8 Reasons Why R&B Has Died In The Black Community

[IllmaticDelta]

Funk and Disco were offshoots of R&B.

Funk and Disco are variations of Soul music

soul (secularized gospel music singing)





funk (a variation of soul with more syncopation and heavier grooves)






disco (a variation of soul-funk that was lusher with 4/4 hissing hit-hat sound pioneered by Philly Soul)

R&B is actually much closer to Blues,

real R&B is closer to blues, small band swing jazz (jump blues), early rock n roll

while Disco and Funk were heading more in the direction of Rock and Roll.

disco had things in common with rock n roll but it was closer to soul and funk for the reasons I already listed

I am no musicologist so I don't know where the dividing lines are, but there are and were dividing lines. Look at the career of Johnny Taylor. He went from Gospel, to Blues to R&B to Disco. There were clear dividing lines in the music. Joe Simon is another guy that went through all of those genres and then he went into Country music.

this is true

Btw, some of the 80's music was excellent. Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Phyllis Hyman, Freddie Jackson, Prince, Ashford and Simpson, and Stephanie Mills etc., put out excellent R&B songs during that era. Stephanie Mills was great in the 1980's.

80's had heat for sure but the 90's were better

 

[Samori Toure]

80's had heat for sure but the 90's were better

No. Absolutely not. No way. Think about the top acts that were still putting out great music in the 1980's

Marvin Gaye (Sexual Healing), Bobby Womack (If you think you are lonely now), Arthea Franklin, Michael Jackson, Kool and the Gang, Miki Howard, Levert, on and on and on were going strong in the 1980's. The 1980's was one of the top decades for R&B.

 

[ultraflexed]

Exactly

nikkas ain't trying to look for new shyt. They just wanna turn on a mainstream radio and hear the similarities of classic slow jams they remember from 20 years ago

But that was 20 years ago, get over it. RnB has evolved like it was always going to.. Dude just listed all the black music that was created by us then evolved either into something new or an exstension of the old.

People still out here singing love songs and slow jams but thats not whats mainstream.. At least not without a rapper on it. Accept it, the trend started in the 90's. But people are still making dope albums that yall not checking for then you say RnB is dead just like nikkas was saying hip hop was

To evolve would mean to improve...that has not happened.



hiphop is dead, just cause you have 2 legit MC's with Cole and Lamar doesn't mean hiphop is alive....its not.

 

[crush_sumpin]

I don't know where he was in the 1980's; maybe he was drinking or something and didn't hear it all. The 1980's produced excellent R&B music and the Funk was outrageous too.

Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, Patti LaBelle, Bobby Womack, Ashford & Simpson, Freddie Jackson, Stephanie Mills, Michael Jackson, Prince, James Brown, Kool and the Gang, Ray Parker Jr., Chaka Khan, on and on and on. That was the decade that some of those people put out their best work.

even lesser known acts put out quality r&b in the 80's..that mesh of life instrumentation with the synthesizers & drum machines, as well as quality songwriting was the shyt.

shyt I just described s.o.s. band to a tee.

 

[Samori Toure]

even lesser known acts put out quality r&b in the 80's..that mesh of life instrumentation with the synthesizers & drum machines, as well as quality songwriting was the shyt.

shyt I just described s.o.s. band to a tee.

Listen to just few cuts released in the 1980's. We can do a greater breakdown covering more artists, but this is 80's music. It was really good and better than this shyt today and in the 90's.

 

[SheWantTheD]

R&B promotes simp behavior, relationships and love making.

Nobody wants to get hurt but at the same time everyone's playing games.

People are also having sex without attachment

 

[The Amerikkkan Idol]

Frankie Ocean is a better song writer (and actually plays an instrument) than majority of 90's artists, hate to break it to you gramps.

stay mad tho. "He's real R&B"

Why do you nikkaz keep talking '90s?

nikka, we're talking '60's, '70s when there were real musicians playing R&B

We're talking Isley Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind, & Fire, etc. . .

shyt like R. Kelly, Mary J, Jodeci, etc. . wasn't pure R&B.

Now, it was good, yeah, but it wasn't pure R&B in attitude or how it was composed

Frank Ocean is overrated as fukk and only shot to superstardom because he came out as a polesmoker and White liberals keep trying to force that "Moonlight" shyt on us.

My nikka, what the fukk does white people have to do with this shyt.
You're letting white people validate your r&b

My nikka you're failing to realize the evolution of R&B. R Kelly was literally dubbed the King of R&B in the mid to late 90s. His production, singing and writing solidified him.

I'm talking about the child molestation shyt, nikka.

People for a decade, including some nikkaz have been saying we're enabling a sexual predator by continuing to listen to R. Kelly.

Who said anything about gospel

Have you listened to all of these albums below?

A few low profile albums doesn't even compare man.

I guess if you werre older than 24, then you'd know how HUGE R&B used to be.

None of those records you listed are on the level of a "What's Goin' On", "Songs In The Key of Life", "There's A Riot Goin' On", etc. . .

I loved Anderson Paak's record. (It's not pure R&B, but still), but that doesn't mean I think it's a cultural defining record. It isn't.

R&B used to promote world beaters, now you get guys who make good music that's okay, but it doesn't register within our culture really.

To be honest music in general is in kind of a lurch.

You should see that the average CAC has to say about rock music.

Hell even with the issues in R and B, it's low key enjoyed kind of a renaissance.

Now, this is truth.

Rock's been dead since Cobain died. Rock's in a worst state than R&B & Hip-Hop. Rock bands don't even matter anymore

Hip-HOp's been dying since 2pac & Biggie died with momentary highlights (Kendrick, J. Cole, Lupe, etc.)

And R&B's so bad you got nikkaz claiming The Weekend & Rihanna are R&B

R&B promotes simp behavior, relationships and love making.

Nobody wants to get hurt but at the same time everyone's playing games.

People are also having sex without attachment

Absolutely. This is an underrated comment.

Our generations are so cynical, jaded, and cold that it's hard to make loving music for people who are sterile and frigid.

Wannabe pimps & gangsters vs. angry feminists & ratchets does not make for good soul music

 

[Ronnie Lott]

Why do you nikkaz keep talking '90s?

nikka, we're talking '60's, '70s when there were real musicians playing R&B

We're talking Isley Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind, & Fire, etc. . .

shyt like R. Kelly, Mary J, Jodeci, etc. . wasn't pure R&B.

Now, it was good, yeah, but it wasn't pure R&B in attitude or how it was composed

Frank Ocean is overrated as fukk and only shot to superstardom because he came out as a polesmoker and White liberals keep trying to force that "Moonlight" shyt on us.


I'm talking about the child molestation shyt, nikka.

People for a decade, including some nikkaz have been saying we're enabling a sexual predator by continuing to listen to R. Kelly.


A few low profile albums doesn't even compare man.

I guess if you werre older than 24, then you'd know how HUGE R&B used to be.

None of those records you listed are on the level of a "What's Goin' On", "Songs In The Key of Life", "There's A Riot Goin' On", etc. . .

I loved Anderson Paak's record. (It's not pure R&B, but still), but that doesn't mean I think it's a cultural defining record. It isn't.

R&B used to promote world beaters, now you get guys who make good music that's okay, but it doesn't register within our culture really.



Now, this is truth.

Rock's been dead since Cobain died. Rock's in a worst state than R&B & Hip-Hop. Rock bands don't even matter anymore

Hip-HOp's been dying since 2pac & Biggie died with momentary highlights (Kendrick, J. Cole, Lupe, etc.)

And R&B's so bad you got nikkaz claiming The Weekend & Rihanna are R&B



Absolutely. This is an underrated comment.

Our generations are so cynical, jaded, and cold that it's hard to make loving music for people who are sterile and frigid.

Wannabe pimps & gangsters vs. angry feminists & ratchets does not make for good soul music

Horrible low level posting

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Computerized Production

 

[rantanamo]

I think the best way to put this, rather than trying to break down each black genre is to ask where has the talent domination of black music forms that were alive in the past. Even if you are one to say music has evolved, I would say the talent in numbers is just not close. There's a lot of heat out there right now, but its mixed with a lot of bad at the same time. Even in Hip-hop. We can say, find your own music, use other sources, etc, etc, but popular music prevails, and it used to be more than just trap and the occasional soul or r&b hit popularized. Even if you aren't into popular music peep a R&B/hip-hop chart from the last 30 years and look at how good and competitive it used to be. Instrumentals, hip-hop, r&b, soul, ballads. Listen to those songs. The depth of music was much greater from song to song. Yes, songs are flat now. Was thinking about this as I was looking at the r&b chart records, which all seem to be recent. All I could think of was damn, not only is that song not worthy of that longevity, but damn, I guess what is there to knock it off? That's not evolution, that's de-evolution.

 

[Samori Toure]

Computerized Production

And then you hear a voice like this that is just based on this woman's flat out ability. R&B used to be unreal. This is another 80's cut, but it is a remake of a 1978 Diana Ross version.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

And then you hear a voice like this that is just based on this woman's flat out ability. R&B used to be unreal. This is another 80's cut, but it is a remake.

I remember when Kanye 1st started making those beats with Samples that sounded like Alvin And The Chipmunks, he would add a Dope beat with but it would only be the hook...that was fine with me for a Rap Song...but not for the entire track to be altering the artist's voice like so.

 

[Samori Toure]

I remember when Kanye 1st started making those beats with Samples that sounded like Alvin And The Chipmunks, he would add a Dope beat with but it would only be the hook...that was fine with me for a Rap Song...but not for the entire track to be altering the artist's voice like so.

You have to use computers when the people can not actually sing or play any instruments. I am still floored with the fact that there are no more bands. Bands used to be the shyt. They put the singers over the top. Lets go old school for a second. Just listen to James Brown's band. They are on his ass. They smoked this shyt.

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

I disagree with the article. Does that person actually listen to mainstream music/radio?If so, they would see that R&B didn't go anywhere..it's just that the modern R&B that's hitting top 40 is blurring the lines between true R&B and HIpHop. I have thread on here with modern R&B being made that's not so blended with HipHop that disproves the person that wrote that article



Official thread for current/modern R&B based music that's not being heard by the masses/top 40 radio

even the thread u made is making the point that R&B fell off

the fukking title says as much

 

[daboywonder2002]

pretty good article, nothing but facts



8 Reasons Why R&B Has Died in the Black Community - Atlanta Black Star

here's the list

1. The Whitewash
2. Too Much Focus on Physical Attributes, Not Enough on Talent
3. Producer-Focused
4. Too Much Sex
5. Artists Too Limited
6. Nobody Is Buying Music Anymore
7. R&B and Hip-Hop Have Coalesced Into a Single Genre
8. Computerized Production

explain 3 and 4 please. Because when it comes to r and b producers, we don't have those jam/lewis, Teddy riley, dallas austin, and La/babyface. I think the lack of songwriters and r and b producers is part of the problem. And when it comes to sex, it's always been part of r and b. maybe now there's no leaving stuff to the imagination.