setup, which was dominated by White bands; however, if we look back to that era, artists like Tina Turner and Prince would’ve definitely fit the genre’s bill.

When the 90’s came around, it brought about the renaissance of Black music through hip hop and modern R&B. Whether it was the East versus West Coast rappers’ rivalry, girl groups like TLC and Destiny’s Child, or chart-toppers that range from Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine” to Missy Elliott’s “Get Your Freak On,” Black artists dominated the music industry alongside the rise of White pop—Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys, to name a few.

As these genres circled back, so did the trend of segregating Black artists, especially women. Confined to genres like R&B and hip hop, those wanting to migrate into commercial pop styles were often criticized for making music for White people. Only a select few, such as Rihanna and Beyoncé, managed to successfully transition into the pop sound. Yet, with a cultural shift toward hip hop, Black aesthetics were transferred onto pop artists as a marketing tool, evident from Christina Aguilera’s hairdo to Gwen Stefani’s styling.

In an interview with The Guardian, FKA twigs revealed:

“When I first released music and no one knew what I looked like, I would read comments like: ‘I’ve never heard anything like this before, it’s not in a genre.’ And then my picture came out six months later, now she’s an R&B singer.”

This statement solidifies the long history of racialized music genres that keep Black artists, especially women, away from diversifying their sound or artistry. One of the latest instances? Beyoncé’s criticism-riddled foray into country music.

The entertainment industry is certainly not the most friendly environment for Black artists, women especially. Between the unspoken racism and misogyny or an underlying craving for Black culture and aesthetics without paying proper homage to African-American people, the erasure of Black people are closely linked to Western colonialism and White sciences. An example is Sarah Bartmann, a South African woman whose body was put on display as a freak show attraction in 19th century Europe as an icon of primitive oddity, body politics, and fetishization of women of color. While cultural appropriation in the music landscape cannot be likened to Bartmann’s case, the underpinnings undeniably echo each other.

Social media definitely helped shape the diverse music taste of today’s global society, democratizing the media and dismantling the gatekeepers of the industry that excludes Black artists from gaining widespread recognition. The modern success of up-and-coming hitmakers like Tyla, Doechii, and Megan Thee Stallion is undoubtedly paving the way for a new crop of Black artists that will continue to reshape the way Black music is recorded, consumed, and experienced.

Additional Sources:

Collins, P. H. (2006) Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism. Taylor & Francis

Pendergast, T., Pendergast, S. (2013) St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Gale