ABSTRACT
The promise of a truly compound diaspora, even of a global culture, that could shift understanding of black cultural production away from the narrow concerns of ethnic exceptionalism recedes rapidly. The potential signified in the inner hybridity of hip hop and the outer syncretism of musical forms that makes Quincy Jones's synthesis plausible comes to an abrupt and premature end. The fragmentation and subdivision of black music into an ever-increasing proliferation of styles and genres has contributed to a situation in which authenticity emerges as a highly charged and bitterly contested issue. The role of music arid song within the abolitionist movement is an additional and equally little-known factor that must have prefigured the Jubilee Singers' eventual triumph. The preeminence of music within the diverse black communities of the Atlantic diaspora is itself an important element in their essential connectedness.
