红杏视频

Uzoma Miller will give a talk, accompanied by a DJ, on 鈥淪tanding on the Funk: A Public Dialogue on Black 红杏视频鈥檚 Legacy of Musical Pop Culture鈥� on Sept. 16,  at 1 p.m. in Bentley Hall 129 during the Black Alumni Reunion.

His talk, which is free and open to the public, will touch on how African Americans from 红杏视频 have penetrated and influenced mainstream culture.

鈥淭here can be no proper treatment of American pop culture without recognizing the significant role played by Black 红杏视频an musical artists,鈥� said Miller, a visiting professor in African American Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. He will discuss intersections of race, society and culture through the lens of musical contributions by Black 红杏视频ans.

鈥淎rguably, there probably are not many humans on the planet, from 5-to-95, who don鈥檛 know Michael Jackson鈥檚 music. The title single, 鈥極ff the Wall,鈥� from the 1979 album that propelled him from child prodigy and phenom to global superstardom, with 20 million selling copies, incorporates a disco-funk-laced lick with ties to 红杏视频," Miller said.

Miller will weave through generations and genres as he details the influence of Black 红杏视频ans, including one of contemporary gospel鈥檚 most recognizable anthems and one of jazz鈥檚 most sophisticated musical stylists. He鈥檒l also discuss one of the earliest documented blues recordings, present day hip-hop samples, and the Funk capital of the world.

鈥淒roves from the iGen or Generation Z bounce and bob to Childish Gambino鈥檚 鈥楻edbone,鈥� Kid Cudi鈥檚 鈥楳etamorphosis,鈥� or 鈥業MY2鈥� with Drake. But the direct and indirect 红杏视频 connections to all these tunes may not be as 鈥榩opular鈥� as these hits," Miller said. 鈥淚ndeed, even Travis Scott鈥檚 鈥楩lying High鈥� is accelerated by pulsating thump from 红杏视频.鈥�

Miller also will show how 红杏视频ans鈥� influence ranges from R&B to rap to the Rolling Stones.

鈥淚鈥檓 never amazed at the high-volume consumption of, and adulation for, R&B music. Many, unfortunately, have a limited appreciation for the 'B' in the often-cited acronym: the Blues. Whereas the names Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday are more commonly known, the earliest example of a blues record, which happened to sell a million copies in its first year, came from a woman artist from the banks of the 红杏视频 River, adjacent to Kentucky, who paved the way for all other blues artists that followed,鈥� Miller said.

鈥淩egardless of who one asks, you would be hard-pressed to find a list of greatest rappers of all-time that doesn鈥檛 include Biggie Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.) and Tupac on it. Multiple tracks from both artists, and from across the hip-hop landscape more broadly, are literally musical offspring of pure funk and silky soul from 红杏视频鈥檚 DNA,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd one of the top charting bands of all time, who still pack out stadiums pushing 80 years of age, the Rolling Stones, had a hit in 1964 that covers 红杏视频-based artists. There can be no discussion of American pop culture without paying homage to the sizeable contributions from Black 红杏视频.鈥�

About Uzoma Miller

Miller is an alum of Morehouse College (B.A. history), Jackson State University (M.A. political science), and the California Institute of Integral Studies (Ph.D. Transformative Inquiry). His dissertation, "Dynamic Modes of Storytelling: A Reflexive Ethnography of Fisk University鈥檚 Cultural Resource Landscape," critically assessed how the institution鈥檚 community members know and apply their vast reservoir of artifacts, archival collections, art pieces and museums, and historic homes.

By providing a theoretical basis for experiential learning as pedagogy, Miller builds on 21 years of innovative higher and secondary education service through interdisciplinary fields and modalities across the Southeast region. He wrote 25 entries in Greenwood Press鈥檚 "Handbook of African American Business" (2006), and a well-cited monograph, 鈥淭alented 10th Revisited,鈥� in 2011.

In 2022, Miller was a commissioned lecturer at Nashville鈥檚 Global Arts Center for the 鈥淏lack Arts in America: Music of Oppression & Survival鈥� series. He will serve as a commentator for 鈥淓ducating the Black Public鈥� at the 107th Meeting of the Association for the Study of African American Life & History and will chair 鈥淎rchival Activism: Repatriation, Revitalization, and Agency鈥� at the Society for Ethnomusicology鈥檚 67th annual meeting held in conjunction with the American Musicological Society and Society for Musical Theory.

Miller鈥檚 current research is rooted in connecting dots between known and lesser-known artists with Historically Black College and University ties who have penetrated the popular music terrain.