This piece was originally published December 11, 2018 on Medium.com/@LainaLovestein
This is gonna be a long one. So if you have some free time and wanna read about a girl nerding out about sub genres of R&B, you’re in for a trip. Go ahead, relax, and think about a simpler time: 2004
(The Archetype)
Picture it, Cleveland, in a bedroom in my grandparents house.
Young Laina Lovestein sang along to ‘Burn’ on MTV Jams. Usher Raymond is the biggest star on the planet. His album, ‘Confessions’ was his coming out party as a grown ass man. A man who lived, loved, and lost. He was singing these songs like a man who’s been through some thangs.
The album was heavy. So heavy to the point where I still cringe a little while listening to it. Even though we know that there wasn’t a baby, *side eyes Jermaine Dupri*, you heard honesty. From the themes of betrayal, temptation, and atonement, you heard him bob and weave through a journey of breaking up Even the crunktastical jam, ‘Yeah’, had the themes of being tempted against your morals. He was dancing his ass off in that video, all the while crying inside. Poor guy.
The production was in my opinion, one of the last traditional R&B albums that hit the mainstream the way it did. Usher has always been a pop star, but he was also always himself. A country boy with a bit of bad boy sprinkled in who could sing his tail off. He wasn’t working with the guys who wrote for the Backstreet Boys in 97. ‘My Way’ was an R&B album and he was in the lane with those big pop stars of the time. So he could work with producers like Jermain, Just Blaze, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. Hell, even Robin Thicke contributed to the ‘Confessions’ album. It was authentic and rooted in the classic R&B albums we loved. ‘Confessions’ is up there with our top favorites. Which is why his foray into the EDM world baffled me. I didn’t like it. But one things he got right in that area was ‘Climax’. He and Diplo found an amazing middle ground that merged those two worlds and delivered something dope. But this also came in 2012, a year after the rise of Frank Ocean & The Weekend. He had more wiggle room to think outside the box. But before we jump to that area, let’s go a little further back.
A nice little time in 2006.
(The Offsprings)
Usher was the artist that showed staying power. His first four albums performed extremely well. When ‘Confessions’ dropped, he was in his 10th year of being an artist signed to a major label. He was a vet. He was naturally bound to inspire a whole crop of new talent.
I vividly remember the first time I saw Chris Brown on TV. He was on a segment on MTV that highlighted new artists. It was for folk who showed promise, so it was kind of a big deal. He was filming the video for ‘Run It’. I remember thinking he was cute, but it wasn’t my favorite song. It was a little campy and too much dancing. I was tired of watching crumping that summer. But a little while late, I heard another song of his. ‘Yo (Excuse Me Miss)’ is a forever bop I swoon over.
The song ‘Winner’ started out with Bryan-Michael Cox proclaiming Chris was “The future of R&B’. His opinion held weight. That stamp meant something. He worked with the best of them. From Jagged Edge to Usher. Chris was next. His album was released in November of 2005 to a wave of fans both young and old. Same formula of Usher, but he had his own flavor. It was to watch him in those early stages. But around the same time, another country boy from Virginia was making a little noise as well.
I can’t really say that I can really remember the time span Trey Songz really popped. According to my Wikipedia University textbook, Trey’s album came out four months before Chris’ debut. I must’ve just assumed Chris was first because I recognized him in the ‘Gotta Go’ video. But anywho, you see how close those time frames were with both releasing their freshman offerings.
Trey struck me as something different. He had this strong voice. Miles ahead of Chris Brown & Omarion, whose fans were considerably barely 18. So Trey could have easily appealed to the aunties. He even had Auntie Reatha on his album. He was lowkey an old soul and his music reflected that. ‘Hatin Love’ was mature. It wasn’t a teenage lovelorn tale like ‘Say Goodbye’. It was about someone who was fed up with love and ain’t want it no more. That boy was sangin fo his lifeeee on that song. WHEW! But yes, bringing it back in. My point, Trey & Chris were a part of the new R&B bots club. It already included Mario, Marques Houston, & Omarion. These were guys who were transitioning from the child star route and were falling into their grown man selves. We had options to pick from. I remember my favorite in particular.
Neyo was supposed to be on of Jay Z’s secret weapons. I remember when he took the head seat at the table of Def Jam and an article highlighted some of his new acts. Neyo was cute, so naturally I paid attention. They talked about the fact that he was a writer and was pursuing a solo career. I remember reading his song credits and saying, “If he wrote these songs, I’m sure he’ll make good music.” ‘Let Me Love You’ was a modern day classic and ‘That Girl’ was a jam on 106&Park. The LA Reid co sign, LaFace Records cofounder who discovered Usher, was a major stamp as well.
‘Stay’ was the definition of a bop. It was cleverly written and the video showcased him as a grown man. He wasn’t one of these kids. On ‘So Sick’ he sang about having to change an outgoing joint voicemail message. You know damn well he was grown with his own home voicemailbox.
I consider Chris, Trey, & Neyo direct off springs of Usher. They only thing Trey didn’t do was dance but the essence was still there. Trey was ‘My Way’ era Usher. ‘Bedtime’, ‘Nice & Slow’ vibes. They all kept their own individual things about them, which proved their staying power. Even though I’m a little unimpressed with complete albums by Neyo these days, I can still listen to some songs and appreciate his talent. Chris is going to always have a fanbase because girls my age don’t wanna let go. Granted, I enjoyed the ‘X’ album a lot, but I just couldn’t rock with him after his personal drama. And Trey, ah Trey. We’re gonna always love hum. Sorry to say this but damnit, he’s my age groups R.Kelly. We know R.Kelly is trash but I know for a fact kids got made to ‘Ready, just like kids got made to ’12 Play’.
These were the new kinds. The new standard. But, no one else was really trying to take their spots. Not even compete. You had a few newbies. The Dream was special and his albums are classics in my book. Robin Thicke is someone who I consider a notable person in the genre. ‘The Evolution’ album is a favorite. I’d consider John Legend but I put him in a category of his own, he’s a unicorn. Jeremih & Pleasure P had great projects in 2009. But other than those few, I can’t really think of anybody who was new and fresh in the world of R&B that was really shaking things up. But an honorable mention is Drake & 40. Drake wasn’t a singer, he was a rapper. But the literal vibe he and 40 created with those songs on ‘So Far Gone’ and ‘Thank Me Later’ opened a door up for something totally different. Something out of that traditionalist lane. It was time for a shift.
The year was 2011.
(New Rules)
Ya’ll still with me? I hope so because here’s another story for ya.
Picture it, my dorm room avoiding studying and wasting time on Twitter. (Some things never change by the way). I see a headline that says ‘The Weeknd, Frank Ocean Lead New R&B internet Darlings’. Billboard had me intrigued.
Maybe a week prior, I listened to ‘Notalgia, Ultra’ for the first time. I was enamored. Shortly after that, I saw a video on Twitter, ‘What You Need’. It had an Aaliyah sample and i was impressed. It was The Weekend. It was so eerie, something I got from all of his early music. It sounded like a song Drake & 40 would make. It was like a filter was on the sounds and everything was magnified emotionally. ‘Wicked Games’ really made me pay attention though. I immediately downloaded the ‘House of Balloons’ EP. Mind you, I still didn’t even know how he looked. “Who TF is this guy in the shadows?” Shadowy or not, the boy could sing. Falsetto something crazy, reminiscent of Michael. It was weird and amazing at the same time.
Frank was a part of the Odd Future collective. And even though they were one of the most polarizing groups at the time, we didn’t even know who he was. Both The Weeknd and Frank were introduced as songwriters by trade. I knew Frank’s credits more since he was in the states. He wrote songs for Mario, John Legend, and Brandy. Dude was good with a pen and had an interesting sound. Frank’s initial music on ‘Nostalgia’ gave me R&B Bob Dylan tease. Just full of works, ideas, feelings, opinions, pain, frustration. He wrote every emotion he felt on that project.
This was the rise of Emo R&B. Drake ironically perfected it. No longer was R&B just dancing around on stage and singing about love and sex. This was getting intricate. These songs were going a bit deeper. It was refreshing.
R&B had wound upgoing into this dance craze. Neyo, Usher, & Chris Brown all went the EDM route and dropped songs in that vein. I think modern day R&B purists like myself felt disrespected by it. They were catering to their other fanbase and I couldn’t rock with it. So naturally, I ventured into new things. A year prior, I had fell in love with another new face. He was a little too ahead of his time but eventually, people caught up.
‘All I Want Is You’ could have easily been a Mary J Blige song. It was so New York. Salaam Remi really crafted something special and presented Miguel to us with some familiarity. Anyone could bop their head to that song. But if you went to the album by the same name, you probably were a little taken aback. Miguel been a rock start. He had booming instrumentation, he dressed interesting in his videos. He was really a different vein. He was from the Price Rogers Nelson School of Performing Arts and it was apparent. When the album was released in 2010, that whole carefree black boy embrace wasn’t there just yet. Thankfully, he stuck to his guns and stayed himself. We thank him for that.
So here it was, a new sound. A shift away from the traditional R&B and finally something different.
This was a new wave. So much to that point in 2013, the Grammys added a new category, ‘Best Urban Contemporary Album’. They had to find ways to separate and put this new sound in it’s own class to properly recognize it. Frank Ocean’s official label debut, ‘Channel Orange’ won the first ever award in that category. Even with all the new things happening, the sound of it all still had the foundation of it all. All of these artists were evidently influenced by Prince & Michael. But some time around 2014, another type of R&B was bubbling.
(The Bobby Element)
I remember reading something about Bobby Brown. The writer championed him for being an innovator in the genre. Sure, he could sing, but he also had elements of hip-hop tinged in his music. ‘Don’t Be Cruel’, the title track from his debut album, had a beat that a rapper could have flowed over. This was the rise of New Jack Swing. It was another sub genre, rooted in funk, soul, and hip-hop. Production was amazing. Even featuring a new producer at the time, Teddy Riley. This was fresh and something new. Even Prince and Michael dabbled in New Jack. But Bobby being that ‘new’ face inspired talent watching him and creating their own style.
Usher’s first live album had an entire medley of Bobby Brown songs, showing his fans where his foundations came from.
For the artists that are around now, Bobby is the father. The guys who can sing but also blend in with rapper and even can spit a few bars. This was Chris Brown circa 2011 with ‘Look At Me Now;.
Here, we were presented another shift. Not as musical as New Jack, but it had an edge. It was music both women and men could listen to and enjoy. It was rooted in R&B but also appealed to a hip-hop ear.
August Alsina was one of the first R&B singers I can remember in this lane. My fiancé was a fan and always told me about how he was a fresh sound amongst his peers. I didn’t know much about him but one thing that surprised me was seeing him on the cover of the XXL Freshman List in 2014. He was singing in these cadences that sounded like rapping, and he did it well. But he could also hold his own on the vocal side with guys like Chris & Trey. He was someone who both purists and new fans alike could appreciate because he had something special.
Another singer who was in the at same XXL class was Ty Dolla $ign. He is overlooked in my opinion as one of the best singers making music right now. He blended perfectly doing collabs with artists like The Weeknd but could also sing over a song produced by Babyface.
So, here we go again. New faces, new music to rock with, and fresh concepts. But little did we know that one more wave would come over contemporary R&B again, push the genre to different spaces. But this time it was both a hybrid of both old and new influences.
(Trapsoul)
‘Don’t’ was introduced to me through a viral video. This was the new marketing scheme that was happening, even if the artist didn’t know it. Vine, Instagram, and whatever other platform where folks made videos and skits on , they definitely used songs to catch the viewers attention.
Bryson Tiller released the song in 2015 and skirted the genre in a new lane. He had all the elements of the sub genre highlighted earlier. The cadences, the emotion, the hard edge, and the looks that could get girls interested. Let’s face it, most of the time R&B is for the ladies and he was the perfect formula.
His album highlighted a guy recognizing his wrongs, and trying to fix things in relationships. I realized most of the songs were about a girl actually cheating on her dude but that’s beside the point, the music was A1.
‘Exchange’ was a paradigm shift in my opinion. It gave fans of the genre that nostalgic feeling they loved. We all love the 90s and the influence that it holds. So hearing a ‘Swing My Way’ sample over a trap beat made us all feel feelings. Traditional meets fresh concepts. I was very excited.
Tory Lanez perfected this method.
‘Say It’ was a thing of beauty. Brownstone was a group who I think didn’t get their just due when they were releasing music. Damnit, they were one of the few artists that had the chance to work under Michel Jackson. They deserve their flowers. But back to Tory. He was really bringing something new to the table. He and Tiller both had some great executed concepts that struck with audiences.
I consider Tory’s project ‘Chixtape 4’ a piece of work that is basically the current state of R&B.
It stated off with a ‘Grind on Me’ sample, a classic by Pretty Ricky, looped and reworked that featured Jacquees. The cadence, the lyrics, the melodic undertones. All a formula that most artist work from for radio play right now. We even see Chris Brown following this formula now. If something works, you stick to it.
Alright, blink your eyes a few times and take a stretch. We’re almost there. Seriously, it you’re still reading this, you’re appreciated.
(King’s Dead)
I was very intrigued by the fact that this whole conversation about who’s the current ‘King of R&B’ was a thing. Mostly because the genre isn’t one genre anymore. So many sub sections, so many to the point where now I can’t always keep up. I remember last year chalking some of this new music, sticking to my old stuff and letting the kids do what they do.
But as I started to explore more, I saw something really special is happening.
Remember the whole Carefree Black Boy acceptance I talked about with Miguel? Well, there’s a whole crop of those now:
· Daniel Ceaser
· Xavier Omar
· D.R.A.M
In the vein of trapsoul:
· 6lack
· Jidenna
· Brent Faiyaz
· Eric Bellinger
We even have guys with foundations rooted in traditional R&B but throw their own spin on it:
· Jacquees
· Ro James
· Partynextdoor
· DVSN
As you can tell from this extremely long piece, I love this genre and the different avenues it’s gone down. Post 1988, so much has shifted in the R&B game and it’s just going to keep evolving.
R&B isn’t dead, it’s just taking on so many different forms people don’t know how to compartmentalize it anymore. We have more options and if you really love music, you’ll find beauty in every avenue. Even Usher just put out an album with Zaytoven. New rules are being made and I’m excited to see who makes strides to put the envelope further in the next 14 to 15 years.
The foundation is still there, just a reconstructed house. Give it chance.
