RnB... do you think in the future this genre will no longer exist?

ldj

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Before ppl say oh well we got alicia,beyonce,jamie foxx etc... They arent in the sense making rnb albums for the most part they are harmonizing over party/club and hip hop tracks. True every once in a blue moon we get an exception to this ie... maxwell,sade but rewind 15 20 yrs... hell 10 yrs ago and you had a plethra of rnb albums.

For the most part nowadays an rnb album consist of 1 or 2 ballads, like 2 or 3 slow jams then 10-12 tracks of the rnb artist  adlib/harmonizing with whatever rappers are hot or on the rise. And it seems like as the years past as of late, rnb albums have had more blame it tracks then pretty wings. Whereas 10 15 yrs ago or so it was the opposite.

With all that being said do anyone feel rnb will become disco... esp for the next generation?
 
R&B will never die out. It just follows the path of evolution. What you consider R&B is a far cry from what the original R&B singers and musicians used to produce. Look up what constituted R&B in the 1920's-50's. By your definition, you could say they don't produce that same type of music these days and that it has "died out."

The reason R&B won't die is because it is generally relatable music. Disco was a bunch of dumb +!% party music that usually didn't make no damn sense. I understand some disco songs might have had underlying meaning and whatnot, but really, who can actually relate to a song like YMCA or Dancing Queen? To me, it's just random words that were strung together with a catchy beat and made for dancing(although I do see your point that alot of current R&B seems to be following this trend, T-Pain/Akon/etc).

But this is just the evolution of music. Tastes change, needs change. If we go through a major depression or world changing devastation, I guarantee that you will see a huge shift in the type of music that gets produced, and that poppy T-Pain crap will become "extinct." The past couple decades have seen alot of party music because to be honest, there isn't a whole lot to be depressed about.

So no, I don't think R&B will be going anywhere. It might assume a different form or style, but like I said, the form that you're hoping to keep is already something different than what it used to be.

Cliffnotes for stupid NTer's that can't read: R&B is not going anywhere.
 
Its not going anywhere. Its too profitable. You may not see it in album sales but when a Robin Thicke, a Jill Scott, A Chrisitte Michelle, etc. goes out on tour? Its sold out. And their albums don't cost much to produce.

Most of these albums are r&b albums anyway. You discredit Jamie, Beyonce, Alicia, etc. but that's r&b.
 
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I know EXACTLY where you're coming from L.RnB does have a future,but the real question is where the hell will it go next?I treat it like I do Hip Hop......................dig through the trash and get the gems.You just gotta listen to the music that has soul and moves you and forget about the rest!
 
I don't know where you live .. but when I was in NY RnB can be found all over from your open mics/ jam sessions to your major venues .. so it is out they locally and would continue to be but if you mean in the mainstream
For it to thrive in the mainstream meaning album sales it's going to be sung over electro beats .. Just like how it was sung over disco beats in the 70s and early 80s and hip hop beats in the 90s and 00s
Either that or a lot of artist are going to instead take some of the rawness of RnB and translate it into gospel track

Oh yeah going a little deeper into RnB style singing if you listen to a new guy by the name of Justin Nozuka, he does his thing but more in a singer songwriter aspect

BTW .. my personal belief is that RnB [well music in general] needs to go back to the days of the Chitlin Circuit meaning local artists need to start getting together, putting bands together and start touring small venues building their craft and song catalog instead of going to all of these singing contests/youtube straight to major .... Those things are great when you already have built an established fan base and know who you're going to be as an artist
 
pdoggy85 wrote:
R&B will never die out. It just follows the path of evolution. What you consider R&B is a far cry from what the original R&B singers and musicians used to produce. Look up what constituted R&B in the 1920's-50's. By your definition, you could say they don't produce that same type of music these days and that it has "died out."

The reason R&B won't die is because it is generally relatable music. Disco was a bunch of dumb +!% party music that usually didn't make no damn sense. I understand some disco songs might have had underlying meaning and whatnot, but really, who can actually relate to a song like YMCA or Dancing Queen? To me, it's just random words that were strung together with a catchy beat and made for dancing(although I do see your point that alot of current R&B seems to be following this trend, T-Pain/Akon/etc).

But this is just the evolution of music. Tastes change, needs change. If we go through a major depression or world changing devastation, I guarantee that you will see a huge shift in the type of music that gets produced, and that poppy T-Pain crap will become "extinct." The past couple decades have seen alot of party music because to be honest, there isn't a whole lot to be depressed about.

So no, I don't think R&B will be going anywhere. It might assume a different form or style, but like I said, the form that you're hoping to keep is already something different than what it used to be.

Cliffnotes for stupid NTer's that can't read: R&B is not going anywhere.



I feel ya on that but the 20's thru late 50's rnb was a label to replace the term race/black music. So regardless what an african american artist id it was deemed as rnb. The genre was nitched, or for better words labed to a specific music in the late 50's/early 60's. So that would be like the isleys, the temptations,sam cooke etc... Babyface,Boyz II Men,Brian McKnight etc arent much of a stretch from the generations of the past. But artist like jerimih(or however you spell it) is a far far cry from those previous artist.

Plus with sales as bad as they are, true you have the robin thickes' etc that do exceptionally well in both sales and in tours, that success as of late has been at best mediocre. I mean look at an artist like musiq who had a top selling album/tour just a few yrs ago. Now couldnt even go halfway gold and may at best, sellout a local bar/club. Plus the majority of there sales etc are from a targeted audience. The 30 $+% and up crowd. These ppl arent gonna buy music nor live forever.

So who will be purchasing these artist then? The kid who only exposer to rnb is chris brown, a lil trey songz, and they older sis/bro r.kelly albums? with them growing up with 95% of there ipod filled with gucci,waka,jay z, etc. It just doesnt seem feasible that they will become an avid listener to the genre, and if so will be free.
 
I hate questions like this. Just cause it's not all over the radio doesn't mean it's not out there. Great R&B albums drop every year, you just gotta find them
 
Originally Posted by LDJ

pdoggy85 wrote:
So who will be purchasing these artist then? The kid who only exposer to rnb is chris brown, a lil trey songz, and they older sis/bro r.kelly albums? with them growing up with 95% of there ipod filled with gucci,waka,jay z, etc. It just doesnt seem feasible that they will become an avid listener to the genre, and if so will be free.
Nobody is purchasing R&B right now for several reasons. R&B music just isn't as popular as it was. As I said earlier, tastes have changed for the moment. 90's saw HUGE amounts of R&B artists/groups, while the 2000's have seen a drop due to their being more money in making club music. Hell, look at R Kelly. He's done a great job of mixing the style up to cater to the what people want at that moment. But it's always about that money.

On top of that, the dominant artists of the 70's-90's are gone/old/retired now, or have used up pretty much all their material. It's damn hard to sustain for a long time the way the Isley Brothers or R Kelly have. Brian McKnight still releases an album every year/other year, but as good as they are, they just can't touch his old stuff, leading to a decline in his popularity.

As someone said earlier, there's PLENTY of great R&B albums out there that just get no burn. Hopefully that changes in the near future, but for now it's not what people want. When the current generation gets too old for the club, I'm betting sales of R&B music picks up.
 
The problem with male R&B artists is that these N's are all too infatuated wit havin street cred and tryna be a thug, that they forgot what R&B was all about.

The Marvin's, the Stevie's...their musical perspective covered the range of what everyday men experienced on any given day. This included the ups and downs of life in general...the up and downs of love...etc. They spoke to women and about women with love. These cats these days do not speak from the perspective of the everyday listener.

Don't even trip tho...this brand of R&B is dying out and the real is on it's way back IMO.

Not to mention...my EP drops this June. I rarely post these days...busy workin, but yall will know R&B ain't dying once you hear it. Guaranteed...
 
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