The HipRockSoul Project

THESIS:
Throughout the history of the music scene in America, there have been various sounds and genres. One can almost say that these different genres were like musical personalities. If music genres were people, Jazz would be effortlessly smooth and debonair. Country would be a hard-working homebody. Dance-slash-club music would be a loud personality, dressed in eccentric (probably European) colors and Soca/Dancehall would be a party animal.
Three sounds in particular have grown and evolved into powerful cultural forces in America and across the planet, forces that refuse to wane against the tides of time. Hip-Hop, which fights for the title as the Most Controversial Musical Genre is only a few decades old, but has revolutionized the culture at large. It currently stands as the one musical genre that has faced death and resurrection. Rock, which is deeply embedded in America’s fabric, constantly struggles with identity issues. Soul Music, the genre that blended the sounds of sanctification and sensuality, usually resides in the backdrop, yet still resounds loudly throughout the music scene today.
My thought is this: with three dynamic sounds such as these, what could possibly be the result of the trio’s amalgamation? In other words, is there a place in our iPods for HipRockSoul? It would seem that none of these sounds could survive without the other, but could the three exist in the same set of headphones?
In order to ask this question, we need to understand what each of the individual genres mean to us. Hip-Hop fans will need to be able to define the differences between Hip-Hop and Rap, as well as other questions. Fans of the Rock genre should be able to draw a decent line between which division of Rock they prefer, or if they like it all, inclusive of Punk/Metal/Acid/Adult Alternative Rock. Fans of Soul need to simply know the roots of it, and recognize it as an ancestor of R&B, and not an identical twin.
It would also be very important to understand the role of music in our lives. Some may see it as a extension of themselves, a necessity for day-to-day survival; others don’t see it nearly as important.
BIG QUESTIONS:
• Is the thought of HipRockSoul too abstract to be desired?
• What possible purpose could HipRockSoul serve?
• How to pay each individual genre/culture their deserved respect even in the midst such a sonic delivery?