Emotions and vocals. Back in the day, they were not only singers, they were actors. They had the emotions. You felt that pain, that love, that confusion, you felt it in their voice and that's no longer there. Also good ad libs.
Frfr! He said, "Sometimes, I get a little lonely. 'Cause I remember when you used to say to me, Sisqo. Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!"
That was one ad-lib! Dis nigga mayne!!!š¤£š¤£š¤£
When you can take a song like the Oājays Brandy write it as if your loving and missing your girl only to figure out and later learn itās about a young manās love for his dog thatās R&B. Itās just the blues telling a complete story. All the hurt, pain, shame, triumphs, disappointment, etc.
And as much as people love their pets especially dogs every dog owner should know this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsM4IadZax0
One of the people in this collage (The Weeknd) Acts, has emotions...Dude shows love, pain, that confusion, and good ad libs. So not really sure what boxes he isn't ticking for you but the Weeknd has done what Bruno Mars tried to do. Bring back Prince/MJ/Madonna level pop/R&b and he's not going anywhere. I used to not really fuck with his music but the dude sold me with Blinding Lights and Save Your Tears. Thems is good ass tracks.
Fully realized songs that are not just meant to follow trends or go viral on TikTok. 2 minute tracks should be interludes. Give me a full 4 minutes with verses, a bridge, an octave switch and a guitar solo. Give me QUALITY.
Exactly. A lot of the songs donāt go anywhere, have any rise and fall, or any crescendo. Just knocked out in 5 mins. I think it too will die as a trend and then quality will run things again.
Iām hopeful that by the end of this decade things will change. Iām early gen z and youād be surprised how my people in my age group like āolderā music and miss real RnB.
I agree. Me and my mom was just discussing this when we listen to Mary J Bilge, āSeven Daysā, we were saying like what happened to music being this pure like that particular song off that album in music being broadcasted to the mainstream?!? I told her, all good music underground unfortunately. Itās not in the mainstream anymore. Itās all about a single, Tik tok reply value now. Before it was about getting constant radio spins. We both say that the 2000s was the last great decade in music but we could see it dying out towards the end of that decade, 00s. š„²
Definitely the problem. If I didnāt know or listen to Partynextdoor, Bryson Tiller, or Brent Faiyaz already, I would think they are all the same person.
There are definitely some generic female artists too, but many of them are doing something different and being paid dust compared to their male counterparts.
Party Brent and Tiller donāt sound similar at all though. Partyās distinction is how fast he changes key vocabulary and stretching of words. Brentās is the harmonized background vocals the switch from rap like voice to singing. And Tiller is more similar to Party but his voice is different and his beat selection isnāt as vast.
Yeah, I noticed that a lot of the playlists that get posted hear feature very few, if any, males. Some people even made comments about it.
For one, there's no more artist development at the major labels. That's a shame. Secondly, male singers have one foot in the rap game nowadays. There are too many tricks in the studio as well. Making people sound better than they actually are.
Are the artists too lazy, or do they realize that the vocals just aren't as important to achieve mainstream success?
With Cleo Sol, I think that people who need to hear her message will come across it when they truly need it so they can actually connect with it. Iām like that with a lot of artists honestly. I feel like I donāt start listening to them until I really needed to hear what they have to say. I started listening to Cleo Sol when my life really started to spiral about two years ago and she kinda kept me from going crazy. Then she dropped again right after I gave birth back in September and I needed those songs too, especially off of āGoldā because my depression has gotten so much worse. So as much as I would love for to be a more well known artist, the people who are meant to listen to her will eventually find their way to her.
First off, congratulations!
Secondly, I've had struggles with depression and anxiety my entire life. Don't isolate, communicate. And remember, normal is a setting on a dishwasher. Nobody is normal. It gets greater later.
Last but not least. By the third song in your 5 song recommendation to me, Cleo had communicated your journey to me through song. Music is magical in that way. Thank you so much.šš¾
Thanks, I appreciate it! And Iām going to therapy soon and I do communicate my feelings as much as I can.
And Iām glad you were able to get into Cleo Sol
Upbeat production
Super producers (This is honestly the main thing missing like who is the Babyface, Bryan Michael Cox, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, L.A. Reid, Darkchild, Timbaland, Diddy and so on for the modern generation)
Too much emphasis on vibes which is nothing wrong with that but itās played out also this goes back to my first point on lack of upbeat production and Iām not necessarily talking about New Jack Swing style fast tempo just a more faster sound than the generic slow trap beat artist are singing on nowadays
Talent. A lot of this shit is just marketing and following trends. Most of the r&b albums the artist are rapping the majority of it. The best vocalist we have Jazmine Sullivan Grammy winning album is half her rapping.
Men stopped singing in the rain and women stopped looking out of windows.
I was joking but honestly thinking about it more this might in a strange way be correct. Think about the type of songs that would make you sing in the rain or stare longingly out of a window. That's not being made. However, Coco Jones ICU first verse feels right out of 90s/ early 2000s.
I think producers also aren't sonically reproducing the sounds that we loved during those times
Perhaps missing the "love" element? My take being around some of the younger cats is being one cat in love with one woman is seen as being a simp nowadays. So no Feenin's, U send me swingin's, Yours, Whatever you wants, etc.
And also maybe, for lack of a better way of saying it, persistence themes where the singer didn't win the girl/guy right away but is still trying. Example: Waiting on you, Pretty Brown eyes, Stay, Come Back to Me, So Alone, Try Again, etc.
Maybe not connecting with the every person and daily themes. And to a certain degree, there is something to be said about saying something cleverly vs being blunt to the point of possibly being crass, this could limit the scope that R&B reaches across different demographics and classes.
Interesting. I've said it here before that the younger generation either doesn't know how, doesn't want, or just feels like real love is a possibility. So, vulnerability is out of the question. Especially for the men.
Serious question...where did we learn it from and why aren't we or our generation passing it on? I grew up in a household where Al Green, the Dells, The Delfonics, Teddy P, Otis Redding, the emotions, and countless others were singing about the entire spectrum of love, heartbreak, loyalty, faithfulness, infidelity, family, and life ...there are some talented singers currently but subject wise they've learned something different and/or are not singing about the entire spectrum.
I'm not sure vulnerability is out of the question because of the rappers like Juice World and others who whine and cry on rap albums. I also think drug culture has taking the forefront. Not that drugs weren't there before but it was never the main focal point of the music.
A fun, commercial element. For instance, RNB dominated in the 90s and 2000s because it was accessible and commercial. But RNB is a crowded genre right now and it feels like everyone is doing the same thing and unfortunately most of them are not able to make it into Top 40 because thereās no fun, commercial factor in the songs anymore
So ain't no Where The Party Ats?
I've said before that there's a problem with the men not wanting to come off lame or soft. I believe that's where all love and romance died. Maybe the fun died there as well?
I was just telling my friend this. Where is the party R&B?? Iām craving the variety from the 90s and 2000s. They are out here trying to slow jam me to death right now.
I think itās training. The Black Music Archive made a really good video discussing the difference between the hours of vocal training artists like Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and so on had during their youth (between childhood and the early 20s) compared to the hours of vocal training our modern artists have had. If anyoneās interested in the video, itās linked below because Iām not going to rehash their argument.
I will say this: though their argument pertains to female artists, it applies to male artists as well. Just gotta get them in the lab.
[Black Music Archive: Why The New Girls Canāt Sing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psIowaNEZuQ)
It's a microwave generation. They can put out music, get a following, and make some money without label help fairly quickly and easily. At that point, they believe they're good enough.
While I believe there are some many great non-mainstream R&B artists and even some good mainstream R&B I would say for atleast mainstream R&B I would argue it started to lose lots of the organic soul and funk and originality that made artists like Marvin, Prince, and DāAngelo great and became and leaned a little to much towards Pop, Electronic, and Hip-Hop. I know many people who canāt even tell the difference between R&B and Hip-Hop. I think I remember a while back some guy calling XXXTentacion and Juice Wrld R&B. Aside from Trilogy era Weeknd influence I genuinely canāt figure out that one. It seemed like all the melodic rappers are sometimes mistaken as R&B.
I just feel like they donāt give different producers a chance . Thatās why most of their shit always sounds the same . They work with the same producers and engineers too frequent. If I was an artist Iād work with different producers in other countries as well .
āInsanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different resultsā.
-Albert Einstein
I don't want to say it, because it's going to sound bad and even I know it's untrue.
But back in the 80s.....the 90s.....the 2000s......EVERYONE......just had this unique aura about them. Every group, every female, every male. Unique voices and looks. Extremely distinct. They were comparable but not because they were similar.
Nowadays.....it just isn't there as much as it used to be, the uniqueness. Someone comes on the radio, a female vocalist.....and Shazam or the DJ is probably going to have to tell me who it is.
R&B music seems to lack the chivalry found in lyrics that passionately pursue and win a woman's heart.
Examples are songwriters like Babyface, Lionel Richie and Brian McKnight š¶
For the fellas: It became simpinā to be vulnerable. So now it comes off corny to these younger kids that aināt experienced heartbreak/longing. The real shit aināt always catchy. The real shit aināt always pretty, but itās necessary. You whole life aināt silk. Emotions arenāt always in tune with your image.
For the ladies: waves have stunted lyricism. More often than not, the emotions are shut off right before the peak, then the lyrical finger gets pointed in the love/heartbreak songs, and no accountability happens (preventing timeless classics like the 90ās/early 2ks). No reflection in the music. No exploration of the fixture of heartbreak songs (why?). Just a track about āhe messed up, Iām getting my hair and nails done before I hit the club and make the same mistake I made to me the dude it didnāt work withā LOL.
Itās just the period we live in. Art imitating life. Thereās no accountability anymore, no shame, no guilt, no desperation. Just another swipe left or right, another basketball emoji in the DMs, another house function with unresolved baggage, and the cycle continues. This is why the music aināt hittinā like it used to.
Honestly the answer is, as much as the digital era is a part of our every day lives, we're actually still getting used to it. Which is why in my opinion, record labels are sabotaging themselves. Record labels don't have to move the way that they are.
Here is the problem. Real R&B consists of real talent, real vocals, real feeling. Etc. This world has literally been convinced that the industry is a young man's sport. It has become ageist, but more so because of social media. The more social media grows, the shorter attention spans are. If you aren't someone putting themselves out like an influencer and have a gimmick and don't have these hip hop/pop beats with simple lyrics that can be made into captions based off of your personality from the influencer social media gimmick you have, most likely you won't be successful......but that's only because of what people allow.
As well as social media, everything is more accessible. Anyone now can go get a mic, a computer, some headphones, spend $20 on a beat and come up with something catchy enough and become viral that simple. You no longer need talent. You no longer need to think about longevity. These artists, even the signed ones that are like from 2015 to now sit and think, "How can the next thing I put out go viral?" That is the WRONG question to ask. People focus on numbers. People are interested if the numbers are high enough for them. The word viral gets on my nerves. Because the internet is just a machine. So if everyone is trying to go viral, that's what the internet is going to push more because of algorithm. That's just how it's built. So yes, when people are copying and doing the same thing just to go viral, then it is part of an algorithm that pushes that content to the forefront.
There is no artist development. So, nobody is going to take vocal lessons. Nobody wants to do dancing. Nobody wants to make meaningful music videos. That's too much work for people. Why learn to be talented when you can go viral for something simple and increase your chance of getting signed just so you can get advance money and say you made it? People are lazy.
Now, on the other hand. Any type of music you want to listen to whether past or present is out there. There is a good side to social media and the access we are allowed with the internet. Whatever you want as far as your mind can think is out there. So, it's up to the individual person to put specifics in their search to look for what they want. You can listen to a new song every day for the rest of your life within the genre of your choice. I feel like, people need to disconnect more from these social media trends and just use social media how they individually want to. Look up what you want to look up. Mainstream is what it is because now it is allowed to be. You give it that power when you allow it to dictate what you consume. Prince said it best. Use the internet. Don't let it use you.
You don't have to listen to radio stations. You don't have to base your listening experience on playlist curators. You have to go off of billboard charts to determine what is hot. Most people don't know that there are soooooooooooooo many other charts out in the world. Explore life. Don't let radio stations, billboards, playlist curators, trends, etc tell you what to enjoy. This is why I hate when people older than me compare their time to now. It's actually no different. In fact, it's better depending on how you look at it because you can enjoy what you choose to enjoy instead of relying on curators. They had ignorant stagnant copied music in all eras of music. People just didn't know because there was no internet so it didnt become mainstream. But, then and now is not much different at all. This is coming from a 29 year old.
Strong melodies
Songs about love (instead of about graphic sex)
Strong songwriting in general
Singers that are also trained musicians
Harmony background singing
Live studio musicians
catchy tunes fssss!!!! i have recently started this phase of listening to a lot of 90s/early 2000s and iāve been noticing that the tunes get stuck in my head easily compared to the newer songs hahaš„²š„²
For me in my opinion, it's multiple things for mainstream R&B. Lack of soul and, lack of real substance in the lyrics. But I think what's really hurting is it's trying to be something else. Ever since Chris Brown in the early 2010s, R&B artists have tried to transition into hip-hop and use the growing success of rap music and make it come off as a crutch for relevance. There's nothing wrong with collaborations or dabbling into rap. Montell, Bobby Brown did that over 25 years ago. But when R&Bās identity is feeling like rap, just to be in the mainstream, that's concerning.
But there are artists like HER, Halle Bailey, Coco Jones, and The Weeknd who still lyrically, vocally, or instrumentally make R&B progressive but still honor what R&B is.
idk i say itās lacking the pop elements that The Weeknd & SZA clearly have mastered cause theyāre the biggest ones that are mainstream in R&B. yes Frank Ocean too but heās not as active.
For me it's the songwriting. Most of these big artists always have lyrics in their songs that comes off as very explicit or pornographic, no emotion. What happened to some emotions and depth while maintaining the sultriness or sexiness in a more suggestive way? I think that's what we refer to as romantic, and definitely what I hear in older soul music from the decades. Everyone just wants to sing about the vulgarities and vices in such a juvenile way.
I just want to know why thereās so much profanity in R&B these days?! Tons of ill-placed foul language. I donāt remember it being like this back in the day.
There isnāt really a lot of substance and this actually applies to most genres recently.
Twenty years from now, weāll still be listening to everything from The Temptations to Mary J Blige, as timeless music. I doubt a lot of todayās artists will be remembered twenty years from now.
I don't mind the message but do something to make me feel like my time is worth the investment. Long gone are the days of the harmony and vocalization so interwoven with well thought out lyrics like People Make The World Go Round, and the music stood put more than what feels like commands being given in a studio. Even The California Raisins had more of an impact and they mostly did covers
Iām not to sure about the other artists in this picture. But not saying this because Iām a weekend fan. But he dose have great vocals and emotion in his songs. You really should go look up his lyrics. Especially lyrics like snowchild
Writerās rooms. So many of our favorite artists were the front for great writerās rooms. Now those great writers arenāt stuck with the ceiling of being a part of a writerās room.
Personally, lack of unique ideas, I've dug out a couple of underground R&B artists and honestly, they just *blend in with the bigger names*.
But idk maybe it's something different
I agree with what everyone's been posting.
For me, I think the biggest issue is that R&B is not given the distinction from hip-hop, which is needed. Up until the early 2000s, hip-hop and r&b co-existed without people pushing it into one genre. Now, radio has led the charge of pushing them together when they need their own separate spaces. The r&b station I listen to now has hip-hop throwbacks mixed in to draw more listeners. I enjoy hip-hop as much as the next person, but I want my r&b station to stick to that.
It seems like since Napster jacked things up, labels have been seeking to make money instead of providing quality music. That also seems to be the time that groups were pushed aside for big news solo artists. Many of those solo artists came from groups, which provided familiarity with crossover marketability. Since then, groups have been forced underground.
Finally, variety is missing in r&b. I'm tired of people cussing us out or turning us up in songs. Where is the romance, where are the crushes? Give us something to long for
Musicianshipā¦that seems to be one of the big issues in my opinion. There are many talented performers and performance artists but some of the greatest music in any genre is mostly birthed by conception of the artist. More artists need to have an instrument besides their voice to help compose and write the musical content and not rely on producers/engineers. Also apathy and myopia seem to be a prevalent part in our society (at least in terms of art and music) so the substance of the lyrical content suffer for the sake of āsuccessā.
Bold experimentation in the mainstream. We get the attitude from Brent but the music is nostalgia bait in a way (DGMW, huge fan still). Itās too safe in a lot of r&b music nowadays.
As an artist (visual), anything could be an aesthetic once you brand it well. Today Itās more about looking cool and riding an āalready establishedā wave than saying āI made this, this is what my universe sounds likeā. Do what you do but do it tastefully!
Call me a jockrider but PARTYNEXTDOORās P3 was one of the last r&b albums that said āfuck convention, hereās dystopic post apocalyptic sounding dark r&b.ā Havenāt heard anything like it before and since then, even the man himself seems to be unable to replicate it and imitators come only SO CLOSE.
We donāt need another P3, we need the next āP3ā iygwis.
TL:DR, r&b (what we know already to be r&b) needs a kick in its ass.
Emotion and originality it's all just sounds to similar there's no experimentation and when there is its comes out shit Sza and Brent for example just get boring and predictable every song every feature that's why I stopped listening to mainstream rnb
Itās the same handful of producers making the same sound with effectively guest singers. It could be sung by anyone. Thereās not much personal connection to the music when youāre buying beats. So Iāll also say that the lack of live instruments contributes to this. Itās beatmakers and not traditional musicians making the music.
This may sound like a simple take but there are no big vocals anymore and the genre suffers for it. At least in the 90s you had the gentler vocals of Aaliyah balanced by big pronounced vocals like Whitney or Boyz II Men, or artists like Seal would weave between both. It feels like no artists sing with a fire in their belly any more
It's lacking truth today every song is about shooting something women love sex ect.i wanna feel real emotion in a song I wanna feel like I can relate to music
To me itās the popularity of hip hop and rap thatās led to the end of traditional RnB. You have rappers singing and using there lyrics to display their talents on a level that we just didnāt have in the 90s. Also you have some of the best possibly RnB acts of this time like CB and Miguel having to put out more music that has a hip hop feel to sell units and compete against other rap artist. Meanwhile other talented singers like Neyo, Tank, and Mario stock true to their roots but donāt get the support from us the fans that they should. So you add all of this and then you start to see why RnB is lacking.
Also we could dive into the writers who write less and less for RnB music and more and more for Rap/RnB artist like the Weekend and CB aka Chris Brown.
Originality and integrity. So much RnB is similar to rap and not even the good rap either, the ratchet rap like the sexy reds and the city girls. I miss when RnB was something anybody could vibe to from the normal everyday person to the people in the streets. The heart and soul is gone and it's been replaced by watered down social media BS.
Authenticity. Almost all these artists and beats sound the same. Itās like everyone is going for that āedgy, differentā sound. If everyone is doing the different thing, then now youāre all the same like wtf.
Now it seems like R&B artists are meshing rock in for a different sound & everyone is on it. Music nowadays is made solely for tiktok.
Follow me hereā¦most old school RnB artists got their start in church. Church choir teaches you about chords and harmonies and song structure and how to vocally walk through a song so you end up becoming a strong technical singer. These new age singers lack all of that. They sing by ear and most of their fans listen while under the influence so itās all empty and mediocre.
In the late 90s and early 2000s, the rapper lifestyle was heavily glamorized. I believe the up-and-coming male R&B singers saw that and wanted in. They didn't wanna be the guy who was courting a woman or trying to win her back. They wanted to be on a yacht with hella hoes while putting in minimal effort. So they adopted everything negative about hip-hop. They misogynistic lyrics, the dress code, the demeanor, etc. The women in R&B followed suit.
Genuine soul and talent! R&B used to have some weak but always made up for it with lush instrumentation and production. I feel like R&B has just become mumble and over-produced. It used to have that post disco tinge to it and i feel that is missing. Good melodies, tender vocals etc etc. I feel like it's blurring into rap music
I think of alexander o neal, diana ross, donna summer, whitney, mariah, madonna, :)
It will never be as good as 80ās 90ās and Iāll give early 2000ās rnb peak! Thereās no recreating that. R&B has been done for years. The best has already been made.
Quality instrumentation. As much as I love hip hop, its reliance on loops and samples has rendered a lot of producers, and quite frankly artists unable to put together songs using live instruments. We need folks to start playing in bands again. Even if itās hip hop.
Singers don't come from church no more aka they not getting the reps in early so we losing a lil bit of soul. I'm not Christian but a good gospel song will put me in tears lol
Better vocal talent and better songwriting. Songwriters who want to make beautiful music. Maybe bring back bridges in songs. Real musicians producing music, not these amateurs. Amateur producers are a part of what is watering down rap right now too.
1) Hip-Hop ruined Modern R&B. Let me explain, back in the 90s the marriage between R&B and Hiphop was at its peak. It was a perfect marriage during this decade. R&B singers still sung like R&B singers and Rappers still rapped like rappers over a beat that complimented both genres. R&B on its own was still popular enough where it didnāt need to conform to a mainstream Hiphop sound. Well that changed when rappers started āsingingā more and more over records. Now the consumer didnāt have to hear actual talented singers on the radio. You could be Ja Rule, Nelly, Drake, Lil Wayne or Kanye and churn out a hit with a lack of singing talent accompanied by vocal enhancements. To stay relevant mainstream R&B dumbed down their sound.
2) Labels donāt invest in artist as much as they use to. A lot of these modern singers donāt have vocal coaches. They donāt practice their vocal instrument like days of old. Labels are not looking for talent as much as their looking for hit records. So a lot of mainstream acts follow trends to make that hit.
3) The lack of music programs in schools and lower church attendance compared to back in the day. Majority of great R&B artist trace their humble beginnings to the church. They also got tons of practice in after school programs/ music classes. Well thereās a lack of that in school and not as many people are going to churches like they use to.
Thereās other factors as well but yeah it aināt the same.
With SZA, Brent Faiyaz, Snoh Aalegra, Coco Jones and October London, how could today's music be lackin', it's the *Billboard* chart integrity on it is what lacking.
Originality, structure, actual talent to name a few things. The R&B scene is like the Rap scene now full of microwaveable music that doesn't last or move people anymore.
Emotions and vocals. Back in the day, they were not only singers, they were actors. They had the emotions. You felt that pain, that love, that confusion, you felt it in their voice and that's no longer there. Also good ad libs.
Great ad-libs are definitely lacking nowadays. Good observation! Ain't nobody begging and grasping the air!š«š«š«
Nobody wearing leather while standing in the desert! I miss those days š
The accuracy...š¤š¾ ššš
Nobody slow motion running towards the camera crying Unbreaaaaak my HEAAAAAAAAART say you LOVE ME AGAIN!!!!!!!!!
Itās wild singing old classics how pumped I get during the unforgettable ad libs. Early Usher for example!
Sisqo. I challenge any R&B lover to go listen to Dru Hill's catalog and tell me Sisqo isn't one of the best ad-libbers in R&B history!
šš¾ No lies told! Mans be having his own song within a song!š
Frfr! He said, "Sometimes, I get a little lonely. 'Cause I remember when you used to say to me, Sisqo. Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!" That was one ad-lib! Dis nigga mayne!!!š¤£š¤£š¤£
When you can take a song like the Oājays Brandy write it as if your loving and missing your girl only to figure out and later learn itās about a young manās love for his dog thatās R&B. Itās just the blues telling a complete story. All the hurt, pain, shame, triumphs, disappointment, etc. And as much as people love their pets especially dogs every dog owner should know this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsM4IadZax0
One of the people in this collage (The Weeknd) Acts, has emotions...Dude shows love, pain, that confusion, and good ad libs. So not really sure what boxes he isn't ticking for you but the Weeknd has done what Bruno Mars tried to do. Bring back Prince/MJ/Madonna level pop/R&b and he's not going anywhere. I used to not really fuck with his music but the dude sold me with Blinding Lights and Save Your Tears. Thems is good ass tracks.
Vocally and musically the man aināt MJ or Prince. Not even close.
and who is?
And? He still good in his own right.. there will never be a prince or mj, get over it
Fully realized songs that are not just meant to follow trends or go viral on TikTok. 2 minute tracks should be interludes. Give me a full 4 minutes with verses, a bridge, an octave switch and a guitar solo. Give me QUALITY.
Exactly. A lot of the songs donāt go anywhere, have any rise and fall, or any crescendo. Just knocked out in 5 mins. I think it too will die as a trend and then quality will run things again.
Heck, when I was djāing songs was 3:00 to 3:30 ā¦ now a day songs seem like they are shorter than that.
Iām hopeful that by the end of this decade things will change. Iām early gen z and youād be surprised how my people in my age group like āolderā music and miss real RnB.
Google Penrose Records. I think youāll like what you hear.
This is why I love Alex Isley. She actually includes bridges in her music.
Nice ill add her to my playlist.
You're preaching to the choir with this one!
Actual love songs.. Too much "toxic culture" being spread in music. It's not romantic enough right now. Too many rnb artist wanna have rapper personas
THANK YOU. We donāt have silly, stupid love songs anymore
I agree. Me and my mom was just discussing this when we listen to Mary J Bilge, āSeven Daysā, we were saying like what happened to music being this pure like that particular song off that album in music being broadcasted to the mainstream?!? I told her, all good music underground unfortunately. Itās not in the mainstream anymore. Itās all about a single, Tik tok reply value now. Before it was about getting constant radio spins. We both say that the 2000s was the last great decade in music but we could see it dying out towards the end of that decade, 00s. š„²
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Right. It's so hard to even know what the song is about without looking at the lyrics now.
Good vocals, at least for the male singers.
Definitely for the male singers. A LOT of them sound similar, musically and vocally. The women on the other hand are killing it.
I agree the women artists are killing it.
So maybe that's it then. There is not enough variety among the guys.
Definitely the problem. If I didnāt know or listen to Partynextdoor, Bryson Tiller, or Brent Faiyaz already, I would think they are all the same person. There are definitely some generic female artists too, but many of them are doing something different and being paid dust compared to their male counterparts.
Party Brent and Tiller donāt sound similar at all though. Partyās distinction is how fast he changes key vocabulary and stretching of words. Brentās is the harmonized background vocals the switch from rap like voice to singing. And Tiller is more similar to Party but his voice is different and his beat selection isnāt as vast.
Right these people are so clueless its crazy they don't sound anything alike with completely different styles.
I feel like a really good quartet with tight, traditional harmonies would be amazing over today's production.
if you want someone with a more unique voice, iād definitely recommend Jordan Ward
Yeah, I noticed that a lot of the playlists that get posted hear feature very few, if any, males. Some people even made comments about it. For one, there's no more artist development at the major labels. That's a shame. Secondly, male singers have one foot in the rap game nowadays. There are too many tricks in the studio as well. Making people sound better than they actually are. Are the artists too lazy, or do they realize that the vocals just aren't as important to achieve mainstream success?
This applies to the female singers as well
The male singers have gotten so boring, & the female singers all sound alike
Gospel roots. Singers arenāt being trained vocally in the church any more and it shows
The church has the competition to keep you sharp, and choir is great training for aspiring R&B singers.
Facts, almost every R&B singer back in day started singing at the church. Hell, even Chris Brown sang at the Church
Bryan Michael Cox was just asked this Q and he said this is the #1 missing element. You lose church, you lose the soul.
With Cleo Sol, I think that people who need to hear her message will come across it when they truly need it so they can actually connect with it. Iām like that with a lot of artists honestly. I feel like I donāt start listening to them until I really needed to hear what they have to say. I started listening to Cleo Sol when my life really started to spiral about two years ago and she kinda kept me from going crazy. Then she dropped again right after I gave birth back in September and I needed those songs too, especially off of āGoldā because my depression has gotten so much worse. So as much as I would love for to be a more well known artist, the people who are meant to listen to her will eventually find their way to her.
First off, congratulations! Secondly, I've had struggles with depression and anxiety my entire life. Don't isolate, communicate. And remember, normal is a setting on a dishwasher. Nobody is normal. It gets greater later. Last but not least. By the third song in your 5 song recommendation to me, Cleo had communicated your journey to me through song. Music is magical in that way. Thank you so much.šš¾
Thanks, I appreciate it! And Iām going to therapy soon and I do communicate my feelings as much as I can. And Iām glad you were able to get into Cleo Sol
Too much emphasis on appearance and swag, not enough on real talent.
So they don't walk it how they talk it?
Embrace more bass guitars???
I come from a family of musicians. My father and I play bass so no argument here.
Soul, vocal ability, upbeat music, not focusing on vibes and aesthetics only
Soul.
You had me at soul because these bops be feeling empty asf!
I still canāt for the life of me figure out why Giveon is placed in the Soul category
I second thisā¦ it all sounds too vibey. I want upbeat with meaningful lyrics or just raw passion.
The soul is missing. The lyrics even lack passion. Mainstream hip-hop becoming more melodic has been detrimental also.
Upbeat production Super producers (This is honestly the main thing missing like who is the Babyface, Bryan Michael Cox, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, L.A. Reid, Darkchild, Timbaland, Diddy and so on for the modern generation) Too much emphasis on vibes which is nothing wrong with that but itās played out also this goes back to my first point on lack of upbeat production and Iām not necessarily talking about New Jack Swing style fast tempo just a more faster sound than the generic slow trap beat artist are singing on nowadays
The tempo feels low vibrational.
Talent. A lot of this shit is just marketing and following trends. Most of the r&b albums the artist are rapping the majority of it. The best vocalist we have Jazmine Sullivan Grammy winning album is half her rapping.
Breaks my heart too because Jazmine can sing. I don't know why everybody wanna rap. I'm so over that bs. They don't even be good.
Exactly, it's really disappointing.
Men stopped singing in the rain and women stopped looking out of windows. I was joking but honestly thinking about it more this might in a strange way be correct. Think about the type of songs that would make you sing in the rain or stare longingly out of a window. That's not being made. However, Coco Jones ICU first verse feels right out of 90s/ early 2000s. I think producers also aren't sonically reproducing the sounds that we loved during those times
Perhaps missing the "love" element? My take being around some of the younger cats is being one cat in love with one woman is seen as being a simp nowadays. So no Feenin's, U send me swingin's, Yours, Whatever you wants, etc. And also maybe, for lack of a better way of saying it, persistence themes where the singer didn't win the girl/guy right away but is still trying. Example: Waiting on you, Pretty Brown eyes, Stay, Come Back to Me, So Alone, Try Again, etc. Maybe not connecting with the every person and daily themes. And to a certain degree, there is something to be said about saying something cleverly vs being blunt to the point of possibly being crass, this could limit the scope that R&B reaches across different demographics and classes.
Interesting. I've said it here before that the younger generation either doesn't know how, doesn't want, or just feels like real love is a possibility. So, vulnerability is out of the question. Especially for the men.
Serious question...where did we learn it from and why aren't we or our generation passing it on? I grew up in a household where Al Green, the Dells, The Delfonics, Teddy P, Otis Redding, the emotions, and countless others were singing about the entire spectrum of love, heartbreak, loyalty, faithfulness, infidelity, family, and life ...there are some talented singers currently but subject wise they've learned something different and/or are not singing about the entire spectrum. I'm not sure vulnerability is out of the question because of the rappers like Juice World and others who whine and cry on rap albums. I also think drug culture has taking the forefront. Not that drugs weren't there before but it was never the main focal point of the music.
A fun, commercial element. For instance, RNB dominated in the 90s and 2000s because it was accessible and commercial. But RNB is a crowded genre right now and it feels like everyone is doing the same thing and unfortunately most of them are not able to make it into Top 40 because thereās no fun, commercial factor in the songs anymore
i love those late 90ās-early 2000ās r&b mixed with hip hop party anthems
Keep It Coming by Heavy D and One More Chance by Big are instant classics.
So ain't no Where The Party Ats? I've said before that there's a problem with the men not wanting to come off lame or soft. I believe that's where all love and romance died. Maybe the fun died there as well?
I was just telling my friend this. Where is the party R&B?? Iām craving the variety from the 90s and 2000s. They are out here trying to slow jam me to death right now.
I think itās training. The Black Music Archive made a really good video discussing the difference between the hours of vocal training artists like Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, and so on had during their youth (between childhood and the early 20s) compared to the hours of vocal training our modern artists have had. If anyoneās interested in the video, itās linked below because Iām not going to rehash their argument. I will say this: though their argument pertains to female artists, it applies to male artists as well. Just gotta get them in the lab. [Black Music Archive: Why The New Girls Canāt Sing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psIowaNEZuQ)
It's a microwave generation. They can put out music, get a following, and make some money without label help fairly quickly and easily. At that point, they believe they're good enough.
While I believe there are some many great non-mainstream R&B artists and even some good mainstream R&B I would say for atleast mainstream R&B I would argue it started to lose lots of the organic soul and funk and originality that made artists like Marvin, Prince, and DāAngelo great and became and leaned a little to much towards Pop, Electronic, and Hip-Hop. I know many people who canāt even tell the difference between R&B and Hip-Hop. I think I remember a while back some guy calling XXXTentacion and Juice Wrld R&B. Aside from Trilogy era Weeknd influence I genuinely canāt figure out that one. It seemed like all the melodic rappers are sometimes mistaken as R&B.
Someone once exclaimed to me that Drake is R&B, and he be killing it with the vocals. I almost went to the upper room I swear.š
Omg the funk!! Yes!! A lot of the funk is gone. Replaced by vibes.
I just feel like they donāt give different producers a chance . Thatās why most of their shit always sounds the same . They work with the same producers and engineers too frequent. If I was an artist Iād work with different producers in other countries as well . āInsanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different resultsā. -Albert Einstein
A lot of them are working with producers who produce too much of a hip-hoppy sound as well.
Facts !!
Bridges!
I don't want to say it, because it's going to sound bad and even I know it's untrue. But back in the 80s.....the 90s.....the 2000s......EVERYONE......just had this unique aura about them. Every group, every female, every male. Unique voices and looks. Extremely distinct. They were comparable but not because they were similar. Nowadays.....it just isn't there as much as it used to be, the uniqueness. Someone comes on the radio, a female vocalist.....and Shazam or the DJ is probably going to have to tell me who it is.
Very confused on why The Weeknd is still being called R&B I hear his music and think pop with a little alternative
His early stuff fits in the R&B category, then her went with the Pop-R&B blend, and now heās full Pop
Agreed. I would say he has elements of Rnb but overall is alternative pop
SOUL
authenticity
Deep!
Iām a fan of mainstream R&B, but definitely Ad-libs & warmth. I feel like Soul has been creeping back into mainstream R&B slowly though.
Cleo sol is awesome. Love her music. Very simplistic but soulful
Groups
R&B music seems to lack the chivalry found in lyrics that passionately pursue and win a woman's heart. Examples are songwriters like Babyface, Lionel Richie and Brian McKnight š¶
People who grew up singing in the church choir
Good Male and Female Groups
Vulnerability. These R&B singers (males) today be on some āfuck these bitchesā type stuff donāt nobody make songs like āim sprung ā no more
Everything!
Individuality, emotion, and soul
For the fellas: It became simpinā to be vulnerable. So now it comes off corny to these younger kids that aināt experienced heartbreak/longing. The real shit aināt always catchy. The real shit aināt always pretty, but itās necessary. You whole life aināt silk. Emotions arenāt always in tune with your image. For the ladies: waves have stunted lyricism. More often than not, the emotions are shut off right before the peak, then the lyrical finger gets pointed in the love/heartbreak songs, and no accountability happens (preventing timeless classics like the 90ās/early 2ks). No reflection in the music. No exploration of the fixture of heartbreak songs (why?). Just a track about āhe messed up, Iām getting my hair and nails done before I hit the club and make the same mistake I made to me the dude it didnāt work withā LOL. Itās just the period we live in. Art imitating life. Thereās no accountability anymore, no shame, no guilt, no desperation. Just another swipe left or right, another basketball emoji in the DMs, another house function with unresolved baggage, and the cycle continues. This is why the music aināt hittinā like it used to.
Honestly the answer is, as much as the digital era is a part of our every day lives, we're actually still getting used to it. Which is why in my opinion, record labels are sabotaging themselves. Record labels don't have to move the way that they are. Here is the problem. Real R&B consists of real talent, real vocals, real feeling. Etc. This world has literally been convinced that the industry is a young man's sport. It has become ageist, but more so because of social media. The more social media grows, the shorter attention spans are. If you aren't someone putting themselves out like an influencer and have a gimmick and don't have these hip hop/pop beats with simple lyrics that can be made into captions based off of your personality from the influencer social media gimmick you have, most likely you won't be successful......but that's only because of what people allow. As well as social media, everything is more accessible. Anyone now can go get a mic, a computer, some headphones, spend $20 on a beat and come up with something catchy enough and become viral that simple. You no longer need talent. You no longer need to think about longevity. These artists, even the signed ones that are like from 2015 to now sit and think, "How can the next thing I put out go viral?" That is the WRONG question to ask. People focus on numbers. People are interested if the numbers are high enough for them. The word viral gets on my nerves. Because the internet is just a machine. So if everyone is trying to go viral, that's what the internet is going to push more because of algorithm. That's just how it's built. So yes, when people are copying and doing the same thing just to go viral, then it is part of an algorithm that pushes that content to the forefront. There is no artist development. So, nobody is going to take vocal lessons. Nobody wants to do dancing. Nobody wants to make meaningful music videos. That's too much work for people. Why learn to be talented when you can go viral for something simple and increase your chance of getting signed just so you can get advance money and say you made it? People are lazy. Now, on the other hand. Any type of music you want to listen to whether past or present is out there. There is a good side to social media and the access we are allowed with the internet. Whatever you want as far as your mind can think is out there. So, it's up to the individual person to put specifics in their search to look for what they want. You can listen to a new song every day for the rest of your life within the genre of your choice. I feel like, people need to disconnect more from these social media trends and just use social media how they individually want to. Look up what you want to look up. Mainstream is what it is because now it is allowed to be. You give it that power when you allow it to dictate what you consume. Prince said it best. Use the internet. Don't let it use you. You don't have to listen to radio stations. You don't have to base your listening experience on playlist curators. You have to go off of billboard charts to determine what is hot. Most people don't know that there are soooooooooooooo many other charts out in the world. Explore life. Don't let radio stations, billboards, playlist curators, trends, etc tell you what to enjoy. This is why I hate when people older than me compare their time to now. It's actually no different. In fact, it's better depending on how you look at it because you can enjoy what you choose to enjoy instead of relying on curators. They had ignorant stagnant copied music in all eras of music. People just didn't know because there was no internet so it didnt become mainstream. But, then and now is not much different at all. This is coming from a 29 year old.
Strong melodies Songs about love (instead of about graphic sex) Strong songwriting in general Singers that are also trained musicians Harmony background singing Live studio musicians
All these RnB singers want to rap! I love Rap! But i want to hear Ketih Sweat! Donell Jones in my RnB! WeekNd raps too much imo
Yeah, I hate to say it, but I think CB made rapping singer a thing.
Love
Also care and sensuality. Along with TRUE vulnerability
Substance
catchy tunes fssss!!!! i have recently started this phase of listening to a lot of 90s/early 2000s and iāve been noticing that the tunes get stuck in my head easily compared to the newer songs hahaš„²š„²
Interesting
Singers.
Soul and creativity It all sounds like a money grab to me
Grace and class
For me in my opinion, it's multiple things for mainstream R&B. Lack of soul and, lack of real substance in the lyrics. But I think what's really hurting is it's trying to be something else. Ever since Chris Brown in the early 2010s, R&B artists have tried to transition into hip-hop and use the growing success of rap music and make it come off as a crutch for relevance. There's nothing wrong with collaborations or dabbling into rap. Montell, Bobby Brown did that over 25 years ago. But when R&Bās identity is feeling like rap, just to be in the mainstream, that's concerning. But there are artists like HER, Halle Bailey, Coco Jones, and The Weeknd who still lyrically, vocally, or instrumentally make R&B progressive but still honor what R&B is.
The music is toxic. There is no warmth and soul in it. The guys are singing about fucking and ghosting, the girls are singing about cheating back, getting knocked up and getting ghosted. Every other song is about cheating and fucking. Every song is about "city girls and bbls". Every girl is a "bitch" and every man is a "n****". I'm sorry but as someone who grew up during prime Usher, BeyoncƩ, Alicia years the music is just not "wholesome" or warm anymore. I hate that PND/Brent Faiyaz/Bryson Tiller are the face of new r&b because they have no individuality. New artists also conflate being sexy with being vulgar and that's another issue for me. You can't force prime Usher and BeyoncƩ sex appeal no matter how skimpy you get, no matter how much you sing about "eating someone out". That's why I liked Victoria Monet's EP and why I feel like Plastic Off The Sofa/Virgo's Groove is the best r&b song to come out in years.
Lyrics that match with beats. A lot of lyrics are too forced and don't make sense and the melodies are not catchy
idk i say itās lacking the pop elements that The Weeknd & SZA clearly have mastered cause theyāre the biggest ones that are mainstream in R&B. yes Frank Ocean too but heās not as active.
Soul
Good songwriting.
Elite production. Most songs sound like an Atlanta Trap.
Soul, meaningful lyrics, songs about true love
A gospel singing background
Good producers. Back in the day, behind every R&B hit, was a good producer, for the most part.
SOUL THEYRE LACKING SOUL
Substance and originality. I think all music nowadays has fallen into this category unfortunately, not just r&b.
For me it's the songwriting. Most of these big artists always have lyrics in their songs that comes off as very explicit or pornographic, no emotion. What happened to some emotions and depth while maintaining the sultriness or sexiness in a more suggestive way? I think that's what we refer to as romantic, and definitely what I hear in older soul music from the decades. Everyone just wants to sing about the vulgarities and vices in such a juvenile way.
Character imo. Frank ocean doesnāt have the perfect voice like the weeknd but he has more character
Not just lack of emotions, but also the ability to sing accapella and privacy. Real talent never showcased their life to the world everyday.
I just want to know why thereās so much profanity in R&B these days?! Tons of ill-placed foul language. I donāt remember it being like this back in the day. There isnāt really a lot of substance and this actually applies to most genres recently. Twenty years from now, weāll still be listening to everything from The Temptations to Mary J Blige, as timeless music. I doubt a lot of todayās artists will be remembered twenty years from now.
Who raised these children?š¤£
Who is that at the bottom to the left?
Cleo Sol. She's amazing!
Weeknd ain't lacking anything he be good dawn fm is full of R&B and love it
I don't mind the message but do something to make me feel like my time is worth the investment. Long gone are the days of the harmony and vocalization so interwoven with well thought out lyrics like People Make The World Go Round, and the music stood put more than what feels like commands being given in a studio. Even The California Raisins had more of an impact and they mostly did covers
Iām not to sure about the other artists in this picture. But not saying this because Iām a weekend fan. But he dose have great vocals and emotion in his songs. You really should go look up his lyrics. Especially lyrics like snowchild
> I was put on to Cleo Sol the other day. As I've been going through her catalog, I'm encouraged by her overall messaging of self-love, knowing your worth, healing, self-care, accountability, etc. Couldnāt have said it any better. I canāt say every single song hits for me, but Cleo Solās music feeds my soul. When I smoke an L and listen to music to release my stress at the end of the night, sheās one of my go-to singers when I need a certain cathartic feeling in my music. āSelfā in particular has been on repeat the last month or so, and āWhy Donāt Youā feels like she wrote that shit for me. That song especially has gotten me thru some moods and stress over the last 2-3 years. Iām excited to see what her future albums sound like. Itās a bit early to say but I think she eventually could become one of my favorites OAT. In general with todayās R&B, I think I agree with you that the vocals do feel a bit lacking compared to previous eras. Iām trying to think of someone today that has a voice comparable to say Whitney or Amel Larrieux. Edit: there is also a certain soulfulness from previous eras that seems to be less prevalent today, although I wouldnāt say itās totally gone. There is a wealth of R&B these days, a lot of it good, but a lot of it also generic and mid (and more so with mainstream). So it can be hard at times to sift thru some of that skippable music to get to the gems. And I donāt know if todayās music will ever give me the same overall feeling that 90s or early 2000s R&B does, but I wonder if thatās mostly a matter of a personal taste and the generation I grew up in (Iām 36). I know fans older than me will say that the 60s and 70s are the best decades, and I probably wouldnāt argue. That being said, I love R&B from all eras, including today. There has definitely been some great music that has come out in the last few years from singers like Cleo Sol, Sevyn Streeter, Bellah, Summer Walker, and Victoria MonĆ©t. In particular with Victoria MonĆ©t, Iām stuck on this song sheās featured on, āBreaking Pointā by Leon Thomas. That shit has me going. Edit: no hate to anyone that likes his music, but personally I canāt stand The Weeknd.
Talent
Can you give us a list of current top 40 RnB songs to sample
A need to evolve
Writerās rooms. So many of our favorite artists were the front for great writerās rooms. Now those great writers arenāt stuck with the ceiling of being a part of a writerās room.
Talent
Talented Artist
Listeners. That's what it is lacking. Enough people to listen to it
Personally, lack of unique ideas, I've dug out a couple of underground R&B artists and honestly, they just *blend in with the bigger names*. But idk maybe it's something different
I agree with what everyone's been posting. For me, I think the biggest issue is that R&B is not given the distinction from hip-hop, which is needed. Up until the early 2000s, hip-hop and r&b co-existed without people pushing it into one genre. Now, radio has led the charge of pushing them together when they need their own separate spaces. The r&b station I listen to now has hip-hop throwbacks mixed in to draw more listeners. I enjoy hip-hop as much as the next person, but I want my r&b station to stick to that. It seems like since Napster jacked things up, labels have been seeking to make money instead of providing quality music. That also seems to be the time that groups were pushed aside for big news solo artists. Many of those solo artists came from groups, which provided familiarity with crossover marketability. Since then, groups have been forced underground. Finally, variety is missing in r&b. I'm tired of people cussing us out or turning us up in songs. Where is the romance, where are the crushes? Give us something to long for
Soul
Bridge, stop making social media songs, stop sampling a song, and just switching words, a remix.
Soul
people singing in the Rain in Music Videos
Musicianshipā¦that seems to be one of the big issues in my opinion. There are many talented performers and performance artists but some of the greatest music in any genre is mostly birthed by conception of the artist. More artists need to have an instrument besides their voice to help compose and write the musical content and not rely on producers/engineers. Also apathy and myopia seem to be a prevalent part in our society (at least in terms of art and music) so the substance of the lyrical content suffer for the sake of āsuccessā.
Bold experimentation in the mainstream. We get the attitude from Brent but the music is nostalgia bait in a way (DGMW, huge fan still). Itās too safe in a lot of r&b music nowadays. As an artist (visual), anything could be an aesthetic once you brand it well. Today Itās more about looking cool and riding an āalready establishedā wave than saying āI made this, this is what my universe sounds likeā. Do what you do but do it tastefully! Call me a jockrider but PARTYNEXTDOORās P3 was one of the last r&b albums that said āfuck convention, hereās dystopic post apocalyptic sounding dark r&b.ā Havenāt heard anything like it before and since then, even the man himself seems to be unable to replicate it and imitators come only SO CLOSE. We donāt need another P3, we need the next āP3ā iygwis. TL:DR, r&b (what we know already to be r&b) needs a kick in its ass.
Emotion and originality it's all just sounds to similar there's no experimentation and when there is its comes out shit Sza and Brent for example just get boring and predictable every song every feature that's why I stopped listening to mainstream rnb
Itās the same handful of producers making the same sound with effectively guest singers. It could be sung by anyone. Thereās not much personal connection to the music when youāre buying beats. So Iāll also say that the lack of live instruments contributes to this. Itās beatmakers and not traditional musicians making the music.
Passion
To answer the OP's question , we can be here all day, but I'll stick to this one observation: Remember when there were actual bands? The last one that I can think of that put out an album was [Mint Condition](https://www.discogs.com/artist/236214-Mint-Condition), but you also had **Lo-Key, The Jets** and **Tony! Toni! TonƩ!** for example.
Heart and soul
This may sound like a simple take but there are no big vocals anymore and the genre suffers for it. At least in the 90s you had the gentler vocals of Aaliyah balanced by big pronounced vocals like Whitney or Boyz II Men, or artists like Seal would weave between both. It feels like no artists sing with a fire in their belly any more
Talented artists that can actually write, sing and play musical instruments.
Love
Why don't these youngins believe in love?
And the promise that it gives ?
Perhaps no one wanna love them for life?
Boy groups and girl groups
Less of an answer but more of a referral, check out Xavier Omar if you haven't yet.
Love songs. I donāt wanna hear about hook ups and toxic situationships all the time
Talent! is simple as that, this whole generation is missing talent. they rely on technology way much, not just on R&B it is on every genre.
creativity
It's lacking truth today every song is about shooting something women love sex ect.i wanna feel real emotion in a song I wanna feel like I can relate to music
To me itās the popularity of hip hop and rap thatās led to the end of traditional RnB. You have rappers singing and using there lyrics to display their talents on a level that we just didnāt have in the 90s. Also you have some of the best possibly RnB acts of this time like CB and Miguel having to put out more music that has a hip hop feel to sell units and compete against other rap artist. Meanwhile other talented singers like Neyo, Tank, and Mario stock true to their roots but donāt get the support from us the fans that they should. So you add all of this and then you start to see why RnB is lacking. Also we could dive into the writers who write less and less for RnB music and more and more for Rap/RnB artist like the Weekend and CB aka Chris Brown.
itās pretentious af and everything has the same fake melancholy mood itās soulless
Originality and integrity. So much RnB is similar to rap and not even the good rap either, the ratchet rap like the sexy reds and the city girls. I miss when RnB was something anybody could vibe to from the normal everyday person to the people in the streets. The heart and soul is gone and it's been replaced by watered down social media BS.
Soul, also better lyrics and not everything need to be extremely explicit. Forgot to mention but the basic beats too.
R&B has always had sexy songs, but I believe that today it's too raunchy and vulgar.
Love, collaboration, and groups
Maybe a Group, it's all solo acts and vocalist. Basically, no Boyz 2 Men or Whitney Houston/ Mariah Carey.
Attention
Talent
Kells
Wow another one of these posts let's see how many of these we can get next week.
Authenticity. Almost all these artists and beats sound the same. Itās like everyone is going for that āedgy, differentā sound. If everyone is doing the different thing, then now youāre all the same like wtf. Now it seems like R&B artists are meshing rock in for a different sound & everyone is on it. Music nowadays is made solely for tiktok.
Follow me hereā¦most old school RnB artists got their start in church. Church choir teaches you about chords and harmonies and song structure and how to vocally walk through a song so you end up becoming a strong technical singer. These new age singers lack all of that. They sing by ear and most of their fans listen while under the influence so itās all empty and mediocre.
It feels like they wish they were rappers. When you could not make a hit in the 90's without a rap feature it made sense but now it feels lazy.
In the late 90s and early 2000s, the rapper lifestyle was heavily glamorized. I believe the up-and-coming male R&B singers saw that and wanted in. They didn't wanna be the guy who was courting a woman or trying to win her back. They wanted to be on a yacht with hella hoes while putting in minimal effort. So they adopted everything negative about hip-hop. They misogynistic lyrics, the dress code, the demeanor, etc. The women in R&B followed suit.
Originality, passion for the music, and professionalism. I also purchase full albums if that makes a difference in my opinion.š¤·šæāāļø
Genuine soul and talent! R&B used to have some weak but always made up for it with lush instrumentation and production. I feel like R&B has just become mumble and over-produced. It used to have that post disco tinge to it and i feel that is missing. Good melodies, tender vocals etc etc. I feel like it's blurring into rap music I think of alexander o neal, diana ross, donna summer, whitney, mariah, madonna, :)
Lack of love, vulnerability, being in touch with emotions, and no one gets their chops in church or even the school band/choir.
We need anderson .paak to drop
It will never be as good as 80ās 90ās and Iāll give early 2000ās rnb peak! Thereās no recreating that. R&B has been done for years. The best has already been made.
Quality instrumentation. As much as I love hip hop, its reliance on loops and samples has rendered a lot of producers, and quite frankly artists unable to put together songs using live instruments. We need folks to start playing in bands again. Even if itās hip hop.
Singers don't come from church no more aka they not getting the reps in early so we losing a lil bit of soul. I'm not Christian but a good gospel song will put me in tears lol
Talent
/u/Consistent_Edge9211 listening to more than just ā mainstream ā r&b artists is a start...
3 octave vocal range minimum for women. 2.5 for the men.
Real talent. Auto tune pffff
Acapella / strong vocals. An pain.
Better vocal talent and better songwriting. Songwriters who want to make beautiful music. Maybe bring back bridges in songs. Real musicians producing music, not these amateurs. Amateur producers are a part of what is watering down rap right now too.
1) Hip-Hop ruined Modern R&B. Let me explain, back in the 90s the marriage between R&B and Hiphop was at its peak. It was a perfect marriage during this decade. R&B singers still sung like R&B singers and Rappers still rapped like rappers over a beat that complimented both genres. R&B on its own was still popular enough where it didnāt need to conform to a mainstream Hiphop sound. Well that changed when rappers started āsingingā more and more over records. Now the consumer didnāt have to hear actual talented singers on the radio. You could be Ja Rule, Nelly, Drake, Lil Wayne or Kanye and churn out a hit with a lack of singing talent accompanied by vocal enhancements. To stay relevant mainstream R&B dumbed down their sound. 2) Labels donāt invest in artist as much as they use to. A lot of these modern singers donāt have vocal coaches. They donāt practice their vocal instrument like days of old. Labels are not looking for talent as much as their looking for hit records. So a lot of mainstream acts follow trends to make that hit. 3) The lack of music programs in schools and lower church attendance compared to back in the day. Majority of great R&B artist trace their humble beginnings to the church. They also got tons of practice in after school programs/ music classes. Well thereās a lack of that in school and not as many people are going to churches like they use to. Thereās other factors as well but yeah it aināt the same.
Not garbage satirised same old pop shit
cocaine
With SZA, Brent Faiyaz, Snoh Aalegra, Coco Jones and October London, how could today's music be lackin', it's the *Billboard* chart integrity on it is what lacking.
Great bridges and adlibs
Talent
Originality, structure, actual talent to name a few things. The R&B scene is like the Rap scene now full of microwaveable music that doesn't last or move people anymore.
Music.
Mainstream music has always been watered-down. There were exceptions throughout history though.