Rivers of Rhythm

Follow along in the National Museum of African American Music's six episode series highlighting African Americans' impact on spirituals and gospel, the Blues, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, and Hip Hop presented by Renasant Bank.

Episode 6: Hip Hop

Like a rose that grows from a crack in the concrete, Hip Hop emerged from the street. Rap, rhythm, and poetry, metaphors, punch lines, rhyme schemes, and inner city dreams. Block parties with DJs playing funk field break beats, emcee chanting getting the people on their feet.

Episode 5: Rhythm & Blues

Rhythm and blues, R&B, a sensual blend of the best of African-American music, where the soulfulness of gospel and the blues meets the wild rhythms of jazz.

Episode 4: Jazz

Improvisation. Syncopation. Jazz. Born in the Big Easy, roots from the motherland, Caribbean rhythms and European influences. An ever-expanding expression of art and freedom with an enduring legacy. Unconventional, uncompromising- Jazz.

Episode 3: The Blues

The seeds of the blues were buried long ago, planted in the music of Africa, but harvested in the fields of the deep south.

Episode 2: Spirituals and Gospel

Because of the central importance that music played in African cultures, and that continued to play in African American cultures, religious music was a crucial part of that religious experience.

Episode 1: The Music of Africa

Historians and Black artists reflect on the impact the early music of Africa has had on our music today. They explore the origins of call and response, improvisation, distortion, instrumental voicing, and oral tradition.

Rivers of Rhythm Trailer

Follow along in The National Museum of African American Music's six episode series highlighting African Americans' impact on spirituals and gospel, the Blues, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, and Hip Hop presented by Renasant Bank.