CROSSOVER

noun and adjective Sometimes written cross-over (Music) (People and Society) noun: The process of moving from one culture (or especially from one musical genre) to another; something or someone that has done this (specifically, a musical act or artist that has moved from a specialized appeal in one limited area of music into the general popular-music charts). adjective: (Of a person) that has made this transition from one culture or genre to another; (of music, an act, etc.) appealing to a wide audience outside its genre, sometimes by mixing musical styles. Etymology: The noun is formed on the verbal phrase cross over and has been used in a number of specialized senses in English since the eighteenth century. The cultural sense here is perhaps in part a figurative application of the genetic crossover (one of the word's specialized senses, in use since the early years of this century), in which the characteristics of both parents are displayed as a result of the crossing over of pairs of chromosomes. History and Usage: Since the sixties, crossover has been used in politics (especially in the US) in relation to the practice or tactic of switching votes from the party with which one is registered to another party--for instance in a State primary. Within the music industry crossover was being used by the mid seventies in relation to records in the country charts which were tending to cross over into popular music generally, and it was not long before this process became more generalized, for example as various Black sounds acquired a more general appeal to White audiences. In the eighties, crossover was one of the favourite words of the music industry and there was plenty of scope for its use, as soundtracks from films and television series increasingly figured in the charts and the big names of classical music ventured into middle-of-the-road and easy listening recordings. In the broader cultural context sociologists use crossover to refer to the way in which people from one ethnic background consciously leave their roots culture for another, more prestigious one; this has led to an extended use of crossover in relation to fashion, as ethnic cultures acquired high prestige and became fashionable in Western society. Other extended uses of the word included actresses crossing over from theatre to films and even a supermarket which had gone over to wholefoods to cash in on the new green culture of the late eighties. 'I think the crossover has already started happening', says Salman Ahmed. 'This year I've noticed a lot of white and coloured kids at the shows...' Within the world of bhangra there are mixed reactions to the idea of crossover. Sunday Telegraph Magazine 22 May 1988, p. 38 It showed the group making the crossover from deft-but-faceless R&B outfit to 'far out' funkers. Q Dec. 1989, p. 169 Blame prefigured what fashion mood critics would soon call 'crossover culture'--the white mainstream's fresh infatuation with black style. Vogue Sept. 1990, p. 87