Where do the names of music genres come from?

Attention music lovers!! Need a break from the horrors of the world? Take a second to learn about the hilariously dirty and bizarre linguistic origins of all your favorite music genres: Jazz, heavy metal, punk, rap, and rock! There’s also a surprise bonus one at the end 😈.

⚠️WARNING!! Risqué! NSFBP ~ Not Safe for Boring People⚠️

Okay, here we go!

🎷Jazz 🎷

The word “jazz” is said to come from “gism,” sometimes spelled “jizm,” which is as old as 1842, and means exactly what you think it means… just take away the M. (It’s jizz. It means jizz, guys. Now you know the origin of that word too. You’re going to learn a lot of things here, and it’s all in the name of history and science. So you’re good.)

But “gism” was ALSO, and likely firstly, “energy,” “spirit,” “vitality,” and “virality.”

This second meaning — liveliness and pep — was initially used in baseball in 1912, and then in 1915, it lent the name to the music genre. Later, “jazz” got some brand new sexual connotations (check out page 210 of this dictionary) alongside its musical meaning.

So, the next time someone tells you to “jazz up” your PowerPoint, call HR!

*There are debates on where “jazz” came from. Some say that it comes from “jasm,” which they argue is not at all connected to “jism” (even though they hold the same definition of spirit and verve 🤔)

But you should also know that there was also no standardized spelling in English until the 17 & 1800s, and even then, it took a long time for things to catch on. People used to spell things phonetically, which was an unhinged, chaotic mess. Think about the word “socks.” It could be spelled “socks,” “sox,” “sokz,” “soqs,” “socs,” “sacs,” and on and on. What a nightmare. Some people even spelled the same word differently throughout one text. And as the reader, it’d be on you to figure out what they’re saying. This could be one reason why there are different variations of the same word.

Though, until this day, we still don’t have a real, across-the-board standardized way of spelling in English! We kind of just go by popular dictionaries, and every English-speaking country has its own accepted way of writing things.

🤘Heavy Metal🤘

This has obviously been a term in chemistry for a super long time, but then there was this novelist, William S. Burroughs. He wrote some really wild stuff, but among his works, he wrote this book, “The Soft Machine,” in 1961.

This book was so crazy that a Turkish publishing company and translator faced obscenity charges for it in 2011.

In the book, there’s this alien race called the Uranians, or the Blue heavy metal boys. There’s even a character called “Uranian Willy The Heavy Metal Kid.” (Try putting that on a CV.) In a later novel of the same trilogy, Burroughs used the term “heavy metal” as a metaphor for addictive drugs.

Then, in 1967, people started using the phrase to refer to the music genre. Finally, in 1968, Steppenwolf used the term “heavy metal” in the lyrics of their hit song, “Born to Be Wild.”

🎸Punk 🎸

“Punk” didn’t get off to a great start in life. Originally “rotten wood used as tinder,” it then became “something worthless,” as well as “inferior,” or “bad.” I know, right? It was then used to refer to a worthless person, especially in regard to criminals.

Also, it was later used to refer to young boys and inexperienced people (imagine an internship ad looking for “jazzy punks”! 😂) Anyway, the “young criminal” definition is what inspired the name “punk rock.”

🎤Rap🎤

In Middle English, “rappe” meant a blow or a hit. But it was also a fart. Don’t look at me. Language is a science, guys. Just doing my job.

The term evolved and was used in a few different ways, one of them being to talk quickly or vigorously, like if your words were blows. The first recorded use of the word as the music genre was in 1979.

🥁Rock & Roll 🥁

This started off as a phrase used by people at sea, since boats tend to rock and roll back and forth. It later moved into popular language as a euphemism for sex. And also dancing.

It was Alan Freed, the American disc jockey, producer, and World War II vet, that popularized the term as a genre of music.

~ BONUS ~

✡️Klezmer✡️

Oh no!! KLEZMER?? KLEZMER is sexual?! The Yiddish dancing rabbi music?? How?? WHYYY?? Is nothing sacred?? You know what, don’t tell me! Don’t even tell me! Look away!!

It’s okay, meyne yidden! Klezmer is kosher. It’s SO bizarrely kosher that it actually just means “music.”

“Klezmer” is a combination of the Hebrew words “klei” and “zemer”, which translates to “musical instruments.” So when you say, “klezmer music,” you’re just saying “musical instruments music.” Ah, yes. Very creative. 10/10. Kosher Mehadrin.

Did you know the linguistic origins of any of these music genres? Let us know in the comments!