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The "Black" charts were better than the "R&B/Hip Hop" charts I don't mean solely from a quality standpoint when it comes to individual songs but by the format. Back when the urban LPs/Singles charts went by the name of the "black" chart, it was a much better gauge of demographic tastes than what we got now. Many people cry racism when it comes to the name but they were far more inclusive than what they would (d)evolve into with the "R&B/Hip Hop" name change. Many non-black, non-black music artists found success on the urban side (notables: Phil Collins, Hall & Oates, Culture Club, Duran Duran, George Michael, Sheena Easton, Taylor Dayne, etc.) under that banner. Under the current one, it's relegated the tastes of an entire group of people to practically a single genre (hip hop) made primarily by a single demo (black people) with almost no deviation. Regression by progression. | |
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I liked the original chart for the reasons you said.
Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016
Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder | |
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Billboard's radio-based "Hot R&B" and "Adult R&B" charts are generally more interesting to me than the main "R&B/Hip Hop" chart. The "Adult R&B" chart is pretty much the only place a lot of Prince's latter-day cuts were charting. Of course, these charts are based on a relatively small subset of reporting stations. | |
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It wasn't called "Black" until the 1980s though. Before that it had several different titles like "Harlem Hit Parade", "Soul Singles", "Race Records", "Rhythm & Blues Records", etc. You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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There's also the Jet Magazine "Soul Brothers" charts. Soul Brothers was later dropped and was changed to "Jet's Top 20 Singles/Albums". Cashbox Magazine had different titles for its charts throughout the years too
You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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