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The-Dream On Why We All Need R&B

Frannie Kelley

The-Dream: Why We All Need R&B

The-Dream performing in New York City in May. Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images hide caption

The-Dream performing in New York City in May.

The singer and songwriter Terius Nash writes and performs under the name The-Dream. Over the past decade he's had a hand in some of the biggest pop songs on the Billboard chart: Justin Bieber's " Baby ," Rihanna's " Umbrella ," Beyonce's " Single Ladies " — the list goes on. But when The-Dream writes music for himself, he makes R&B, which he says is "the closest point to the reality of love that there is." He says the decline of the genre since the '90s is a shame, because we all need it. "You need it because that's real life. So, when you take real life out of a song, suddenly we're dancing to a song that doesn't mean anything," he says. "Like after I leave the club, then what?"

The-Dream spoke to All Things Considered about "Too Early," one of the songs on his latest album, IV Play . Hear the radio story by clicking the audio link on this page, and read more of his conversation with NPR Music's Frannie Kelley below.

Can you describe the difference between R&B and pop?

Tempo is probably a different thing. Pop, of course, is short for popular music, and what I consider pop would be probably more so who's singing it versus the type of style. So, it's whatever is popular at the time and whoever is popular most of the time.

That can be altered, of course. There are certain records I've called hip-hop/R&B that Rihanna's put out lately — one being " Birthday Cake ", a second one being "Pour It Up," which is basically a pop diva singing these more ratchet, cultural hip-hop records. But because of her stadium status, she kind of makes it pop. But it's not a pop song — basically, tempo drives what's going to be pop at the time. It's usually these songs that, in a certain point in time, doesn't really talk about that much, if you think about it. Yeah, so that's pop to me. It's not really a message.

But you make R&B.

Definitely, on occasion.

Do you think of yourself as a songwriter or a singer?

A songwriter. A singer — I'm actually just more of an extension of what the instrumentation is. So me being a record producer, I'm always just trying to fill in the gaps. Always think melody first and tone — like, I love tones. I've never been the super controlling singer. I can't control my voice. I definitely wouldn't give Beyonce a run for her money, at all. Not even on my best day. I'm a singer by trade because that's my genre of song that I release. But it's more emotion and feeling when it comes to me, in tone and texture of how to create a record purely based in emotion.

That's the goal? To make a record?

Yeah, that's my goal, always. However you wanna feel. If I wanna feel like I'm in the club and falling in love with a girl, that's how I want to feel — when I leave that song out for people to listen to it. If I wanna make a song that I'm angry about a break-up, I want to make sure I get to the feeling.

It isn't about what I'm doing, vocally. It's about the whole mood and whether I'm able to change that. It's my tone here, where I'm talking, where it's more inductive to saying, "I feel tired. I'm probably miserable. I'm probably in this sad place," versus, "Hey! How's everybody doing? We in the club and I'm crunk and yeah, yeah get it going!" That's what I'm trying to do, but vocally I didn't have to do anything. It's just uplifting and, I guess, downshifting your emotions at a certain point.

How do lyrics play into that?

Lyrics play into it because it's the artist's storytelling. For me, being from the South, it's just always been a — you never know exactly how much you're into storytelling because it's such a regular thing.

Just growing up with my grandfather — him telling stories. It's gonna be a joke and you're gonna laugh and, "Oh my god!" "She beat me all the way home!" And you're like "Ah, that's so funny" and he has this way that he sets it up — it's almost like watching a comedian set up their lines, like, "OK, where's he going with it, where's he going with it?" So, it's the same way with songwriting; it's starting with, "Where's he going with it? Where's he going with this?" And by the time I get to the hook, you should know. Basically, that's how my songwriting thing goes.

I'm reading R. Kelly's book Soulacoaster , and he tells a similar story. He had a really hard time reading, which he thought was weird because he loved words. And he would listen to each of his family members tell stories their own way, distinct from each other.

That's probably exactly what I'm talking about. Like, yeah, you don't know that. You have no idea that that's going on because it's just regular, until you start singing and writing for others and then you're like, "Oh it's a gift. I had no idea."

Was that how it was for you, when you were younger?

Yeah, there's just so many stories, man. And then, I started to have my own, so now I tell stories about myself when [I was] younger. I would fall, or something crazy happened with a girl or something, and I have this whole setup thing and this roundabout way. I set the premise, but the conclusion — I know immediately what I'm going to talk to and what I'm trying to get back to — but I set it up and I go all the way around to keep you interested, just long enough and BOOM there's the hook and it's like "AAAhh that's funny!" Like I said, it's like a comedian; you just have to have that explosion at the end.

A lot of your songs are funny, that's on purpose?

Yeah, definitely. I have a pretty good sense of humor.

What do you want people to do when they hear your songs...like how do you want them to feel?

It depends on what mood they're in. I want them to feel like how I feel, and that's it. The only thing I can give you, as far as me being an artist myself, is my own artistry and where I am at that particular time. And either I can bring you into that place, or I can lock you out of it. But it's going to be a very simple choice — you're not going to think, "Eh, I don't know what he's talking about." You're either going to say, "I know exactly what he means," or "Wow, I've heard that before, but I've never been there."

So they're really personal.

Then how do you decide — do you write for yourself differently than you write for other people?

Yeah. Because we all go through different things. Kelly Rowland has a record I've just written for her called " Dirty Laundry ," and it's personal to her. But because of — whether [it's] storytelling [or] emotion — I probably understand how to rely the message, where people can feel attached to it and say exactly what I just said. Like, "Yo, I know exactly what she means," or "I know somebody that went through [that], so I heard it through hearsay." So it's different, but it's still the same; you're still attacking the same emotion. I literally have to wake up and be the person that I'm working with, whether that's Mariah, or Beyonce, Celine Dion. I have to wake up.

Justin Bieber.

Justin Bieber. I have to write "Baby." I have to be the teen guy who goes out there and gets all the girls.

In your work process, do you separate when you work with someone else and when you're writing for yourself?

I probably would love to, actually, if that could happen. If it actually happens. That never happens now.

When I started with my first album, Love/Hate , I had a lot of time to just do me. And I don't mean that it took a while to do it. It's just — I had time to work the record, I had time to do my interviews and do my stuff. And so, those things you think about before, when you're doing an album, when you have the time for it, versus trying to control what you hear in your mind and say, "I can write an album basically today, but when would I actually be able to put it out?" Because I'm working with Beyonce next month and then I'm working with Mariah after that. So you hold it in, and you wait four months, and then you come back and you're like, "Well, I have a better idea now."

So it's a mess.

Yeah, a beautiful mess.

Let's talk about some of this stuff as it relates to "Too Early." Tell me about the emotion that you want to convey with that song.

It's like having the argument [with your] significant other — I'm going to say a girl because I'm a guy and it's usually how it goes from a personal experience. You're having an argument, and it's 6 pm. You have a good chance of getting over that argument and it's going to be OK by the time you go to sleep. 9 o'clock, the same thing could happen. You could have an argument, maybe about food or whatever it is, your choice of food or "Why didn't you want to go out with me?" or whatever it is. But, you have enough [time] to make up before you go to sleep.

Too early in the morning means when you wait 'til that hour, like something's been bothering you and you wait 'til like 2 am in the morning, and then you wanna start the argument, it's just too early. People have jobs, they got things to do. Now we're gonna fight, we can't make up. It's going to set the tempo for the next day. And that's tiresome in itself and it's like, "Oh, god." So, that's what this song is; it's too early in the morning to break up, then make out. It's just like, no.

How do you convey that, then, with your textures and your tones?

You just hear my frustration of where I am and how I've been thinking of things all the time. This guy's been working all week and he's sitting there and basically, she's kind of run over him all the time, and he's just too tired to really do anything about it. He doesn't want to leave. If you pick a fight with him, it's not going to go anywhere. But there's a window of opportunity for him to leave, and depending on when you pick that fight, it could mean he could stay and y'all can make up and make love, or you can wait 'til 2 am in the morning and he'll probably leave and ride off into the sunset. So, that's exactly what this record is. It's very simple but [it] happens to a lot of people. I've heard.

There's also a climax to the song. How does that work harmonically?

Wow. I have this – once we get to the hook, actually — this church type of harmony that goes on, and I layered it, man. I was channeling my earlier church days, when I used to go to the country in Hawkinsville, Ga., with my grandfather, and these guys get up and sing. And these are guys that sang hymns, like the old-school ones that are basically still sewed into my brain.

They would have these harmonies that move a certain type of way. You would think – the harmony from one key to another on the keyboard is one thing, but vocally, the pain of a Southern church harmony from probably the 1800s, has this slave type of feeling to it and it's just hurt. And that's what the climax is. The climax is that much hurt.

And wrapping that up into this song and saying, "That's how hurt I am, that you started this at 2 am in the morning, and I have to leave because this hook that I'm about to sing." And that's not even what I'm going to say; the harmonies themselves explain the hurt and the feeling.

How does it feel in your body when you hear a harmony like that?

It's hard to explain. It's definitely more spiritual — why I would be doing music in the first place, if I didn't get goose bumps and stuff? We're so excited, all of us — we're like kids. If it's me and another music producer, or — Beyonce does this all the time. We'll look at each other and be like, "Oooh, that harmony! Let's add it, let's add it." We're like these kids that just found out that you can mix the packs of Kool-Aid – mix the powder with the sugar, and just eat it straight. We used to do it as kids — I have no idea why we used to do that. But that feeling of childlike – childhood — finding something for the first time.

You can do that with harmonies time and time again. It's not like it's going to be a different note invented that we didn't know about, but it's this crazy thing that just keeps happening that you're so happy and adamant about. Like, wow. I literally go into different songs looking for the note that's missing, whether it's a major or minor chord, especially on this album on the song "Crazy." I do something at the end where I come out of, I think, a minor chord and go into a major for about a bar and a half and it's just — it feels like the sun is rising, without me having to say that in the lyric.

With music and with harmony it's just one of those things, man. Yeah, I can't even explain it. It just makes me feel alive, I guess.

You've said that you think "Too Early" is different from what else is out there, and that you've done this before: put out a song to see if people are ready for something different. How is "Too Early" different from what else you're hearing, or what we're about to hear?

What I like to say is that I change, or try to change, peoples' minds one song at a time. I did it before the song " Fancy ," which sounded more [like] alternative R&B, on my previous album. I always like to take that risk of [putting out] a song that is great to me — I know it's different, but I know it has a hook, so I'm not afraid of it at all. But musically, I like to just get it out.

I just push it out and roll it out and see where people are, just to check. Like, "Are you guys here yet? Or are we still in the no nonsense?" The quickie — I call it the quickie time period – of "I don't want to think about what I'm listening to, I don't want to be wrapped up in it. I just want it to be far away in the background." Most people think of songs that way.

And you have the others who want the songs to literally describe their lives, and be their ridealong buddy — you know, ride shotgun with them along the way. "Too Early" is one of those stand outs for me. It's different, not because I can't do it — I would love to do it all the time, especially something like that live, and do like nine of those songs — but it's different from my genre, which is not that accepting of those type of songs, because of a lot of things. Tempo probably being the first one.

What are some of the other things?

Tempo, the feature itself — it features Gary Clark, Jr., who's not — immediately you think of me, you think of urban radio. He doesn't have a song on urban radio right now. You think of the people I sell to, who have no idea who Gary Clark, Jr., even is. So with just those things, and even introducing him into that place, you know, it's not like I get really anything out of it other than to test people's intellect when it comes to music — and how it shouldn't probably be a box anyway.

You tried to get B.B. King on it? What happened with that?

B.B. King is very, evidently, sought after. He's working. Yeah, still. Of course, I kind of imagined that, like, duh, it's B.B. King. That doesn't take anything away from Gary Clark at all. I'm quite sure he would say like, "Ahh, that's B.B. King." It was me trying to introduce B.B. King also the same way, because I know a lot of people from my genre like, "Who is that?" Like psssht. They wouldn't know. He doesn't have any tennis shoes and a cult just so you can remember him for years. It's not like Jordan where, even if you didn't see him play, he's everywhere.

B.B. King was my first thought when I heard the song because I just heard Memphis in it and I just heard Tennessee and this play — it's kind of a rock and roll vibe. And I remember seeing B.B. King in Adventures in Babysitting — it's kids and they're on this adventure and they're lost and stuff. And they go into this juke joint, or something like that, and B.B. King is there and he's like, "Nobody leaves here without singing the blues." I haven't seen it since probably '94, but I remember the feeling of them saying, "This is what the blues is. This is what it feels like." And so immediately, regardless of whatever happened in that movie years ago, B.B. King comes to mind.

But to introduce Gary Clark is more exciting for me because he's new, in a way. Not only to the people that are listening to him now, but to me — to be able to be this close to him. Because even though I had heard of him, it wasn't a thought for me to work with him.

Who would you consider your forefathers?

Oh wow. Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Michael, Prince and R. Kelly.

Tell me about why for each of them.

I think the pain of the '60s, with Otis and Sam and the placement of their times in my life through my mother — so basically, it's early '80s. So, '81? I'm like four years old and your mom's playing that and you're like — your brain is pounding. There's nothing you can do it about it; you don't have any control over what you listen to. So basically it starts your DNA of what it is. Between those two and church, it's basically the same thing. Of course, Sam Cooke started in the Soul Stirrers, which was a church group, before he started singing contemporary R&B.

Michael, because — for obvious reasons. He made music come to life visually, and because we were in a time of television, that has the impact — it's the highest pop prop for music period. Whatever dance he was doing, it was like, "Oh, that goes with what the song is." He was drawing lines, like where there were probably gaps before, but using TV to do that, which his predecessor, James Brown, at [one] time was doing. [Brown] didn't have the advantage of being able to make a Thriller and do that type of thing, but I think [he] could have done it if he was born at a different time.

Prince I would say because of his cult-like standing, where it's, like, against the machine — I'm pop for all the wrong reasons, and that's what I love about my own music. I want to be that for all the wrong reasons. The view of the world in this place, and trying to pretend beside the machine and be cool with it and it's like, I don't care. I'm me, and you either take me for who I am or beat it. Like Michael.

R. Kelly because of — as a teenager in high school, and watching everybody react to what his music was at that time. And actually, Jodeci at the time, but more so R. Kelly because he was a single individual. The feeling of love, and being excited about it being cool and dark. You get to high school, and sex, at some point, becomes the topic of conversation for everybody. It's just reality. And he was the guy at that time, so you can't block it out — he's the guy that's bumping and grinding — so I guess he's my guy.

What is it about the '90s? You've said what they mean for you personally, but why do all of us keep going back? Why did it even stop?

I'll tell you why. MP3 interrupted what R&B was starting to be. It's like taking an engine out of something and saying, "Now drive your car really fast." It's not going to happen. It's the same thing that I deal with now. It takes a lot to put a 5-piece band on, even though we need it. We need those harmonies; I need those four background singers — not because I can't sing but because I need to relay the message of what the song is emotionally, or the feeling, period. [From] a money standpoint, it didn't really affect hip-hop — they could still keep going. You don't need a band to do hip-hop; you only need a DJ.

That money — when it goes away, you can't put on that show, which is where we are now. We can't put on that show unless we make it somehow to a big awards thing and then, of course, that means your favorite R&B artist at some point better do an up-tempo record, or an electric record, so they can get there to perform. Other than that, someone like me is probably never going to perform on that stage unless there's a certain person that's sitting there that hears a record and says, "I'm putting this on regardless. I don't care where it is on the radio, I'm just going to put it on." But then, that's a far cry, that's like lightning in a bottle.

MP3 interrupted what R&B was turning into, so that's why we're going back. We kind of tried to fix it and technology is helping us out a lot, but it's pretty hard to duplicate the fullness of what R&B had become at that time, and mood, with so little, whereas in hip-hop and rap and EDM and all those guys, they can do it with basically nothing.

What do we lose when we don't have it?

It's the same thing you lose when you put food in the microwave: certain nutrients, vitamins and all of the stuff that actually works. Yeah, sure, that pie is hot and it's good — it's probably cold in the center, though, when it comes out of the microwave versus you putting it in the oven and allowing it to take its time and cook and be patient. And that's what R&B is; it's a patient practice. It's really that to me, a patient practice, and it depends on if people like what they're putting into their hearts and bodies.

Where and when do you want people to listen to your songs?

Where ... [laughs]. It's definitely not a good time to listen to my songs if you're with the mother-in-law. Or the father-in-law. Unless your father-in-law is really, really cool and you can get away with it.

It's a very relationship based. It's the experience of two people that are together. It's like that couple that you kinda think is kinky, but you don't know, and you shouldn't know. And as soon as the doors close, there's a pole that comes out of the ceiling and then lights come on and you're like, "Oh my god I had no idea my neighbors were freaks, this is crazy." Mostly everybody's like that, but you just never know and you shouldn't know.

The best time to play my record probably would be while you're in the mood with your girlfriend or boyfriend, vice versa. And just let go, and search that inner freedom of --what did I say? I said, yesterday, wanting to live and wake up and destroy my life in the best way possible. And everybody was like, "What do you mean 'destroy?'" Because the word destroy means to take away and I'm like, "No, not to blow up, not to leave life tomorrow in a bad way — destroy all of the premise that is set for the day."

We're supposed to have a hard day. Work is supposed to be long, somebody's going to irritate us. I want to destroy all those things in the best way possible, with some type of happiness and some type of love where I feel great at 7 and 8 o'clock at night and say, "Oh my god, I had a great day! I destroyed the day." All of those things which I knew would happen, and do happen on an everyday basis, especially for your people who are at work — I wanna wake up one day and have that time where I can fend off all of that and be fine, and be a hero. Like this ratchet sex hero.

Why does R&B matter? Why do we need it? People feel deeply about it. Where does that care come from?

Because it's the closest point to the reality of love that there is. It's the closest point. Other music and genres, they're slightly – from R&B, there's a big gap of how close love is involved in the song. That's what rhythm and blues is based on; it's based on love and heartbreak. You need it because that's real life. So, when you take real life out of a song, suddenly we're dancing to a song that doesn't mean anything, that has nothing to do with my life after this. Like after I leave the club, then what?

And that's what those great storytelling songs of the older days — when R. Kelly would do that and tell those stories and you're like, "Oh, man." That's what "Dirty Laundry" is. It's a song for real, it's not like, [sings] "I was at the club last night and I met my girl and she told me she loved me and I kissed her on the cheek." That never happens to no one else ever. It's like, what are you talking about?

If you take R&B away, you take away the feeling of one human being to another. You take away so many things. You take away the passion, and the love. And once you get out of R&B, actually, even if you're dealing with tempo records, that's still just about your love for music. It has nothing to do with human contact. Like, at all. It's just, "Oh man, we're getting off on this thing, and we're doing our thing, and these instruments, they are crazy." But what are you talking about?

R&B is a conversation that you should be able to sit down and have; that's what "Single Ladies" was. Even though it began to be a pop record, melodically, because its tempo was — underneath it all, it was a conversation about "When are you going to marry me? Because if you don't, I'm going to go over here and then, you're going to be talking about it later. What are we doing?" And that's what it was, it was summed up in that: What are we doing? Because Beyonce just told you, you better put a ring on it.

You lose that whole conversation. It never happens. So we're just walking and living with each other, like never having any type of — and it's like reading about Osiris and how he used music back in the day from the Egyptian god, how he used music to civilize the world. Like, that's the point. You have to try and stay civilized, though, and you can't really do it without the genre of R&B because it's the closest thing to that.

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Essay about the Role of R&B Music in Culture

It is normal for college students to find it difficult to understand an essay topic. But the big issue is how to write an essay according to the instructions of the paper. An essay topic related to the role of R&B music may pose a little challenge. Students often need a well-written sample to get the perfect picture of what to write. If you are a student with a similar topic, go through this sample essay, and use it as a guide.

Sample Paper: The Role of R&B Music in Culture

Music connects human beings irrespective of culture, ethnicity, or race, and this has become accepted in many regions of the world. Rhythm and Blue or R&B is of African-American origin born popular in the 1940s but has a growing fan base in contemporary times. The role of the R&B lies in connecting with the people, expressing personality, and asserting cultural freedom.

Rhythm and Blues provide the avenue for musicians in this genre to find expression and connect with the people of a particular culture. Like every human on earth, these musicians have encountered life problems. They face racial discrimination and continuous harassment from law enforcement agents.

Since R&B had its origin from the Black experience (Shaw 71), the emotional connection is often intense. An example of the experience that triggers the same emotional expression is the case of Trayvon Martins. George Zimmerman shot and killed Martins on February 26, 2012. R&B uses an incidence like this to find expression and create a familiar voice, especially for the black community.

The intimacy and the ability to relate to the content of R&B music play an essential role in culture, especially in black communities. Most musicians in this genre use their songs as a platform for passing a message or expressing their personal beliefs.

Although it can turn into a civil movement or used for political propaganda (Higgins 1), in some cases, it has a humanizing end. Imagine how influential the voices and personality of R&B musicians would be in a time of the global pandemic. These powerful voices can make governments begin to care for the masses. Thus, the outcry will yield better healthcare and lasting infrastructure.

Freedom to live and practice inherited culture can come under threat by social and political forces. R&B, and the movement it drives, can be a force for good and help in liberating cultures considered to be less civilized.

Limited understanding of the culture of other people can cause social frictions and the inability to live in harmony. With well-written lyrics and well-presented songs, R&B can articulate the grievances by lesser cultures. This will unite different cultures and generate mutual understanding and respect for all cultures of the world.

The role of R&B music in culture goes beyond the melody, sweet voices, and instrumentals. It connects people who share a common history, presents an avenue to pass global messages, and becomes a tool for racial and ethnic freedom. With the discouragement of the use of arms and ammunition and the approval of non-violent means, R&B can use its popular music genres to forge unity and understanding between cultures.

Rounding Off

Once you have written your essay according to the above format, you should go ahead to choose a style of reference. If you look at the sample essay, you will notice some in-text citations. This is in the MLA style or Modern Language style, but you may pick APA style or ASA style depending on the requirements of the paper.

Some supervisors give students the freedom to choose the style of their choice. The important thing is to pay attention to the instructions for the paper. The lack of following instructions can lead to a failed paper. Thus, you will lose the efforts and money spent.

It is impossible to downplay the importance of proper research, as this serves as the bedrock for an excellent paper. There are many offline books and tons of online resources that can serve as authentic sources of information. When you gather the necessary ideas and materials, writing an essay on R&B will be easy.

The reason most students claim to not get materials for their essay is that they did not search in the right places. Google Scholar and JSTOR Research are some of the right places to find materials for academic research.

The bottom line is to view the sample essay, take note of the thesis statement, and understand how to write the topic sentence and detailed explanation of each point in the paragraph. But sometimes the pressure of academic work can be overwhelming, or you needed to come to terms with the technicality of essay writing. At that point, you may seek help from AffordablePapers to get your essay written for you at a reasonable price.

Reference(s)

1. Tell It Like It Is: A History of Rhythm and Blues

Curled from https://folklife.si.edu/talkstory/2016/tell-it-like-it-is-a-history-of-rhythm-and-blues

2. The Origins and History of R&B Music

Curled from https://www.liveabout.com/what-is-randb-music-2851217

3. Category: R&B

Curled from https://official.fm/rb/

4. How Modern R&B Revitalized Pop Music

Curled from https://www.udiscovermusic.com/in-depth-features/modern-rnb-revitalised-pop-music/

5. Rhythm and Blues’ influence on Pop Culture

Curled from https://prezi.com/pf2hsd-bwfhf/rhythm-and-blues-influence-on-pop-culture/

6. R&B CULTURE

Curled from https://prezi.com/tpv5nhfoz5ls/rb-culture/

7. The History Of R&B Music

Curled from https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-history-of-r-b-music#/

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The evolution of R&B: from the 90s to now

R &B, along with hip-hop, are arguably the two biggest genres of contemporary mainstream music. Nowadays they are arguably interchangeable. Their rise to becoming the most popular genres amongst our generation is an almost 50-year journey beginning in the 90s and culminating with the stardom now enjoyed by prominent R&B artists, such as Lizzo and The Weeknd.

30 years ago, 1990 was a major turning point for R&B. The R&B singles chart in America became known as ‘Hot R&B singles’ in October of that year, after eight years of being called the ‘Hot Black Singles’. The significance and root of this racial label is clear; R&B was considered a genre listened to specifically by black people. R&B’s transcendence beyond racial lines in the present shows that there has been a clear, and much welcomed, shift in the way in which society tries to label everything.

At the beginning of the 90s, R&B was heavily infused in the sub-genre of new jack swing: an amalgamation of 80s R&B and hip-hop production techniques. Examples of new jack swing songs from this time are Michael Jackson’s ‘Remember the Time’ and Whitney Houston’s ‘I’m Your Baby Tonight’.

R&B traded in the slow-jams and chill vibes of the late 90s for funkier and more upbeat sounds with faster tempos

In 1995, Mariah Carey, who was the most popular mainstream singer of the time thanks to her pop ballads, gained more creative control over her artistry and opted to produce more R&B orientated music. The executives at her record company were very wary of her transitioning into full on R&B as it wasn’t considered commercially bankable at the time. When she revealed she wanted to include rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard on the lead single for her album that year, they thought she was deluded to believe people would enjoy an R&B/hip-hop hybrid song. The single, ‘Fantasy’, made her the first ever woman to debut at the top of the charts and she stayed there for eight weeks. Her gamble paid off and ushered in a new era for R&B, the hip-pop hybrid, that went on to influence other famous songs featuring both R&B singers and rappers such as ‘Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems’ by The Notorious B.I.G., and ‘Crazy in Love’ by Beyoncé and Jay-Z.

At the beginning of the 00s, R&B traded in the slow-jams and chill vibes of the late 90s for funkier and more upbeat sounds with faster tempos. Some 90s artists like Aaliyah and Mariah Carey were able to embrace the change for a new era that kicked off with dance infused R&B tracks like Ciara with ‘1, 2 Step’, and Chris Brown with ‘Run It!’. The new century also saw the debut of Rihanna, who emulated the dance infused R&B genre with songs such as ‘Pon de Replay’, but later on experimented with more genre-bending R&B songs such as ‘California King Bed’ and ‘What’s My Name?’.

Beyoncé is still an R&B artist, albeit one who has mastered the art of genre-fluidity

It was the 10s that marked the advent of classic R&B’s death. Up until this point, R&B had evolved drastically but there was still a common sound connecting all these different eras and movements. 00s artists such as Justin Timberlake and Alicia Keys were still able to top the charts at this time with hits such as ‘Suit & Tie’ and ‘Girl on Fire’ respectively. The beginning of this decade saw the last days of classic R&B artists, whilst the rest of the decade saw R&B become a genre of many different faces and sounds.

An artist who has survived many different eras of R&B is Beyoncé. She comes from the hip-pop era of the late 90s and has successfully experimented in many different forms of the genre. In 2018, with husband Jay-Z, she released a collaborative album, Everything is Love . The album’s lead single, ‘Apeshit’, sees Beyoncé, famous for her pioneering sounds in R&B, deliver a flawless performance in what can only be described as a trap song. Despite this transition into pure hip-hop, Beyoncé is still an R&B artist, albeit one who has mastered the art of genre-fluidity.

R&B over the past 30 years has evolved, from what was originally a genre of rigid conformity, guidelines and tropes, into a style of music permeated by different sounds and explored by artists such as Frank Ocean, with sometimes experimental R&B, and SZA, who has at times incorporated more traditional neo-soul sounds. It is a genre now only defined by the artist’s intentions and creativity rather than their colour or a specific sound.

Comments (1)

I remember watching this video on MTV for the first time in the 90s. Never thought it would become such a classic. In fact, all Mariah’s big songs became classic.

Collection The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America

Rhythm and blues.

The term "rhythm and blues," often called "R&B," originated in the 1940s when it replaced "race music" as a general marketing term for all African American music, though it usually referred only to secular, not religious music. The term first appeared in commercial recording in 1948, when RCA Victor records began using "blues and rhythm" music as a descriptor for African American secular songs. The migration of African Americans to urban centers in the Northeast and Midwest during the early twentieth century helped to bring various regional styles of African American music together to influence one another. The migration also created new markets for these styles of music. Early on the term "rhythm and blues" was used for boogie woogie, African American swing, jazz, and blues. All of these styles influenced the development of what is called rhythm and blues today.

The meaning of the term continued to change over time, and today it is still used as an umbrella term for many different African-American musical forms. Historically speaking, though, "rhythm and blues" as we understand it today most often describes a style of music that developed after World War II that combines elements of pop, gospel, blues and jazz with a strong back beat. The African American styles that emerged in those years were often played by small groups that emphasized rhythmic drive over the instrumental and harmonic complexity of the swing orchestras. Their vocalists often sang in an uninhibited and emotionally direct style. In major cities, teenaged vocal groups with little or no instrumental accompaniment were a growing presence. They took their inspiration from both gospel singers and successful African American pop stylists such as the Ink Spots. The term "doo-wop" is well known now, but it was not applied to these groups until much later, and it refers to the vocables and nonsense syllables these group sang to compensate for their lack of instruments. All of these styles were significant to the development of rock and roll a few years later.

The gospel group the Birmingham Sunlights also presents two religious songs in doo-wop style, "If you missed me from singing" (at time code 5:00), and "We're going to move in the room of the Lord" (at time code 00:20:50), in the video of their concert at the Library of Congress in 2005 .

Though it began as a general term for African American music, the synthesis of styles that became what is now called rhythm and blues caught on among a wide youth audience during the post war period and contributed to changing the racial divide in American society and music of the mid-twentieth century. Initially, white artists such as Elvis Presley performed and recorded, or "covered," rhythm and blues works by African American composers in order for those songs to be marketed to white audiences. But the effect was to bring both audiences and artists with an interest in this style of music together. The development of rhythm and blues occurred just as segregation became a growing social issue in American society. Both Black and white young people wanted to see the popular performers of the day, and mixed groups of youths sang doo-wop together on the street corners of many urban centers. This provoked a strong reaction of proponents of segregation and was one reason why rhythm and blues and early rock and roll were often seen as dangerous to America's youth. But with young people of all backgrounds identifying with these new musical styles, a generation was becoming ready for a more equal society.

In the 1960s, a rhythm and blues style known as "soul" emerged in which the influence of gospel vocal style was stronger, though the lyrical emphasis was usually very secular. In this presentation is a video of a concert at the Library of Congress by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Barbara Lynn , a successful soul artists of the mid-1960s, performing her style of Texas rhythm and blues in 2009.

African American Song (Songs of America)
African American Gospel (Songs of America)
Blues as Protest (Songs of America)
African American Spirituals (Songs of America)

Impact of R&B

Rhythm and Blues genre originated in the 1940s. The term R&B was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans and replaced the term “race music” . The lyrics often embody the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in relationships, economics, aspirations, and sex. Popular R&B vocalists of the 20th century included Prince, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder , Chaka Khan , Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.

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Urban Blues
Electro-Funk
Detroit Techno
New Jack Swing

A Tribute to the Music of Motown: featuring Boyz II Men

Key Attributes of R&B

Love/Relationships
Entertainment

Musical Features

Arrangement
Polyrhythms

Instruments

Electric Piano/Synthesizer
Other Electronic Instruments

“There’s different cats with different approaches to R&B. There’s more of a pop sensibility to Chris Brown and those guys, which started with Usher. Now, it’s elevated to a more futuristic sound because of video games and sonically, things change.” Anthony Hamilton Neo-soul Vocalist

In 1990, Billboard (the leading music trade magazine that charts popular music) reintroduced the term R&B—the retro label that had been coined (as rhythm and blues) in the 1940s—to categorize all styles of Black popular music other than hip-hop. R&B embraces the soulful, medium-tempo ballads of Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, and Gerald Levert; the funky up-tempo songs of Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson; Whitney Houston’s soaring vocalizations and pop arrangements, as well as the vocal group harmonies of After 7, TLC, Jodeci, and Boyz II Men.

Context and History

Record companies and music trade magazines have used various labels to market and chart the sales of music recorded by Black artists since the 1920s. Company executives, in the context of a segregated society, initially assumed that African Americans were the sole consumers of this music, including blues, jazz, gospel, spirituals, novelty, and pop songs. “Race music,” the first term targeting this market, had positive connotations among African Americans in the 1920s and 1930s, but later acquired a racist interpretation. In 1949 Billboard writer Jerry Wexler, who later became an executive at Atlantic Records, substituted the label “rhythm and blues” to describe the rhythmic and blues qualities of the music associated with the post-World War II era.

When Black music shifted from its primarily blues to a gospel foundation during the 1960s social upheaval, the label “soul” better captured its spirit and emotion. African Americans were the first to use this term in 1964, the mainstream press, Billboard and the broader music industry then adopted this label in 1969.

Music Diversity: 1970s – 1980s

“I learned about music that didn’t have any barriers or any kind of, like, containment. I learned about wild, crazy topics and ways to express yourself that had never been written in quite that way before. I learned that a human being could be able to defy all stereotypes and be the epitome of badassness.” Alicia Keys

In the 1970s and into the early 1980s, Black popular music evolved in so many different directions that it prompted yet another label change. The Black Music Association, established in 1978, campaigned for the use of the term “Black music.” Record companies and the music trade press adopted the label in 1982, which became the umbrella term for all styles of Black popular music for the next ten years. Simultaneously, MTV became an important media outlet for broadening the consumer base for Black popular music.

“We launched [Black Entertainment Television] Jan. 25, 1980, broadcasting two hours a week on Friday nights, and reached 3.5 million households. In 1981, when MTV didn’t feature rap and hip-hop artists, it gave us an opening. We got free music videos from the record companies.” Robert L. “Bob” Johnson Founder, Black Entertainment Television

“It’s not enough to say the Thriller video forced MTV to integrate. Michael Jackson helped save the network from being shut down. MTV executives had expected to lose $10 million before they showed a profit. The network quickly lost $50 million...” Rob Tannenbaum Journalist

Michael Jackson’s eclectic album Thriller (1982)—a mix of rhythm and blues, funk-rock, and funk tracks—broke through the exclusionary policies that prevented the exposure of any Black artist until 1983, when the company aired three music videos—the funk-rock “Beat It,” and the funk-derived tracks “Billie Jean” and “Thriller”—from this album. The success of this album led to the broadcast of music videos featuring other Black artists, including Prince (“Purple Rain,” 1984), and in 1988 hip-hop artists on hip-hop show Yo! MTV Raps. Through the appearance of these and other African American artists on MTV, the programming became aesthetically darker and Michael Jackson became known as the “King of Pop.” Both occurrences suggest that Black music had become a component of contemporary pop music.

Beyond MTV’s programming in the 1980s, the diverse sounds of Black music reverberated across African American communities that included the personalized ballad styles of Freddie Jackson (“You Are My Lady,” 1985), Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” (1986), Stephanie Mills’s “I Feel Good All Over” (1987), Maze featuring Frankie Beverly’s “Before I Let Go” (1981), the synthesizer driven post-modern R&B-funk-rap style labeled New Jack Swing of singer Keith Sweat (“I Want Her,” 1987) and the group Guy (“Groove Me,” 1988). While the popularity of these artists centered in African American communities, record labels targeted a broader demographic with the release of interracial duets singing ballads in a Black style such as Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney’s “The Girl is Mine” (1982) and Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald’s “On My Own” (1986).

“I wanted to marry rap with R&B with pop, classical, funk, and fusion and mix it all together. Today they are doing the New Jack Swing which is fusing and mixing R&B singing with rapping. No matter how you do it, or whatever way you do it, it is New Jack Swing.” Teddy Riley

As the number of white artists performing Black music or in a Black style proliferated in the 1980s, musicians and industry executives began to question the appropriateness of the “Black music” label. Eliminating direct racial references to Black music, Billboard chose “R&B” in 1990 to replace the label that remains in currency. This marketing term describes a hybrid or fusion style that often blends past and current traditions with new musical concepts and advanced technologies. Examples are Janet Jackson’s “Nasty” (1986), a synthesized funk-style rhythm and blues produced by the songwriting team “Jimmy Jam” Harris and Terry Lewis in the New Jack Swing style. Bobby Brown’s R&B song “Don’t Be Cruel” (1988) and the ballad “Roni” (1988) by the team Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, combines a rap and break section. These production styles became standard in Black music of the 1990s and beyond.

Technology, Hybrid Styles and Musical Eclecticism: 1990s – 2000s

“We embraced the technology. But being people that don’t really read directions, we were never told what to do with the technology. We just kind of did it off the cuff, and made it work.” Terry Lewis

In the late 1990s and into the new millennium and with few exceptions, hip-hop and technology became the musical framework for R&B productions. The merger of R&B, hip-hop and older genres, and the use of new technologies appealed to a new generation of African American music consumers. They came of age during the rise of hip-hop and their appreciation for 1970s and 1980s Black music came from their parents, who played the music at home. From this group came songwriter-producer-performers such as Sean Combs (a.k.a. Puff Daddy, P. Diddy), Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, Swizz Beatz, and Rich Harrison among others, who established themselves in the 1990s. They continued to explore myriad musical possibilities, including extending, adapting, and realigning past traditions to a changing musical scene. Puff Daddy, for example, taps into Diana Ross’s hit, “I’m Coming Out” (1980) for the groove and refrain sampled in Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo Money Mo Problems” (1997); Harrison borrows from 1970s funk for Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” (2003); and the groove for Williams’s “Happy” (2013), although it employs a faster tempo, is similar to “Monkey Time” (1963) by Major Lance.

Collaborations between producers and artists from both hip-hop and R&B blurred the lines between these genres and became common. R&B productions incorporated hip-hop’s beats and rapping style illustrated in the recordings of TLC’s “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (1992) and Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name” (1999), Usher’s “Confessions Part II” (2004) and Trey Songz’s “Say Aah” featuring Fabolous (2010). Retaining the production concepts of older styled ballads (string arrangements, gospel styled vocals and harmonies, and electric and acoustic instruments), artists added their own signature to the tradition as did singer-songwriter Alicia Keys’s “Fallin’” (2001) and “You Don’t Know My Name” (2003) and Aaliyah’s “Miss You” (2002).

A new generation of singer-songwriters added a contemporary ballad style to the eclectic mix of R&B in the second decade of the 21st century. Some fused creative vocal stylings, harmonies and arrangements with sparse instrumentations and the use of live instruments evident in Ledisi’s “Pieces of Me” (2011), Sevyn Streeter’s “Before I Do” (2017), H.E.R.’s “Focus,” and “Best Part” (2019); others delivered their unique vocals over sparsely constructed synthesized tracks such as Khalid’s “Talk” (2019). Technological collaborative experimentations with European producers of electronic dance music added yet another layer to the eclectic R&B sound. Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, for example, produced and is featured on Rihanna’s “We Found Love” (2011), and Italian DJ Benny Benassi produced and is featured on Chris Brown’s “Beautiful People” (2011).

R&B radio stations also programmed African popular music alongside American and British R&B artists. This music combines elements from hip-hop, R&B, Jamaican dancehall, Afrobeat and other African traditions that resonate with North American consumers of African and African Diasporic traditions. The Afro-fusion style of Nigerian singer Burna Boy’s “Ye” (2017) and “On the Low” (2019), American-born Nigerian singer Davido’s “Fall” (2017), and British-born Ivorian singer Afro B’s “Drogba (Joanna)” (2018) illustrate the on-going cyclical exchanges between African and African American musical traditions. Both are characterized by quasi-sung/spoken vocals, varying vocal timbers, vocal distortion using auto-tune, sparse instrumentation, and polyrhythmic structures.

Musical Features/Performance Style

With the exception of hip-hop, the term R&B encompasses all post-1980s genres and styles of African American music. Producers employ the latest technologies, and electric and acoustic instruments; they also blend elements from current and past Black traditions. Ballads tend to dominate the charts, and the repertoire of most artists includes moderate and/or up-tempo songs.

The R&B sound of the early 1990s retains many elements from the 1980s while engaging advanced technologies. Synthesizers replaced acoustic instruments as accompaniment for gospel-tinged ballad singers such as Peabo Bryson in “Can You Stop the Rain” (1991). Nevertheless, the acoustic sound returned by the mid-to late-1990s in songs like “On Bended Knee” (1994) by Boyz II Men, Toni Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart” (1996) and India.Arie’s “Ready for Love” (2007). In “I Believe I Can Fly” (1996) R. Kelly presents a synthesized orchestral arrangement that imitates the acoustic sound in “When You’re Mad” (2006).

In the 21st century R&B artists increasingly cross genre and stylistic boundaries such as Keyshia Cole’s eclectic “I Changed My Mind” (2005) and Fantasia’s “I’m Not That Type” (2006). These songs carry the sensibilities of gospel, neo soul, and hip-hop. Artists also continue to evolve these traditions, tapping the modern gospel and hip-hop traditions. Simultaneously, artists explore myriad musical possibilities by drawing from pop, rock, and country: Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” featuring Nelly (2012), Alicia Keys’s “Girl on Fire” (2012), Miguel’s “Do You…,” (2012), and Rihanna’s “Diamonds” and “Jump” (2013). Electronic dance music provides the foundation for songs by Rihanna and Chris Brown. The newest development in the second decade of the 2000s is the Afro-fusion style popularized by Nigerian artists that blends hip-hop, R&B, Jamaican dancehall and Afrobeat (Burna Boy’s “Ye,” 2017) and the collaborations between artists of the African Diaspora. In 2019, H.E.R. teamed-up with reggae artist Skip Marley on the R&B-Reggae fusion “Slow Down.”

R&B lyrics cover a range of topics related to everyday life, but romance and relationships surface as the most common theme.

Bibliography

Maultsby, Portia K. “Rhythm and Blues/R&B” in Mellonee V. Burnim and Portia K. Maultsby, eds. African American Music: An Introduction. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge Press, 2015, p. 239-276.

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Realizing R&B's Identity Crisis: An Analytical Research Paper

Although scholars and music industry professionals have expressed their criticisms on the current state of R&B, as far as we know, R&B’s identity crisis has not been critically examined in an academic setting. However, an analysis of the social and musical factors contributing to R&B’s ongoing identity crisis reveals that many popular recording artists stretch the artistic and musical boundaries of contemporary R&B by continuously gravitating towards and moving away from the genre. More specifically, this paper will use qualitative and historical research methods to evaluate how R&B is affected by genre interplay, racial issues, and the rise of alternative R&B—in an attempt to gain a further understanding of the genre’s current identity crisis and highlight areas for future research.

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WHERE BLACK CULTURE, COMMUNITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS MEET

Sign up for essence newsletters the keep the black women at the forefront of conversation., how did hip-hop and r&b become one genre.

Welcome to The State of R&B , ESSENCE’s look at the past, present and future of rhythm and blues. In this piece, ESSENCE editor Rivéa Ruff reports on the blending of hip-hop and R&B.

With artists like Mary J. Blige and Kehlani currently selling out nationwide tours, the anticipation of SZA’s long-awaited sophomore project and classic producers like Babyface , Bryan-Michael Cox, and Jermaine Dupri refocusing their attention on the genre, R&B seems to be shining—at least in a front-facing manner. But while R&B is clearly alive and thriving, no one can deny that the genre has changed drastically in the last 30 years. Hip-hop’s influence may be the major difference.

Since the inception of radio and recorded music, charting platforms and music distributors have struggled with how to classify music made by Black performers. Originally lumping them into a category known as the “Harlem Hit Parade” in 1942, and later simply “Race Records” by 1945, Billboard coined the term Rhythm & Blues, first popularized in radio and label jargon in the 40s, and meant as an umbrella term for African-American secular songs.

Billboard tried on “ Soul Music ” and simply “ Black Music ” for size between 1969 and 1990, before finally settling on the abbreviation “R&B.” The phrase went on to define the sound for Gen X.

Mary’s Joints

By the 1990s, “R&B” was the commonly accepted terminology for soulful Black music. But one fateful studio session with Sean Combs shaped a brand new sound that would define the genre’s future.

“One day Puffy was working at Uptown Records with Jodeci, and they had a session with Teddy Riley and Teddy Riley didn’t show up,” author and music critic Craig Seymour says, noting that the group was slated to remix their hit single “Come And Talk To Me.” With Riley out of commission, Combs took inspiration from the DJs of his youth and synced the vocals with one of his favorite hip-hop songs, “You’re A Customer,” by EPMD.

“In the eighties, we had DJs like Ron G, Kid Capri, Brucie B, and they would take R&B instrumentals – whether it was a Luther Vandross or something like that – and place them over [Hip-Hop] beats,” Seymour adds. “It really came out of DJ culture, party culture and radio culture.”

Seymour continues his commentary on the turning point led by Combs saying, “That [session] created Hip-Hop Soul. Andre Harrell of Uptown [called] that the first Hip-Hop Soul record. Very shortly after, Mary J. Blige was working on her second album, My Life , and they took that same approach.”

Long referred to as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige pioneered the marriage between hip-hop and R&B with her sophomore project. As she reimagined soul classics from the ‘70s and ‘80s over thumping beats (courtesy of Combs, who recently reanimated the “R&B is dead” debate), she cultivated a sound that led to a tidal wave of hip-hop-tinged soul.

The R&B remix went on to reign supreme, with influential collaborations between Mariah Carey and Ol’ Dirty Bastard; SWV and Wu Tang Clan; and of course, Mary J. Blige and Method Man, becoming instant classics.

Hip-hop and R&B’s sounds (and audience) became so intertwined on the charts and in the public consciousness, Billboard changed their charting to Hot R&B/Hip-Hop in 1999, officially consolidating the genres.

“By the 2000s, you already had R&B and hip-hop moving a little closer together and more beat-oriented records on the radio,” says Kelefa Sanneh, author of Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres . “R&B and hip-hop were really living side by side.”

“It was almost like they balanced each other out as two halves of the same genre.”

The early aughts were dominated by artists who blended the two, such as Usher, Alicia Keys, and Beyoncé. More change was on the way.

What Is Alt-R&B?

Starting in the early 2010s, an alternative sound that combined R&B/hip-hop with elements of dance, electronic, or rock went from the fringes to the mainstream with the success of acts like Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, and Miguel. This gave rise to then-bubbling acts like Jhené Aiko, SZA, and PartyNextDoor, who all undeniably had rhythm and blues influences, but melodically and thematically were unlike what audiences had been taught R&B was. Since that point, what classifies as an R&B song, and who qualifies as an R&B artist has shifted, leaving the genre in what The Atlantic has specified as an “identity crisis” for the better part of the last ten years.

In the decades between Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” and Summer Walker’s “Girls Need Love,” what we think of as rhythm and blues evolved from soft saxophones and piano melodies to speaker knockers. On the vocal side, production was once laced with honey sweet, soulful voices trained up in the way they should go, but it has been at least partially replaced by whispery, semi-nasal, autotune-heavy vocalizations and vocal inflections that speak to a new generation.

“[Starting in the early 2000s], the idea was if you wanted to get on the radio, you had to learn how to sound great over a beat and that meant making your voice a little smaller, less room for runs and ad-libs and maybe less time for really old-fashioned ballads,” Sanneh observes. “A broader issue in music [today] is that a lot of really popular music is more beat-driven, more rhythm-driven. Singers have to figure out how to make space for the beat or how to sound good over a beat, and that’s led to a lot of different things – it’s led to sing-rapping, it’s led to the whisper vocal or just murmuring over the beat.”

Read “Never Too Much? A Look At Sexually Explicit R&B Lyrics” here.

Today, artists like Lizzo, Kid Cudi, and Ty Dolla $ign leave some scratching their heads on what lane to even place them in. Is Roddy Rich rapping or singing on his chart-dominating single “The Box” or his vocal feature on Mustard’s “ Ballin’ ?” Do Doja Cat’s vocals on tracks like “Say So” or “ You Right ” place her in the same category as H.E.R., or as Nicki Minaj?

“The only thing that differentiates the artists is their chosen form. A hip-hop artist’s musical foundation is spoken words that are rapped. R&B artists are singers,” Samantha Selolwane, head of Promotion, Hip-Hop and R&B at RCA records, says. She cites artists like Chris Brown, T-Pain, Drake, Future, Young Thug, Migos, and earlier ones like Missy Elliott and Lauryn Hill , as examples of what she calls the “Rap & B” style. “The beauty about modern artists is their ability to blend both,” she says.

On the other end of the genre-bending spectrum, consider Steve Lacy’s “ Bad Habit .” Thanks to a push from TikTok, it’s the most popular song in the nation, currently holding at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 2 consecutive weeks. It has also held fast and strong on both the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs charts and sits at #3 on the global iTunes R&B chart.

“Bad Habit” is classified as R&B/Soul, but for keen-eared listeners, it’s strongly reminiscent of a mid-90’s grunge ballad or an early aughts alternative rock jam. In fact, it’s also charting equally as high on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs , Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Song s charts – the first single to effortlessly dominate all five distinctions.

“As we speak, Steve Lacy has the number one song in the country. What is that exactly? Is that R&B?” Sanneh wonders. “I don’t know. Maybe. But one way I would want to answer that question is to watch them for the next couple years and to figure out who’s listening.”

Sanneh also notes that R&B has always been classified by who performs it, especially along racial lines, despite what the music sounds like. “Our music has often been largely segregated and that’s often led to Black singers being much more likely to be categorized as R&B,” he adds. However, genre boils down to community. “My belief is that that community still exists even if it’s gotten a little more difficult to measure.”

Is R&B’s Flexibility Young Millennials and Gen Z’s Gain?

R&B is more malleable than ever and it’s of no consequence to young listeners. “When you speak to Gen Z or Gen Alpha, they can’t tell the difference between pop, rock, alternative, R&B,” Selolwane says. “To them, it’s all just vibes and moods. All they are concerned about is do they like it or not.”

She pegs the young audience as the true lead on how to perceive the changes. “The consumer is the one who is light years ahead of what is happening,” she says. “The industry is the one that has to catch up with how the consumer is accessing their product.”

Singer Joyce Wrice embraces the ambiguity with open arms. With her own eclectic spin on soul, she grew up influenced by the likes of Brandy, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, Janet Jackson and Aaliyah. “My dad played so much music growing up. He introduced me to Tamia,” she says of her influences. “Her voice and soulfulness just had me in awe.”

Read “How Much Money Do R&B Artists *Really* Make?” here.

Though enthralled by soulful vocals, it was the sound of hip-hop, particularly that of Biggie and 112, that made her fall in love with the fusion of rap and R&B. It’s heavily inspired her work.

“I’d say [my sound is] feel-good R&B soul music reminiscent of the 90s and early 2000s – with my own twist,” Wrice describes. That twist, much like with those who came before her, found her collaborating with rappers Freddie Gibbs and Westside Gunn on her critically acclaimed debut effort, Overgrown .

Functioning as her take on the 90’s-inspired dance craze currently sweeping the industry , her latest EP, Motive, finds Wrice collaborating again with popular Haitian-Canadian producer and deejay, Kaytranada. Their experimental work pulls from dance, afrobeats, and electronic music.

“I just love Kaytranada’s sound choices and I really wanted to make a dance uptempo project,” she says of why she leaned into dance and afrobeats on her latest effort. For Wrice, the current state of R&B is exciting and the future is ripe with possibility.

“I imagine that [R&B] will continue to develop on its own – similar to how now there’s alternative R&B and other styles,” Wrice says. Selolwane mirrors the sentiment, saying, “I think R&B will be more experimental and more boundary pushing,” the RCA exec says of R&B’s sound shift in the upcoming years. “The future of R&B is in the hands of those who have yet to create it.”

But does this steady progression to new, experimental, genre-melding sounds leave more orthodox R&B on the back burner? Not by a long shot.

Throw It Back

“Traditional R&B has never taken a back seat to anyone,” Selolwane says. “So many artists have always kept the traditional sound of R&B alive, even when other forms of R&B thrive. I do however enjoy this new Alternative R&B that’s making its way to the forefront. We are not monolithic in our R&B choices. We love it all.”

While the sound is constantly stretching, accommodating and incorporating new influences, both Seymour and Sanneh believe a star on the horizon will soon define the sound that’ll best demonstrate this era of rhythm & blues.

“I do think we’re waiting for that one big talent to unify it all and bring us into a new era, and that always happens,” says Seymour. “That happened with Aretha Franklin, it happened again with Mary J. Blige.”

“Like much of popular music, the history of R&B does tend to be cyclical and things that seem sort of uncool now tend to morph into something cool and vice versa,” Sanneh adds. “I wouldn’t be too surprised now if there is some R&B singer who maybe people aren’t [currently] taking all that seriously, who turns out to have a big effect and we’ll look back at 2022 saying ‘she or he was right under your noses and you didn’t even realize that this thing was about to explode and change the way we think about this genre.’”

Over the past decade, a new crop of crooners have begun to reach back into their childhoods (or before they were even born) and paint their own pictures with their findings. Bryson Tiller, the originator of “Trap Soul,” cut his teeth on a sample of KP & Envyi’s 1998 regional hit “Shawty Swing My Way” for his breakout single “Exchange.” 27-year-old Tink’s latest album, Pillow Talk , finds her sampling 702’s 1996 song “Get It Together” for “Goofy.” Beyoncé protégé Chlöe is taking it back to R&B’s raunchier roots, covering Adina Howard’s 1995 smash “Freak Like Me” on a rework of her song “Surprise.”

“I feel the genre has actually gone back to ‘90s type of R&B with various subgenres. Some artists tap into the use of samples and remakes,” Selolwane says. “Other artists are tapping into the ‘new-soul’ era and others are experimenting with alternative sounds to R&B so I feel the music is more ‘90s now than it was before.”

So, R&B certainly isn’t dead. But it is hard to recognize from time to time for those who were born by Luther Vandross, bred by Sade and Phyllis Hyman, reared by SWV and Mary J. Blige, and schooled by Dru Hill and 112. But for the generation that came behind them, whose roots stretch only as far back as Aaliyah and whose branches stretch to an eclectic sound we likely haven’t even conceived yet, this iteration of R&B is what resonates most.

Maybe one of the originators of the partnership between hip-hop and R&B, Mary J. Blige, said it best when debating Combs over his “R&B is dead” commentary.

“You can’t kill something that’s in our DNA,” she said. “It’s gonna keep transitioning from generation to generation to generation to generation.” And ya don’t stop.

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R&B and Hip-Hop Effect Western Music Essay

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Introduction

Music is a form of art which uses sound and actions as a medium and for one to be able to communicate using music, he/she must be able to form a rhythmic flow of words that convey an intended message. The intended music must also create a meaning and also make sense to the audience that is intended, this is because the intended audience decide on how the music is rated on the music charts.

Music also varies from one social culture to the other, in that, one culture’s music structure varies with another culture’s music structure. Music also uses musical instruments that create a rhythm which the musician uses to create a flow of words to pass on the intended message. In addition to that, music is also used for several purposes such as to pleasing the angry or even can be used to put a baby to sleep (Ardley 52).

Thesis Statement

With reference to the given question, this paper will focus on a particular artist or band and will analyze the ways to which their music is taken into the society. This paper will then discuss different aspects of music and how it affects the community as a whole. In addition to that, this paper will discuss music from the 20 th century.

Artist or band

This paper will focus on Michael Jackson as an artist. Michael Jackson was one of the biggest pop artists that the world has ever known and was nicknamed the king of pop. In addition to that, Michael Jackson has released very many albums which have sold over one million copies worldwide. Michael Jackson who was born in August 1958 had four other brothers who they released several albums in 1964 (Davies 15).

Pop type of music is considered to be very influential because of the fact that most of the artists who have made it in the music industry today started in the pop type of music. Michael Jackson had a lot of influence especially in the black community in the United States and this was because of the kind of music he released that preached a message of peace and hope to the community and considering that he was black.

The music that Michael Jackson released was not based on gender but was based on truth and hope to the people and this gave him a lot of influence in the community reason being that that most of the people in the United States love to listen to pop music and thus Pop music is considered to be one of the most popular types of music in the United States.

Michael Jackson as an artist preached about gender equality in the community and in addition to that, he preached about anti-racism considering that racism is one of the most common types of offenses in the United States. Michael Jackson was also loved by the little children because he always showed the importance of protecting the rights of the children because they are the future of the world.

Branding of an artist

Michael Jackson who was considered one of the biggest artists in the world today always had the press and media following him around so it was very important that he be at his best at all time. For any artist to be able to do well in the music world, he must always be able to commercialize his music and must always be ready to try new aspects of the music world.

Michael Jackson was considered one of the biggest artists in the world and as such, he was always performing in concerts all around the world which commercializes his music. In the concerts, people listened to to his music and liked it and that meant that they had to buy it so as to be able to listen to it in their homes and thus, the concert performing was the aspect that Michael Jackson used when trying to captivate his fans to buy his music (Webster 26).

Michael Jackson also used the power of industry control to try as much as possible to beat his biggest rival in the music industry. He tried as much as possible to go with the flow of the current music world and it is for this reason that he was able to rise to the top of the music charts. He had released albums that had sold millions of copies worldwide and it is here that his popularity continued to increase among music lovers in the world.

On the other hand, Michael Jackson tried as much as possible not to disappoint his fans. The kind of music that he released was very objective and thus had an advantage over most of his biggest competitors who at times released music that made no sense and thereby lost popularity among music lovers across the world.

Michael Jackson was also on the front line in trying to advocate for the rights of the children and this also gave him popularity among the music lovers across the world who admired how he advocated for the rights of the children.

Multiple Versions of a Song

Before a song is released to the general public, it has to undergo a number of processes so as to make sure that the quality of music that is being released is the best. In addition to that, before music is released to the public, it has to have the intended message and thus has to be heard over and over again to make sure that the intended message has been passed on.

This process of listening to the music before it is released to the public is known as sampling and it involves the process of listening to the music to make sure that it has the right quality and the right words as the artist intended (Cook 23).

After it has been sampled, it is then mastered, that is, the process of making sure that the beats that have been allocated to the lyrics fit in correctly without making any noise in the process. This process involves the use a computer to blend the lyrics and the beats together so as to create a rhythm and thus be able to pass on the intended message in the process.

After the mastering process has been done and everything has been confirmed to be fine, then the song is covered in another song. This is the process of giving the music fans a preview of the music that will be coming and in turn gauges the reaction of the fans and create anticipation among the fans. This process is very important in music because by creating anticipation among the music fans then an artist will be able to know how the fans will react to the songs when released.

Genre within the Context of Globalization

Globalization is the process of bringing human beings together for a specific reason. Pop music has been on the front line to making sure that human being are brought together regardless of their race and cultures. Pop music is used by many artists to be able to bring people together so as to be able to pass on the intended message. When people are brought together as a result of music, then the artists will be able to pass on the intended message by using pop music.

Michael Jackson was one of the artists who used pop music so as for him to be able to pass on his intended message to the public. Most of the music that he sang were very objective in terms of message and it is for this reason that he increased his popularity among his fans who loved the message that was being passed through his music (Tomasino 16).

Pop music can thus be used to pass on the intended message to a group of people and artists who have come together to perform in concerts.

Gender Representations in Music Videos

Gender representation in music videos has been fair considering that most of the video clips that are shown in the media have equal gender representation. Artists in the world today have known that for them to be able to sell more of their songs in the music world, they must be able to embrace the spirit of equal gender representation which is very important when it comes to educating the public about equal gender representation (Tomasino 32).

Music is always used to entertain but in some cases, it is used to educate, and it is for this reason that artists have discovered that for them to be able to sell more in the music industry, then they must be able to educate the public about gender equality and to be able to educate the public correctly, then they must practice it in their own music video as an example to the general public.

Ways in Which a Particular Artist or Band Has Supported a Political Ideal or Discussed Political Issues via Their Music

Politics is one of the most important aspects of any country and it is for this reason that politicians are using artist who are known to have a bigger influence to the general public to campaign for them. A very good example is the hip hop artist popularly known as Lil’ Wayne who openly declared that he was in support of Barrack Obama as the United State president during the 2008 presidential election (Davies 45).

In a move like this, the specific artist was able to convince millions of voters who are his fans to vote for Barrack Obama whom they thought would never be able to become the president of the United State due to his skin color which is black. Lil’ Wayne openly campaign for Barrack Obama and because of his influence to the general public, then most of the voters who did not want to vote for Barrack Obama changed their minds which in turn led to Barrack Obama becoming the president of the United States of America.

Association of a Specific Musical Genre with a Subculture

Hip hop is always associated with the black culture because of its violent nature; this has been a very wrong perception because today, most of the greatest hip hop artists are not black but are white. Hip hop is a music genre that evolved from the black community but has always been portrayed with a wrong image because people say that it is violent of which is not true.

Hip hop is a music genre that is used to educate the general public about issues related to life and how to cope with them, and most of the hip hop artists today release songs that educate the people on how to deal with issues that may arise in life.

Issue of Race in the Context of a Specific Musical Movement or Genre

Hip hop music is considered to be a music genre that is associated with the black community which means that the issue of race is still looming in the music industry.

In addition to that, most of the hip hop artists are trying as much as possible to educate the general public that it is not a matter of skin color that determines the kind of music that will be sung, but the ability to sing. On the other hand, the white community thinks that there are genres of music that they cannot venture into because as they are considered to be dominated by the black community.

Effect of Technology on Popular Production or Reception

Technology is one of the biggest factors changing the music industry today and has forced music producers to keep themselves updated with the new technological advancements so as to able to produce music that is of good quality and that moves with the current world. Music fans are shifting from one type of music to the other and for an artist to be able to keep the pace, then he must be able to produce quality music (Davies 48).

Works Cited

Ardley, Neil. Music , London, UK: Harvard University Press, 2004. Print.

Cook, Nicholas. Music: A Very Short Introduction , New York, NY: Sage, 2000. Print.

Davies, Matt. Music and Technology in the Twentieth Century , London, UK: John Wiley and Sons, 2005. Print.

Tomasino, Anna. Music and culture , Oklahoma, OK: Cengage Learning, 2005. Print.

Webster, Peter. Experiencing Music Technology , London, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.

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R&B Music Essays

R&B and Hip-Hop Effect Western Music Essay

Introduction

Thesis Statement

Artist or band

Branding of an artist

Multiple Versions of a Song

Genre within the Context of Globalization

Gender Representations in Music Videos

Ways in Which a Particular Artist or Band Has Supported a Political Ideal or Discussed Political Issues via Their Music

Association of a Specific Musical Genre with a Subculture

Issue of Race in the Context of a Specific Musical Movement or Genre

Effect of Technology on Popular Production or Reception

Works Cited

COMMENTS