Try free for 30 days

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Emancipation of Slaves Through Music cover art

The Emancipation of Slaves Through Music

By: Mathew Knowles PhD
Narrated by: Mathew Knowles, Jacqueline Burgess
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $16.99

Buy Now for $16.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

In The Emancipation of Slaves Through Music, music mogul Dr. Mathew Knowles presents a keen examination of the liberating effects of music on an oppressed people. By taking listeners on the journey of its secret use during slavery up through its eventual commercialization in the industry, he exposes the art form's true power. Between its informative sections, the audiobook explores the uprooting of Africans via the transatlantic slave trade and the evolving effect on the people and their music. We follow the boats where communication went from a loud moan to chants that stirred rebellion, on into acts of escape where a song might just signal a time to flee.

The music of those stolen people became a tool and a medicinal balm that usually carried a message of hope through struggle. Sections delve into songs behind rebellions and sorrow songs "that lead us to deeper understandings about modern rap and even dancehall chantin'". Here, the listener takes a ride on the melodic voices and rhythms seeking freedom for more than physical bodies from chains. The survival of an enslaved people's music through many tumultuous eras has allowed it to re-root into a musical culture like no other in history.

©2018 Music World Publishing, LLC (P)2020 Music World Publishing, LLC
  • Unabridged Audiobook

More from the same

What listeners say about The Emancipation of Slaves Through Music

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.