The Death of R&B - Too Narcissitic to Love?

Interesting article. I'm not sure I agree with the conclusion that changes in relationships brought about the end of R&B... Redefined relationships may be a contributing factor, but I tend to believe that an industry driven by a desire to reduce costs and increase profits, the loss of venues to showcase R&B talent, self promotion via the internet and an abundance of lesser talented wanna-be rap/hip hop types played larger roles...

Anyway... Here's the article I refer to:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/02/showbiz/music/love-songs/index.html?hpt=hp_c4

 

Yep had read that earlier.

Definitely attests to the shift in black relationships.

If you looked at the "quality" of black music then it was something to be proud of as a people.

Talented men and women who defined "Soul"

 

Some thoughts

1. In the eighties Prince and Michael Jackson revolutionized black music forever. For the first time in the history of popular music, black music by black artists outsold black music by white artists. To achieve this, the black music of these mega superstars had to appeal to a wider share of white mainstream audiences, or crossover.

2. The easiest way to crossover is by getting people to dance. Soulful R&B had been on the decline for some time, steadily being outpaced by disco and funk. Prince and MJ understood the power of faster rhythms in black music and took the uptempo music they grew up with and modified it to capture all audiences.

3. Rap music initially followed a different formula by rejecting appeals to crossover, but did so anyway as white audiences who embraced Prince and MJ remained hungry for uptempo black music. The fact that their parents hated rap didn't hurt either.

4. You take rap, the most self-referential form of black music ever invented, because it's largely young black men looking to assert their masculinity in a society that fears it, and combine it with a model for R&B that is less introspective and more concerned with moving asses and you get what we have in 2011/12.

 

I found myself agreeing with the article, having noticed the difference for a few years. I attributed it to my age - no longer green, dealing with new romantic emotions, etc,...combined with a profound lack of originality in today's soul music and its lyrics.
It's why all my playlists are 99% 70's funk and original soul and R&B. (I do tend to pass on most the 60's (though I appreciate the 60's style of love songs and lyrics.) I also relish the 30's/40's jazz and Blues era). Teddy, Issac, Marvin, Barry...I can't name one in their league today.

Btw: The only time I usually take to a rap song, is when it has an underlying R&B/soul chorus to it, or samples old-school funk or soul throughout.

 

A lot of hyperbole if you ask me. Though there's no denying the difference between bands and solo artists. I doubt we ever see R&B bands again, which is a shame. The Ohio Players had one the most phenomenal brass sections in all of music.

 

u never lie. all yall are on point

 

We could run down a list of fantastic horn and rhythm sections from "back in the day"...

Now days groups are rare... Everybody tries to do it solo...

 

they have drum machines now.no need for musical talents

 

I love the old school R&B songs and EWF was my favorite group back in the day. I agree that the love has definitely disappeared from this genre. (I've not heard the Chris Brown song mentioned in the article. Don't want to either. Sad indicator of the times.)

 

Good post.