Motown and American Culture

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Motown and American Culture Motown, whose name derived from the Ford Motor Company, assembled the soul and pop classics that changed America under the leadership of Berry Gordy Jr. A former boxer and automobile worker, Berry Gordy was a songwriter when at he and his friend, Smokey Robinson, a songwriter ten years younger than Gordy decided to establish Motown Records. Motown aspired to bridge the gap of racial discrimination by producing music that could appeal to all people, regardless of the color of their skin. Through the creation of a distinctive soul sound with obvious elements of pop influence, Motown produced unique music featuring artists such as The Jackson Five, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and many others. Motown was a black-owned business that gave America something they just could not get enough of, some groovy music. Social and economic class being at the heart of the Motown enterprise from the inception of the company through the mid-1980s, is vivid through their upbringing of the lower-income African American people, their devotion to making music the younger social class, and their The Motown enterprise aimed to please the African American people who were at the bottom of the social and economic class. Motown associated their music with the black struggle by being the first record label ever owned by an African-American. It became a vehicle of black pride and self-expression. During Motown’s beginning period, their strength was their accessibility to the black community (41). Many black people were seeking new ways to make money because they were sick and tired of being employed by Ford Motors where there was little pay. Being a part of the Motown Enterprise also paved way for their voices to be heard in society. Furthermore, the Motown Enterprise kept the Black social class in their heart being that they

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