Born in the post-World War II United States as one of the twisted children of blues and jazz music forms, rhythm and blues has a long history of identity crises. Throughout music history, the tradition of R&B has had a difficult time stepping out on its own without being complemented by more prominent genres.
The genesis of its creation points to a time when black pioneers of primitive rock ’n’ roll sounds, such as Ike Turner and Fats Domino, stepped away from white and mixed audiences to cater to black concert halls and parties. For example, a record like “Twist and Shout,” known today as a staple in the early rock ’n’ roll catalog, overlaps stylistically with the R&B sensibilities of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Isley Brothers, an R&B ensemble, covered the song in 1962 before The Beatles made it a hit again the following year.
After enjoying a boom in popularity in the 1960s, thanks to the repurposing of rhythm & blues into soul music during the Motown era, the lineage of R&B music wavered, as it became filtered through funk and disco playlists in the 1970s and almost completely left out of the MTV programming of the 1980s if not for Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” After the convention of hip-hop, contemporary R&B has remained a niche genre, as more popular takes on the sound became submerged in the synthesized drum kits and samples more synonymous with rap music, giving way to sub-genres like new jack swing, neo-soul and hip-hop soul in the 1990s.
While there have always been and will always be purists like John Legend, Anthony Hamilton, Jaheim and Raheem DeVaughn that remain comparable to early legends like Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway, those flashes of the R&B of old remain few and far between in popular black music culture. This has left the last batch of R&B stars in the early 2000s leaning closer to a black-centric microcosm of American pop music than a genre all to itself. Where Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake stood out as purveyors of Total Request Live countdowns, a quick flip over to BET’s 106 & Park would introduce viewers to artists like Ashanti, Keyshia Cole and Mario, who utilized an identical song structure and image.
One artist broke through the static during these desolate times in R&B: The-Dream. After a well-received debut album that blended the songwriting techniques of ‘90s legend R. Kelly and the new-wave funk of Prince’s Minneapolis Sound, The-Dream returned in spring 2009 with “Love vs. Money.” Much of the album stuck to the formula he trademarked the album before, except “Fancy.” The downtempo selection used separate movements of piano, strings and hard-hitting drums that moved the record along an ambient landscape. It’s an extremely melodic ballad that remains open and airy without becoming tedious or boring. When questioned last year by Ebro Darden and Peter Rosenberg of Hot 97, an urban music radio station in New York City, whether or not the song directly inspired the output of Drake, Frank Ocean and The Weeknd immediately thereafter, The-Dream humbly responded, “It’s probably a question that you’d have to ask them.”
Whether or not The-Dream is willing to assume responsibility for the explosion of the sound, it is very real, and fans of the music are looking for a way to define it. Some call it hipster R&B or alternative R&B, a term that British songstress FKA Twigs shot down days ago in an interview with NME.com, stating plainly, “F*** alternative R&B.”
One of the more fascinating terms associated with the movement is PBR&B, a derivative of the Pabst Blue Ribbon brand of American lagers that markets and caters to a young, hip audience.
Not unlike Twigs, many artists have stood up against allowing fans to try to fit their art into any particular mold, while more seasoned artists have switched their sounds to match the wave. Usher took a stab at it with his single “Climax,” and Willow Smith has traded in whipping her hair for a more relaxed soundscape on her new single, “8.”
It doesn’t seem as if this particular trend in music plans to die anytime soon with new releases from Drake protégé PARTYNEXTDOOR, Kilo Kish, How to Dress Well and Spooky Black bringing a new twist on an age-old art form to a swarm of new listeners.
-Jared Boyd
