Black Music in Minneapolis: Prince and the geography of the Minneapolis Sound

Rashad Shabazz, associate professor of justice studies in ASU’s School of Social Transformation, presents the first College of Integrative Sciences and Arts Humanities Lecture for 2016-2017.

Shabazz's talk will look at the migration of black musicians to the Twin Cities in the years after the Second World War. More than just discussing history, his presentation will demonstrate how black musicians brought a number of sonic forces (sounds) with them from different parts of the county to create a unique musical style that the next generation adopted, perfected, and popularized.

"That sound we identify with Prince was not solely his," said Shabazz, "but rather it was the product of push and pull factors that brought Black people from all over the South who were escaping southern Jim Crow and looking for a better life." 

The annual Humanities Lecture Series provides the Downtown Phoenix community opportunities to analyze, discuss, and interpret current research and events in public discussions that help us understand and appreciate various points of view on political, social, and cultural issues.