ay
Well, in a way yes and no. First off, the people that you are listed have crossed over for a couple of reasons. The main reason is money. As you know, album sales are down and more importantly, more sales are targeted to the top 40 artists. So the record executives are going to want the artist to produce an album in a certain cross over genre where they can still have the type of music that they are known for, and also be introduced to a new group of listeners. Let’s take Usher for example. When he came out, all the way to Confessions album, he was only played on urban radio stations, BET, and MTV when they were playing urban type music. When he came out with the Oh My Gosh track, then he was able to get spins on the top 40 radio stations which are much bigger than urban stations, MTV all through the day, and also get corporate sponsors to use his song in commercials and ads. So that is one part of it. Another side of it is you want to show your versatility as an artist. If you can cross over and make a song for the other side and be a hit, other artists from the other side are going to want to work with you. Artists like Skrillex and David Guetta who are powerful in their genre will add you as a feature and that is money in your pocket and you can then go on tour with them and things of that nature. A good example of these cross over artists are Pitbull and Flo Rida. Listen to their first album. They both were on some hood shit. Record executives said switch it up or be dropped and you know the rest. They are selling out arenas. The R&B people you speak of have never really been R&B kings and queens of the genre. They are trying to appeal to a market that is willing to buy their product. White people buy, black people download for free or get a mix cd from the cd store and then burn that and pass that around. Or wait to get it on someone’s mixtape. That’s just how it is. However, as you know, the best stuff is always underground or played at a different time slot on the urban radio stations. Here is your R&B that is on the radio now. www.americasmusiccharts.com
yep

They gotta make that money, that's just how it is. Especially in this landscape where everyone can download their stuff for free. Also, that 90's rnb sound died out and not many producers are coming up with fresh sounds in that area. That being said, Frank Ocean and Miguel are pretty good. Trey Songz used to be somewhat, haven't paid attention since he crossed over into less soulful sounding stuff.

It's all about the Benjamins baby! They'll bang on pots and pans if it earns. Let's not forget this is the music BUSINESS.

- Matt

Its all to sell records. If that's the sound that the masses/sheep/dumbasses want then the record companies or even artists themselves are gonna follow that sound blueprint. Don't sweat it, there will still be more discerning artists out there who won't want anything to do with the watered down bullshit. Just dig a bit deeper.

theres always been uptempo r&b. pop music artists/producers will follow the trends of the era, thats the nature of pop music. think about all the uptempo early 90s stuff that was followed by d'angelo/badu, neo soul chill stuff.

thanks guys for your reply. True its all about the Money that's no doubt. But Can't they come up with something tighter than this electro/dance thing?...lol imagine a DJ that is well known as an R&B DJ playing in Gigs and Jaming the people with the real stuff because thats what people knows him/her for and all of a sudden switching to Electro/Dance music...That a Pain in the Bot.....lol Anyway Thanks for the R&B Site.... ced_so_thoed.......interesting.

Nice insight CED_So_Thoed. I never thought of it that way.

I hope good, soulful and creative R&B never dies... especially the kind where real musicians are a part of the production. If radio holds true to it, it definitely won't. The problem is, today's youth don't really know and appreciate quality love-oriented music. They are brainwashed by the stripper tunes and mindless stuff. The next generation may be even worse and they'll be calling into the radio stations requesting the dumb stuff. tst... tsk...

true

I think every mainstream genre over the last 30 years at least has a good, bad, and ugly side. Not sure it's fair to say that really, if you think about it in all honestly.

- Matt

ay
if you have VH1 Soul, they play some new independent R&B which is really good. It also shows that a lor of R&B is coming out of Philly too. They had this one song by Solange and I didn't even know it was her. It was really good. But yeah, these days R&B to the masses is Chris Brown and Trey Songz. Granted, Dive In and Fumble are nice R&B songs, but Trey Songz also tries to rap and be hard. Chris Brown is rapping. And then you have rappers who cross over. Which is nothing new. Hell, DMX sang his hooks. But R&B is out there. John Legend is doing a good job. Anthony Hamilton will pop up every now and then. I mean, who can not like Anthony Hamilton? He and Jill Scott should have a baby. I'd like to be in the other room while they are smashing. They'd be singing all through the sex.
yep

Somewhat related: the ten most well-known techno samples in rap tracks (for those of us that have actually been following techno for a while):

doandroidsdance.com

If you're talking about "Losing You", I feel you. This is by leaps and bounds my favorite song for a bit. But keeping with the theme of the thread, Solange even does some electronic stuff as well.

I don't really mind it here and there, especially as a Top40/edm resident, but I also like some of the more soulful stuff for my other gigs. Talent is talent. You have to think about what timeframe the artists grew up in. While no doubt the $$, and the labels have an impact on the current scene, I think also some artists (who have the ability to dictate their music) might like it as well.

That being said, I'm riding the uptempo stuff for as long as I can. I put up in the everything electronic and upbeat classified as "Techno" era, so now is my chance to exact revenge.

+1

I was just gonna say something like that. One artist that does a great job of playing both side of the fence well is Nicki Minaj. She had "Starships" playing all day long on the Pop/Top 40 stations while she came HARD on the Urban Stations with "Did It On 'Em". That is some amazing shit...

The music industry also changed. Back in the 80's and 90's - record labels would make "Dance remixes" or House Remixes for the clubs. Now a R&B artist (Usher) can just get a producer and make the song from the start and include it on the album

Feel better Blazey...I empathize your pain.

www.mixcrate.com

I understand its all about the money and you have to do what you got to do to make a living i got that me personal i think its bull clap
not long ago i was listening to an interview on how hip hop dj are sell out cause they are switching or not playing enough hip hop in the club when we say its the money then we are sellout when the truth is if A pay you $20 to shoot a hoop and B pay you $50 to play volleyball shit man A is my love but ill have to consider B. wow i dont know what fu.. im smoking to come up with basketball and volleyball on this topic but the truth is if you pay me to play shit im gonna play shit at the end of the day is about paying my bill that dont make me a sellout

It's still some good R&B songs, just not enough to rotate.

Miguel "Adorn" and "How many drinks"
John Michael "Sophisticated lady"
Elle Varner "I don't care"
Teresa Jenee "Tahitian Vanilla"
BJ The Chicago Kid "Good luv'n"
Mint Condition "Believe in us"

Man there has always been dance remixes of RnB tunes going waaaay back. I have these two on vinyl so thats the only reason I remembered them.

1995- This is how we do it (TEE club mix)
www.discogs.com

2000- Destinys child- independant women
www.discogs.com

Its not that its changing, its always been there. I just think the club scene has changed and brought Dance music to the forefront again. I mean look how much they are paying Deadmau5 to rock at that new spot in Las Vegas. Dance music really is the most popular music on the planet.

Artists as well are becoming more exposed and diverse and have more appreciation for it. Its not just about money. They are in the clubs they see how its rocked. They like it. The DJs have also took it to another level and watching guys like Atrak, Craze, Yonny, Vice, Chuckie, etc rocking it is something else. If your not able to rock a dance/house set your falling behind.

Anyways getting back to the orginal post, RnB music is still alive, its just not a big as it once was. Same can be said for "real" hip hop music. Now everything sounds like "trap" music. I cant tell an NY hip hop artist from a Atlanta Artist. They all sound the same.




That dirty dutch sound really took off these past few years.

Sorry my comp is acting up. Freezing on me. Your right tho I want more true RNB joints in the crates. A dance remix here and there is cool, but not for a whole album.

There's plenty of "true" R&B out there. You just gotta look for real R&B artists. Frank Ocean, Miguel, Mint Condition, THe Weeknd, Tamar Braxton, Keyshia Cole, Avant, Anthony Hamilton, Brandy (Yeah, she's back), Kem, Melanie Fiona, Tyrese, Faith Evans, Tamia, Jill Scott.

Well said.

Ahhh 90's RnB. Can we go down memory lane for a little while?
If you don't have em put em in your set now. Still kills.

Deborah Cox -Sentimental Watchwww.youtube.com
Solo - Touch Me Watchwww.youtube.com

Watchwww.youtube.com

Can you please not call it techno!!!!! It just shows how ignorant you are.

That train left a LONG LONG time ago when these new button pushing fucks started calling that "fist pump" & "jesus pose" bullshit "House" - it's probably closer to Techno than "real House".

ijs...

^^^ LoL ^^^

Too true!

To be honest its not like they have made real mainstream RnB in a long time. With that being said if you want real RnB you should look into Neo Soul which is more RnB than anything. If its mainstream you can rest assure it will have either a heavy rap influence or a heavy European dance influence. There are still some artist making regular RnB tunes. Frank Ocean and Adele come to mind immediately

yea i feel ya. i hope thou this new dance r&b style ain't gonna last :P