Drake, The Weeknd, SZA, and Beyoncé are some of the many black artists that have broken through the noise of the industry. When looking at the most popular genres on top streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music in 2025, traditionally black dominated fields like Rap, Hip-Hop, and RnB are just a few of the many to show up.
Regardless of their current popularity, black music and artists weren’t always accepted in mainstream media. With roots in tribal music, African American music was seen as ‘unconventional’ and ‘sacreligious.’ Minstrel shows were used to mock the foreign instrumentation, and were used as a tool to otherize this part of black culture. Even though black music was suppressed and mocked throughout Western media for years, black artists still gave birth to a variety of genres of music, becoming the backbone and inspiration to the music many listen to today.
At West Albany High School, the population of white students make up about 73% of the total student body. Of the remaining non-white students, around 4% are black. This limits the representation people get at school each day.
“I was born in Louisiana, so I was around loads of people who were black,” sophomore Aubrey Edwards said. Growing up, Edwards moved from town to town, experiencing multiple different types of people and environments. “I lived in Atlanta for three months; that was like Black haven. It was so different.”
Edwards remembers being introduced to black artists when younger. Those personal moments gave her exposure she says made an impact on her.
“On long drives, we listened to black artists,” Edwards said. “Like Brent Faiyaz; we could go back to the 50s and listen to Delegation.”
Black artists helped empower Edwards to get through the hardship of growing up in predominantly white communities. “It’s hard living here and feeling not equal to your white counterparts sometimes.”
Edward listens to artists like Sade, whose lyrics resonate with her struggles. “It shows that black people actually have emotional intelligence; we’re not just idiots like a lot of people think.”
Though he grew up in rural Idaho, Corvallis local Chris Sherrod still had connections to his Southern heritage. Growing up, Sherrod was careful about what music he listened to around his friends. He was scared about their opinions because they didn’t listen to the same music as him.
“I love everything from Jazz, RnB, Soul, to Rock, Hip-Hop, [and] Heavy Metal,” Sherrod said. “At one age, I just decided this is the music that I love so I’m gonna listen to it.”
Even when surrounded by black culture from his family, growing up in a predominantly white area Sherrod saw music as an escape. “As a young kid of color who didn’t really have a counselor or anybody around to help express my feelings, music helped me.”
Now, he is an avid record collector with around 700 records in his collection. These include titles like “Voodoo” by D’Angelo, “Abbey Road” by The Beatles, and “Illmatic” by Nas; with staple artists such as Sam Cooke, Billie Eillish, The Rolling Stones, and NSYNC. “I think that I love everything because a lot of music was derived from African American culture,” Sherrod said.
Junior Mahmoud Rashid gravitates towards Rap and RnB music. Artists like Tyler, The Creator and Daniel Caesar are at the top of his list of favorites. Rashid has a deep appreciation for the complexity behind their music.
“It’s more lyrically deep than most other artists,” Rashid said, “[and] more musically complex.”
In comparison to other artists like Alicia Keyes, Frank Ocean’s musical creativity stands out to Rashid. “[Her] beats are very similar and the chords are structured very [similarly].” Frank Ocean, on the other hand, is experimental. “[He has] very uncanny chords, and his rhythms are very off tempo; the layering of the different voices is very unique voicing.”
To Rashid, Kendrick Lamar’s music has power because of his ability to talk about stories and experiences. Lamar’s album “To Pimp a Butterfly” is a comparison of the African American communities across America in comparison to the African culture in Africa. “It really highlights [that] while they’re both completely different in culture and background, we’re also one group,” Rashid said, “one identity.”
