I'm curious.

If Aretha is the Queen of Soul and

MJ is the King of Pop and

James Brown is/was the Hardest Working Man in Show Business and

T.IP is the King of the South and

Prince is the Prince of Pop/Rock

Then who the hell is the King of R&B?

Usher

James Brown

No one.
Royal titles in music - a strange thing. But they exist, so I accept it.
80-90% of people in the world know that there is the King of Rock and Roll (Elvis), the King of Pop (Michael), the Queen of Pop (Madonna), the Queen of soul music (Aretha), the Princess of pop music (Britney).
The others - impostors.
Talk about kings and queens only if it is world-known and accepted by most people.

There is none, but Ray Charles is a candidate

Didn't you get the memo? Whitney said it was Bobby

rialb said:

James Brown

He already has a title, "The Godfather Of Soul".

scriptgirl said:

Didn't you get the memo? Whitney said it was Bobby

Whitney just wanted to be queen ------>
wife of the king = queen.

Marvin Gaye.

LiLi1992 said:

scriptgirl said:

Didn't you get the memo? Whitney said it was Bobby

Whitney just wanted to be queen ------>
wife of the king = queen.

touche!

scriptgirl said:

Didn't you get the memo? Whitney said it was Bobby

r. kelly

We all know R Kelly is the King of RnB

"Y'all tell me what's the RnB without the R-uh!"

ViintageJunkiie said:

We all know R Kelly is the King of RnB

"Y'all tell me what's the RnB without the R-uh!"

R Kelly & Bobby Brown.

I didn't know it was named after them!

RKJCNE said:

ViintageJunkiie said:

We all know R Kelly is the King of RnB

"Y'all tell me what's the RnB without the R-uh!"

R Kelly & Bobby Brown.

I didn't know it was named after them!

NDRU said:

There is none, but Ray Charles is a candidate

Makes the most sense.
An architect for sure.


Music for adventurous listeners


tA

Tribal Records

Not that I'm nominating him or anything, but what you consider Sam Cooke? Soul?

kitbradley said:

rialb said:

James Brown

He already has a title, "The Godfather Of Soul".

I forgot about that title.

Maybe Sammy Davis Jr. is the hardest working man in show business or Frank Sinatra?

Rick James would be a good candidate.

No one really has the title... but I personally say

Marvin Gaye... no question.

Was just listening to Marvin. Though I love him and Stevie and was feeling Stevie more, I'm suddenly feeling Marvin way more right now, I would give the title to either one of them, or both.

alphastreet said:

Was just listening to Marvin. Though I love him and Stevie and was feeling Stevie more, I'm suddenly feeling Marvin way more right now, I would give the title to either one of them, or both.

Yea... I know... I feel Stevies impact is a bit beyond R&B though which is why I wouldnt give him such a limiting title.

I hear y'all about Marvyn but damn, might as well throw Teddy and Luther into the mix. All of those dudes could easity qualify and their musical legacy lives on even though their careers and lives were cut short.

mjscarousal said:

alphastreet said:

Was just listening to Marvin. Though I love him and Stevie and was feeling Stevie more, I'm suddenly feeling Marvin way more right now, I would give the title to either one of them, or both.

Yea... I know... I feel Stevies impact is a bit beyond R&B though which is why I wouldnt give him such a limiting title.

Exactly, I was going to name him, but he really does transcend genres. I put on Maybe Your Baby after such a long time today, and calling it just r&b IS limiting.

The original king of R&B was:

[img:$uid]http://topforty1.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/louis-jordan-1-welcome.jpg[/img:$uid]

James Brown personally said had it not been for him, he wouldn't have done show business.

alphastreet said:

mjscarousal said:

Yea... I know... I feel Stevies impact is a bit beyond R&B though which is why I wouldnt give him such a limiting title.

Exactly, I was going to name him, but he really does transcend genres. I put on Maybe Your Baby after such a long time today, and calling it just r&b IS limiting.

I may get flamed for this, but I categorize Stevie more as a pop/rock artist, then R&B. True R&B is in his blood and his voice was reared in gospel, but his 1970s, early 1980s output was more across the board. It wasn't just R&B or funk, it had strong pop and rock elements that was not missed. That's why he was refer to as a "top rock artist" then. When it came to R&B, Marvin and Smokey had him beat in that department...and I'm being for real. I'm not dissing Stevie's impact on R&B, just saying.

Musicslave said:

Not that I'm nominating him or anything, but what you consider Sam Cooke? Soul?

Sam Cooke was doo-wop, blues, gospel, pop, proto-soul R&B. He definitely influenced what became soul (hence why people call him the Father of Soul) but then again, Ray Charles came out earlier and he had more of an influence than Sam overall. Both of them were big influences in the shaping of R&B though.

I think in terms of chart longevity, impact, influence and innovation, personally James Brown and Marvin Gaye compete for the top spots in my honest opinion of "kings of R&B" yet I feel they also influenced pop and rock as well.

HotGritz said:

I'm curious.

If Aretha is the Queen of Soul and

MJ is the King of Pop and

James Brown is/was the Hardest Working Man in Show Business and

T.IP is the King of the South and

Prince is the Prince of Pop/Rock

Then who the hell is the King of R&B?

James Brown is also The Godfather of Soul.

So to answer your question, James Brown is the king of r&b (rhythm and blues).