Black artists, from St. Louis specifically, have contributed largely to shaping the music industry, pioneering new genres of music and setting the standard for what music has become today.
St. Louis, being a river city, carried many types of music and an abundance of new sounds up and down the river. One of the most prevalent genres of music in St. Louis was blues.
Some popular artists to come out of St. Louis include famous blues artists Henry Townsend and Bennie Smith. Townsend was born in Mississippi, but traveled to St. Louis to learn and perform blues. Smith was born in St. Louis and used his skills on the electric guitar to create what he called the “St. Louis Sound.”
Heavily inspired by blues, the genre R&B, or rhythm and blues, was created. R&B artists like SZA, a St. Louis native, have said that they have been inspired by jazz and blues artists. This inspiration can be heard throughout SZA’s music.
SIUE’s radio station, WSIE The Sound, was also inspired by St. Louis’ music history playing primarily jazz, blues and easy R&B. General Manager Jason Church expressed the importance of artists being influenced by other artists to form music as we know it today.
“[For example]: artists like Little Richard and Big Mama Thorton. You would not have [artists like] Elvis Presley without them. You would not have those artists without jazz or blues,” Church said.
Rock artist Tina Turner, is mentioned by Beyoncé as being one of her many musical inspirations. Often referred to as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Turner had her beginnings in St. Louis and later gained national acclaim, according to the official Missouri travel website.
According to the same website, Ike and Tina Turner bridged the gab between R&B and rock ‘n’ roll when they began performing together in St. Louis. They produced several hit songs that made it on to different charts for both R&B and rock ‘n’ roll.
Jazz, another genre made from a conglomeration of other genres, was based heavily in St. Louis. Born in East St. Louis, Miles Davis changed jazz for not only St. Louis, but the world.
“He had a huge impact on music in general. [Miles Davis] was well-known for jazz,” Church said. “He went through six different evolutions, [each genre] completely different styles of playing. [He] impacted several genres of music over the years.”
Breaking into the music industry was not without its difficulties for Black artists. Robin Boyce, associate director for corporate support at WSIE, grew up in St. Louis seeing racism stifle Black artists’ talents. Boyce said that these drawbacks have stopped many Black artists from reaching their potential.
“There was a time when Black artists could not play in certain places. I remember that clearly as a little kid … We have been traumatized by being told ‘no’ constantly,” Boyce said.
From the roots planted by many of these Black artists, music has been able to branch beyond the scope it did years before. Being able to expand the bounds of what music can be would not have been possible without the artists before them paving the way.
