How Black Music Took Over the World

Why do Bob Marley, John Coltrane, Aretha Franklin, and Nina Simone move us the way they do? What drives the soulful notes of the Delta blues? What makes Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter inescapably great? How Black Music Took Over the World takes readers inside the vibrant world that underlies Black musical creation, demonstrating the impact that the musical inheritance of Africa has had on music today. Beginning with two rhythmic building blocks he calls the cell and the frame, musician, composer and cultural theorist Melvin Gibbs reveals Black music as an organised system of knowledge. Blending cultural history and musical analysis, he explores how Black music has shaped nearly every music genre on the planet, from carnival music in Brazil to rap ciphers in New York and global pop. How Black Music Took Over the World explores rhythm, vibration and movement to challenge Western musical hierarchies and offer new tools for understanding our musical heritage.

Melvin Gibbs is a Grammy-nominated songwriter, composer, and musician. He is the 2019 winner of the JazzTimes Critics' Poll for electric bass. His cross-disciplinary work encompasses an ongoing collaboration with the theoretical cosmologist Stephon Alexander and a long-term working relationship with filmmaker and conceptual artist Arthur Jafa. He splits his time between Brooklyn and Minneapolis.

Prelude Introduction Chapter 1: Barretta Chapter 2: Frequencies and Decibels Chapter 3: On the Subway Chapter 4: The Bassics Chapter 5: Stono's Children Chapter 6: Can't Stop Chapter 7: Problem Solvers Chapter 8: Changing Time with the Times Chapter 9: Paths Diverge Chapter 10: The Art of Dub and the Science of Groove Chapter 11: The Gringo Mestre Chapter 12: One Inimitable Sound Chapter 13: The Music of Black Science Chapter 14: Penumbras Chapter 15: The Future of Black Music / Recombination Continues