Are blackness and whiteness useful concepts in the study of popular music

Blackness and whiteness are useful in identifying where music originated from. Although, it is very difficult to distinguish between black and white music as there are so many different genres and covers of songs that have been written by a white person and sung by a black person, does that make the music black or white? Issues such as class and location have a greater relevance in the study of popular music. In the early 20th Century there was a clear divide between what was black and what was white. Race is not a major factor anymore; it is merely a guideline for the creation of popular music. Popular music is a ‘mixture’ of styles and cultures and has a long history which is difficult to track in terms of race. These concepts do not address the emotion and social issues that created the music in the first place, whether made by black or white.