Azizi and Jerry Rasmussen, the off-beat and polyrhythmic clapping thing yall are talking about is called a backbeat (1 2 3 4 ). That's one of the defining rhythmic qualities of Black Gospel music. This offbeat rhythmic quality in Black Gospel is described perfectly below by the famous White Southern Gospel group, The Jordanaires...

Starting @ 2:05

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A short docu/history on Southern White Gospel if anyones interested


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White Gospel 04 (same clip from above)

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