{"id":151847,"date":"2026-03-04T01:31:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T01:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151847\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T01:31:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T01:31:35","slug":"let-it-rock-the-kings-and-queens-of-black-alternative-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151847\/","title":{"rendered":"Let It Rock! The Kings And Queens Of Black Alternative Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When most people use the term \u201cBlack music,\u201d they\u2019re generally referring to hip-hop, R&B and jazz for the most part. However, you might be surprised to discover just how far-reaching our culture goes when it comes to the wide spectrum of music genres. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take punk rock, for example. Some names that come to mind when considering the purveyors of \u201camps-meet-angst\u201d might include Dead Kennedys, blink-182, Green Day and Black Flag just to get you started. However, despite the name of the latter and the presence of late great drummer D. H. Peligro in the former, none of the musicians in those aforementioned bands look anything like the pioneers who actually paved the way for rock music to even exist. <\/p>\n

However, that may soon change in 2026 with the rise of punk band The Paradox. Making a name for themselves by way of Atlanta, the melanated quartet garnered widespread attention recently following a social media shoutout for Black History Month to celebrate becoming the first all-Black band to reach the top of a Billboard Alternative chart. Their viral 2025 banger, \u201cGet The Message,\u201d has been gaining traction since arriving last summer on their debut EP titled NSFW.<\/p>\n

RELATED: 10 Country African American Artists You Should Know<\/a><\/p>\n

15 Afrobeats Artists You Should Know In 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

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A first for the charts indeed, but the history of Black alternative music is one that reaches far back with timeless hits by the pioneers. The term \u201crock n\u2019 roll\u201d can actually be credited as far back to 1922 with blues singer Trixie Smith and her song \u201cMy Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll).\u201d By the early 1950s, a sound was forming behind the term with the combined elements of high-paced tempo, palpitating rhythm, soulful vocals and distorted guitar all being borrowed from blues and soul and repackaged as \u201crock n\u2019 roll\u201d for the general market (read: a white audience).<\/p>\n

As we watch and pray for the young fellas of The Paradox to reach even greater heights in the punk rock realm, we had to take a minute and reflect back on the pioneers who made it all possible. You\u2019ll see how it all came about in the \u201950s with the likes of Little Richard, often credited as the \u201cArchitect of Rock and Roll,\u201d and the legendary godfather himself, James Brown. As the roll fell off and things simply became rock in the late 1960s, Jimi Hendrix makes his entrance into the game and becomes arguably the genre\u2019s most influential figure, regardless of race, with the only other artist on his level being the eternal \u201cQueen of Rock n\u2019 Roll\u201d herself, Tina Turner. Moving into the 1980s made for a range of Black alternative music from all aspects, be it more aggressive in the vain of Bad Brains or on the eclectic side closer to Prince and Lenny Kravitz. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s become way more of a mixing pot from the 1990s to now, but it never hurts to remember our roots.<\/p>\n

As you check out The Paradox\u2019s nostalgia-filled banger titled \u201cBender\u201d featuring blink-182\u2019s Travis Barker, keep scrolling for a look at the many Black kings and queens who paved the way for Black alternative music in general:<\/p>\n

James Brown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When most people use the term \u201cBlack music,\u201d they\u2019re generally referring to hip-hop, R&B and jazz for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[63420,63421,2538,9,24,63,122,124,123,63422],"class_list":["post-151847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-black-rock-icons","tag-black-rock-singers","tag-music","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-rock-n-roll"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}