The Rhythms of “Rock Creek Park”
November 04, 2025 at 03:48AMIn this essay, Charlotte Taylor Fryar traces the pulse of Washington, DC, through “Rock Creek Park,” the 1975 song by the Blackbyrds. The track, which Fryar calls “more row house than White House,” reflects DC’s Black identity and its demographic reality. “It celebrates a version of the city where people actually live and play and mess around at night, offering a contribution to DC history as intricate and layered as the ecology of the green space it describes,” writes Fryar. A vibrant exploration of place, history, and sound, the piece is part of Orion’s autumn 2025 hip-hop issue, guest-edited by Hanif Abdurraqib.
The Blackbyrds’ generic fluidity is, in part, the sound of DC—a reflection of the particular cultural and political currents swirling through the city in the 1970s. As the city’s Black population grew and the Black Power movement accelerated, a concerted push for greater self-determination for all Washingtonians culminated in the hard-won victory of home rule in 1973, which granted DC residents the right to elect their own mayor and city council after nearly a century of direct congressional rule. This fight for political autonomy fostered a sense of local pride and a desire to express a distinct DC identity, one undeniably Black. The Blackbyrds’ music embodied that desire. They were the sound of a city claiming its rights and selfhood—a sound that could move seamlessly from university halls to neighborhood block parties, celebrating Black artistry and the lived experiences of a community mostly—though not entirely—freed from under the paternalistic boot of Congress.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2025/11/03/rock-creek-park-dc-music/
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