MickyDolenz said:

Purplegarden said:

they dressed up nice in a time of limited hygiene. Whereas by the 90s they all wore casual clothes if any

A lot of rock acts of the era just wore jeans and a plain shirt, especially southern rock bands. Same in country although some still wore Nudie suits.

I was referring more to the 1920s blues singers and the early 1950s Doo wop and R&B guys in their matching suits, shiny shoes and the conked hair. 50s music in the Black world was all about looking and being sharp. All the pictures I see of Ma Rainey and Ethel Waters, Bessie and Mamie Smith etc, they are dressed to kill regardless of how ugly they may be seen as. All the 20s shots of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington etc, they are wearing suits and their hair is all done etc.

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Image was everything, ever notice how Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the 50s and well into the 60s were always in suits and the like and all the people in the big bands were dressed up well. Most people outside of the well off did not get piped hot water in their homes until the 40s and 50s.

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Definitely by the later 60s with the arrival of darshikis, slacks and open necked shirts, standards dropped dramatically. The Rolling Stones, Kinks and all the late 60s Acid blues and hard rock groups brought the sloppy jeans and t shirt and dishevelled long hippy hair look in. The 60s saw the biggest decline. In 1960 every act was in a suit or at least a tie and blazer, by 1970 it was shaggy and dirty hair, flares that were often daggy or ripped, jeans, tight leather pants, tshirts and open necked tops etc. Most acts in 1960 bathed several times a day - by 1970 it was like "ungroovy" to be all establishment and clean man!

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Take the beatles - 1962/63 all sharp suits and the like, by 1968 it was a festival of hair and dirty kaftans!

[Edited 2/4/21 19:06pm]

phunkdaddy said:

JayCrawford said:

vainandy said: Rakim and Big Daddy Kane were good rappers. I mean they weren't talking about killing people and playing the gangster gimmick unlike 90% of rappers throughout the 90s and 00s.

I remember in the mid 90's my girlfriend at the time had 2 younger sisters who were in high

school at the time and we threw a birthday party for one of them and they had their friends

over. I was playing mostly music of that time and even put on some Heavy D. One of their friends

came over and asked why I was playing Heavy D. He is like the Cosby Show.

I asked her what the fuck does that mean? She said he's not hard and too clean cut.

I told her that's what's wrong with your fucking generation now. Yall think rappers now should shout out ignorant shit referring to women as bitches and hoes. I said you can learn something from

Heavy D like how he treats women and actually watch his intelligence at work.

Oh Lord, I have seen sooooo many of these heffers say things like..... "Girrrl, I want me a real man. I want a thug!"...... And then a few months later they're sitting up there crying because the man either beat them, conned them, or ripped them off in some kind of way. Then the other women comfort them and even hook them up with another man just like him. All the while, I'm thinking to myself.... Hell, why are you crying now? You wanted a thug and you got one. So he beat you? Well hell, that's what thugs do. Why the hell do you think they are called thugs in the first place? Did you really think he was going to rob, con, or steal from everyone else but not do it to you also?..... I tell ya, they remind me of those trailer park women that want a hardcore redneck and then they get one and he beats the hell out of them.

Dumb. Matters how good the rap is and does it fit. The rap on Green Light is great. Outkast is well known for that.

Rahsaan Patterson never needed rappers.

You guys forget how good that Fugees record was.

Bobby Brown was New Jack Swing and he was the mack.

Neosoul made it great again. Jill Scott, Badu.

2freaky4church1 said:

You guys forget how good that Fugees record was.

Bobby Brown was New Jack Swing and he was the mack.

That Fugees, album I bought it in Aug 96 and wore that shit out. I played it all the time and learned the raps and everything. Lauryn could sing too and yet one of my lilywhite friends at the time was always giving me shit for liking Rap and R&B, I decided to play it for him as even he would admit it was good (Killing me softly was right up the charts at the time), and his opnion was "It's still motherfucker this and fuck that every 2nd word and the words n**** and Bitch seem to feature a lot".

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This made me laugh as one of my favourite lyrics on that set is by Lauryn "And after dropping all that science, I add a motherfucker so you ignant n****z hear me". Seeing Mr Liliywhite rock fan being compared to an ignant (n word) made my day.

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As for Bobby Brown in 89 he could do no wrong, that was the first real "rap" album I got into aged 12 and 13. It came out in 88 but the appeal of that thing lasted well in 1990 here. It was mostly singing - but hellafunky - My Prerogative, Don't be cruel, Every Little Step - all were huge hits here and the videos were awesome - yes that album takes me back! I pretty much got into all types of R&B and New Jack thanks to BB (Yet I also like Humpin around too).

[Edited 2/7/21 17:05pm]

JayCrawford said:

Nah we had Aaliyah, Missy (writing a bunch of r&b), Erykah, Jill Scott, Maxwell, Dangelo, Toni, Jon B, Ginuwine...we had some good r&b then
A lot more soulful than the New Jack era.

Hip hop overshadows r&b now unfortunately...and doesn't get its attention..but thanks to Weeknd and even Bruno Mars there is hope.

The other issue is that yall quit supporting r&b music over hip hop. I think if people bought their albums it would mot have happened. Also yall not streaming enough r&b too. These kids are responsible for the shit thats out now constantly streaming the mess like Lil Yhaty and Uzi..and whoever else. Get out there and support.

paisleypark4 said:

The other issue is that yall quit supporting r&b music over hip hop. I think if people bought their albums it would mot have happened. Also yall not streaming enough r&b too. These kids are responsible for the shit thats out now constantly streaming the mess like Lil Yhaty and Uzi..and whoever else. Get out there and support.

They are streaming garbage like the Weeknd and Bruno Mars too.

Purplegarden said:

Take the beatles - 1962/63 all sharp suits and the like, by 1968 it was a festival of hair and dirty kaftans!

They don't look dirty to me

JorisE73 said:

if you think thats garbage have fun listening to all the Lil Uzi and 2 Chains you can handle. K thanks

paisleypark4 said:

2 Chainz

I like his show Most Expensivest. One episode had a donut that costs $1,000 (USA).

MickyDolenz said:

I saw that mess smh

paisleypark4 said:

JorisE73 said:

They are streaming garbage like the Weeknd and Bruno Mars too.

if you think thats garbage have fun listening to all the Lil Uzi and 2 Chains you can handle. K thanks

Who says I listen to that garbage? Weird conclusions you make there.

Hey OldFriends4Sale,

What would you say that EXACTLY when(What Year) did R&B went Downhill? For me it was the Early 2000s onwards. Though there was STILL SOME GOOD & GREAT R&B Songs/Tracks/Albums made back then/when.

1988 for me, when Rap landed fully and the first New Jackers came out, Guy, Today, Bobby Brown (Okay his album was good), Paula Abdul, Johnny Gill etc - all neer rap hip hop and funky beats with high ta fades.

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But compare that to the R and B of 1987 - The System, Atlantic Star, Club Nouveau, TTD, Prince, MJ, - mostly funky singing and love ballads, still Jheri curls and suits.