Notice how R&B is turning into electro/dance music? People like Rihanna, Kelly Roland, Chris Brown, NeYo and several others are turning into dance artists. Where does that leave R&B? There doesn't seem to be much of an interest in it anymore from the public. Keyshia Cole, Brandy, Mya, Monica all seem to be struggling to stay relevant in music. Is R&B a thing of the past?

I'm just waiting for Beyonce, R. Kelly, Musiq Soulchild, Ron Isley, Mary J. Blige, Anita Baker, Maxwell & Aretha Franklin to start making electro/dance albums then i'll really know R&B is dead!

Last but not least is this Lady Gaga's doing? Has she changed the game?

[Edited 1/25/11 1:12am]

Rihanna has always been mostly dance-pop. I wouldn't say it's dead though, it's just the "it" thing at the moment. Some of them are doing what they have to keep their careers afloat.

lol No, she it's not.

Plain old R&B officially died in 1992 when Mary J. Blige corrupted the genre with her "hip hop soul". And no, the public does not have much interest in it anymore.

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

Plain old R&B officially died in 1992 when Mary J. Blige corrupted the genre with her "hip hop soul". And no, the public does not have much interest in it anymore.

BULLSHIT.

BlaqueKnight said:

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

Plain old R&B officially died in 1992 when Mary J. Blige corrupted the genre with her "hip hop soul". And no, the public does not have much interest in it anymore.

BULLSHIT.

YOU AIN'T SAID NOTHING.

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

BlaqueKnight said:

BULLSHIT.

YOU AIN'T SAID NOTHING.

I've said plenty on the subject. I'm just tired of re-iterating the same thing over and over. There's plenty of good R&B around.

BlaqueKnight said:

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

YOU AIN'T SAID NOTHING.

I've said plenty on the subject. I'm just tired of re-iterating the same thing over and over. There's plenty of good R&B around.

That's your opinion. Congratulations for having one. You calling my opinion "BULLSHIT" does not alter my opinion on the state of R&B. If you're tired of reiterating the same thing over and over, then don't. Get a hobby.

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

BlaqueKnight said:

I've said plenty on the subject. I'm just tired of re-iterating the same thing over and over. There's plenty of good R&B around.

That's your opinion. Congratulations for having one. You calling my opinion "BULLSHIT" does not alter my opinion on the state of R&B. If you're tired of reiterating the same thing over and over, then don't. Get a hobby.

I think true R&B as we know it, has been dead for years. It has been replaced by, a lack of imgination, weak lyrics and processed beats. For me, what is now "considered" R&B, is the industry's way of coming up with something that USED to sound like R&B, except now, it has lables like..."Neo Soul", which is NOT R&B,(kinda like the difference bewteen, Pespi and diet Pepsi..."Close but no cigar") The days of live instruments are few and far between and if there is a live instrument, the melodies, are dull and the lyrics wimpy. The industry, would rather make a quick buck and fill their pockets, than do the right thing and make the consumer happy.

[Edited 1/25/11 8:19am]

I heard that Eric Clapton has a new album out.

R&B:

Ledisi

Frank MccComb

Eric Roberson

Darien Brockington

Donnie

N'Dambi

Hal Linton

Mint Condition

Prince

Meshell

Kelly Price (sometimes)

Tonex

Miguel

Usher

Maxwell

Badu

Raheem Devaugh

Raheim

Rashaan Patterson

...................and many more

You need to understand that the pure/original sound of almost any genre is almost nowhere to be found these days...

PURE rockn'roll, old R&B, motown, disco, old jazz, folk, etc. they belong to the past... and I'm glad, we need evolution...

that said, the 95-10 R&B just plain sucks

JoeTyler said:

You need to understand that the pure/original sound of almost any genre is almost nowhere to be found these days...

PURE rockn'roll, old R&B, motown, disco, old jazz, folk, etc. they belong to the past... and I'm glad, we need evolution...

that said, the 95-10 R&B just plain sucks

If you look at music in general it changes every 10 -15 years. when was the last time you saw doo wop on the charts? A straight ahead funk band? Same thing with R n B. I think Cee Loo put out one of the best R n B records in a while but thats me.

shorttrini said:

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

That's your opinion. Congratulations for having one. You calling my opinion "BULLSHIT" does not alter my opinion on the state of R&B. If you're tired of reiterating the same thing over and over, then don't. Get a hobby.

I think true R&B as we know it, has been dead for years. It has been replaced by, a lack of imgination, weak lyrics and processed beats. For me, what is now "considered" R&B, is the industry's way of coming up with something that USED to sound like R&B, except now, it has lables like..."Neo Soul", which is NOT R&B,(kinda like the difference bewteen, Pespi and diet Pepsi..."Close but no cigar") The days of live instruments are few and far between and if there is a live instrument, the melodies, are dull and the lyrics wimpy. The industry, would rather make a quick buck and fill their pockets, than do the right think and may the consumer happy.

Best post here along with Graycap's with the exception of a few artists

on the list.

[Edited 1/25/11 7:23am]

Is plain, old R&B dead? As far as the masses are concerned and saleswise, yes. It died in the mid-90's.

What you're hearing on the radio...

Is...

NOT...

RHYTHM

AND

BLUES!

----

Just get that through your skulls for a minute, please? It's been "black pop" for the last little while.

That ain't dead as far as the music genre is concerned.

Fuck the mainstream. Got it? Good.

'Plain old r&b' hasn't been existence since the 70s and it definitely died when Janet Jackson and her minions Jam & Lewis came onto the scene.

Doesn't really matter because r&b never really had a set sound from what I remember. I thought that it was just always considered to be music made by 'black people.'

kitbradley said:

Is plain, old R&B dead? As far as the masses are concerned and saleswise, yes. It died in the mid-90's.

you mean in the late-70's right ???

and i don't like the term "died"; I prefer the term evolution

I still think that funk and disco were the natural evolution of plain old R&B, and by the early-80s, with Prince, Rick, Zapp etc or even Marvin with Sexual Healing, hardcore electronic elements finally entered the world of R&B, changing it forever. Finally, enter Janet and Whitney, new jack and Mary J Blige/R.Kelly and plain old R&B is nowhere to be found anymore, at least in the mainstream.

No genre of music has a set sound. That's impossible. 'Plain R&B' ended in the 70's then the birth of Contemporary R&B happened in the 80's. You can thank MJ and Prince for that. But it was really Janet and Jam & Lewis who took Contemporary R&B to a whole different level. The early 90's is when R&B started having Hip-Hop influences with a little Gospel. Now we have "R&B" artists trying to replicate the Hip-Hop aspect of R&B the 90's had. See the gutter trash that is: Keyshia Cole, Trey Songz and Ciara.

At this point there are few R&B artists sticking to the genre and keeping it alive.

BTW, Rihanna, Usher and Beyonce aren't R&B. They're more Dance-Pop than R&B. I'd say Usher and Beyonce were contemporary R&B artists earlier in their career.

[Edited 1/25/11 11:13am]

Unholyalliance said:

'Plain old r&b' hasn't been existence since the 70s and it definitely died when Janet Jackson and her minions Jam & Lewis came onto the scene.

Doesn't really matter because r&b never really had a set sound from what I remember. I thought that it was just always considered to be music made by 'black people.'

Yeah R&B is a blanket term nowadays. Real R&B was made by ALL COLORS. Not this "R&B", which I don't prefer much anymore.

Alicia Keys?

musicjunky318 said:

Alicia Keys?

Nauseating?

musicjunky318 said:

Alicia Keys?

Pop muzix.

Graycap23 said:

musicjunky318 said:

Alicia Keys?

Pop muzix.

Really?

musicjunky318 said:

Alicia Keys?

Irritating.

Seriously speaking, I think most have missed the point of the original post. It's not really about what "R&B" meant in the old days, but how there's been a very notable change of sound occurring during the last 1-3 years. A lot of "black" popular music seems to have turned into a rather strange hybrid of 00s R&B and some sort of Trance music.

From this (2006):

To this (2008):

... you can hear that type of "trancey" synth sounds appearing already on tracks like this (2007):

But it was only recently when they got really pushed to the foreground (2010):

A song like "Only Girl" wouldn't have been a hit in the States just a few years ago, although that type of music has been around in Europe for ages by that point.

[Edited 1/25/11 11:30am]

^ That is NOT rhythm and blues. It's pop music. Plain and simple.

musicjunky318 said:

Graycap23 said:

Pop muzix.

Really?

In my opinion.

Timmy84 said:

^ That is NOT rhythm and blues. It's pop music. Plain and simple.

You should know that what "R&B" once meant and what should be rightfully called "R&B" is really irrelevant to the discussion the point the starter of the topic wanted to convey.

It might not be "rhythm and blues", but these artists have definitely done the type of music what has gotten called "R&B" by the vast majority of audience for the last two decades. Everybody knows it's a misnomer, so there's nothing new about it.

Graycap23 said:

musicjunky318 said:

Really?

In my opinion.

Really?