American Music of the New Term Paper

Another category that is emerging for the next generation is the "reggae funk and jazz" category. This category of music harkens back to an earlier time of Bob Marley and other strong funk and reggae music. Even as the culture of today has become more uniform, there is a strong backlash now to have "chill" music. The rise of Gnarles Barkley signifies the birth of this new genre, with others such as Ray la Montaine showing that this genre has strong staying power. The key characteristics of this genre are that it takes reggae and jazz music to blend it together to make something that resembles modern pop. The music has much more beat and contemporary rhythm, yet it still carries the old feel of reggae music in its calming affect. The main difference in this genre is that the music has faster beats which makes it much more "hip" and fast to suit the next generation, but it still captures the soulful quality of past reggae and jazz music in that it stops us in our tracks and reminds us that their beauty in the world.The final category of music that is emerging in the new era is the "pop romance ballads." The emergence of this category is surprising in that there has never before been an era where love ballads were so commonly accepted as today. Artists ranging from Maroon Five, to five for Fighting and to the latest sensation James Blunt, all create almost exclusively love ballads. They are strong love songs that use the power of their voice and the melody to carry them without trying to mix in rhythm and beats. The defining characteristic of this genre is that it provides a new expressive form of love, and it redefines a generation of youth who we think are too tough and too disillusioned to believe in love......