I know, I know! You’re probably going to judge me about my HELLA nostalgic music posts, but this topic has GOTS to be talked about! Somewhere in the midst of us getting “crunk” in the early 2000’s and “turnin’ up” heading toward 2020, we allowed an entire genre of music to slip through our fingers. Can someone please tell me, where is R&B?
There was once a time when R&B dominated the charts, ballads were played on radio, and if the hottest R&B artist wasn’t on your movie soundtrack, it just didn’t pop. (Get it?) But now Rap/Hip Hop has become one of the most played and chart topping genres in music, which leaves many of us left singing our hearts out to self-curated 90's R&B playlists on Tidal, Spotify, and Apple Music.
Music just doesn’t have soul anymore, and although many of our favorite R&B artists are still around, they’re struggling to sell albums beyond their prime and are rarely reaching Gold. The music has lost its feel and I believe that this is due to an urge for many of those few artists from back in the day wanting to fit into the mold of the new culture of music. This isn’t a terrible thing as it has worked extremely well for former R&B artists like Beyoncé and Rihanna. The upside to their success in R&B was that they were able to crossover into Pop, but when the two biggest female acts in R&B at the time left its beloved genre behind, their audiences transitioned as well.
And Beyoncé and Rihanna aren’t the only ones. Usher’s 2010 hit single “OMG” featuring Will.I.Am took me by surprise as well. This was the guy that sung out his confessions back in 2004, and had us all whaling and apologizing our imaginary, relationship slip ups. “OMG” at that time was EVERYWHERE! It was a new sound for him, it was fresh, and it proved he could appeal to an international audience. But that was also the point of no return for Usher. He hasn’t released a legit R&B single since before then, and Usher was a legit R&B superstar!
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the artist’s need to capitalize and stay relevant, but I just want my favs to sing again! We have singing artists on the radio right now who are either appealing to Popular music or rely heavily on Rap features to boost credibility. There are still a few of us left in the world who love deep-soul, high pitched, mellow tempo’d, screamin’ and sangin’, organic Rhythm and Blues.
What do you think is the cause of the sudden disappearance of R&B now? Let us know in the comments below.
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