So brehs who was the first RnB thug?

[Spiritual Stratocaster]

Unquestionably it's Bobby Brown. There may have been guys before him stated in the thread, but he was the Godfather of the R&B Thug lane
Always getting arrested, hard drugs user, bad boy, getting sexual with girls on stage, urinated on a cop car, etc.

Plus he was the first R&B artist to rap actual bars in a song on a regular basis. Perfect examples are "On Your Own" and "Every Little Step I take"

We should all bow down to the Godfather's influence

I know that 'On Our Own' verse by heart

 

[Kitsch]

Can y'all put me onto some Aaron Hall hits?

Not really a fan like that.

 

[lightbearerchef]

Some Latino R & B singer made an remix to John Legend's "Ordinary People" singing about guns with the same melody and all forgot the name though.





And of course this....

Yoo i was just sangin this bust my guns yesterday or 2day i cant remember

 

[BronxFleeZ]

Some Latino R & B singer made an remix to John Legend's "Ordinary People" singing about guns with the same melody and all forgot the name though.





And of course this....

That is my fukking homie!!!

 

[360dagod]

I remember Dave Hollister saying Kelly stole his style...

any truth to this?

 

[IllmaticDelta]

 

[daboywonder2002]

bobby brown was a bad boy. but he didnt do street music. He did regular r and b ladies love. i gotta really think about this but i think its jaheim who really had the look and talked that ghetto street talk but could also sing his ass off

 

[MikeyC]

Ike turner

 

[newworldafro]

Yeah, Barry was stealing tires.

Link....off this crazy image

 

[Sbp]

Looks like Harold Melvin was strapped in this pic

But nah as far as having the "swag" of a street dude/rapper but being a singer Bobby Brown was the originator. NE were probably the 1st singers to also rap on their songs but BB was the only that had that hard persona


Bob seems like another member of Whodini instead of a NE member in that video

To the people saying Kellz, he was just an evolution of what Bobby had already started

 

[Sbp]

Oile and Jerry might have been goons as well






"Out in the streets, you don't survive by being weak "





One of my favorite songs ever, just an incredible song

"I don't wanna come down" was my shyt that nikka Turbo walked on the wall!!!!!!

 

[Art Barr]

I don't recall them thugging back in their heyday breh, being crackheads doesn't = thug breh

Dawg,...
They were suge's first high drawing gateway into the industry.


Art Barr

Anyway, I think David Ruffin is the answer to this.
He is the guy all the women from back in the day excused for massive fukkery and was seen as the stereotypical first Gen rnb ladies man.
Where it was a marketed and real thing.
You could say James but I would go with ruffin off if perception more than James.
Especially since they had a weird southern against northern ideal music wise back then.
Black people from the city used to front on James, original and call it country music up north.
To the point you can see the dynamic did possibly exist.
As it was featured as a real thing on film in Cadillac records and muddy waters. Yet, was not made light of in the James brown movie.
Also, public rumor of ruffin being abusive and possible injuries precipitated terrell's death.
Also, kind make ruffin the go to guy nostalgia wise.



Art Barr


Art Barr

 

[Art Barr]

I don't recall them thugging back in their heyday breh, being crackheads doesn't = thug breh

Dawg,...
They were suge's first high drawing gateway into the industry.


Art Barr

Anyway, I think David Ruffin is the answer to this.
He is the guy all the women from back in the day excused for massive fukkery and was seen as the stereotypical first Gen rnb bad boy rebel ladies man.
Where it was a marketed and real thing.
You could say James but I would go with ruffin off of perception more than James.
Especially since they had a weird southern against northern ideal music wise back then.
Black people from the city used to front on James, originally and call it country music up north.
To the point you can see the dynamic did possibly exist.
As it was featured as a real thing on film in Cadillac records and muddy waters. Yet, was not made light of in the James brown movie.
Also, public rumor of ruffin being abusive and possible injuries precipitated terrell's death.
Also, kinda make ruffin the go to guy nostalgia wise.



Art Barr

 

[Wacky D]

in terms of modern-day music(the past 30 years), that distinction goes to bobby brown.

but there were lots of thugs in r&b history beforehand. r&b/soul was he music of choice for the streets before hip-hop existed.

I think he falls under the jodeci umbrella of "rough"

do crack cocaine brehs

i never heard of jodeci being live niccas on some street chit. alot of their image was manufactured, altho jojo can give a nikka the beats.

bobby brown was a real live project kid that used to ride around on his bike terrorizing & robbing cats.
the cocaine stuff was WAY AFTER the fact. whitney houston put him on to coke.

the whole new edition was boston projects(minus johnny), with ralph prolly being the soft one. how people are mentioning bobby and then skipping over BBD is beyond me, especially the people listing jodeci, who mostly copied BBD.

RnB cats have BEEN grimey. But the music and image didn't correlate until Bobby.

THIS.

I remember Dave Hollister saying Kelly stole his style...

any truth to this?

i dont recall hollister ever being on some thug chit.

sounds like hollister is referring to those ghetto soap opera love songs, which is another topic but he might have a valid point.

hollister mightve been the 1st on that tip. but then again, r.kelly was the man behind changing faces. i kinda remember changing faces doing it before hollister but i could be wrong. especially knowing that r.kelly was one of the biggest biters in r&b.

 

[keond]

Bobby Brown

Yea Bobby was the first one to market it. Rick James would also be one who relished the thug image. Other RnB "thugs" tried everything to present a wholesome image.

Jackie Wilson and David Ruffin were literally pimping women. Ruffin, Ike, James Brown and others were beating the shyt outta women and doing mounds of dope.