I’m a big fan of rhythm and blues ever since the beginning of the genre in the 40′s. The genre has always evolved through the years and the style has been described as blues, funk, rock and roll, soul to name a few. Nowadays we know the music genre as contemporary r&b, however I have a problem with a lot of mainstream r&b currently.
follow Brady on twitter, add me on facebook
One of my favourite era’s of r&b has to be the 90′s where I used to be a big fan of acts such as TLC, Brandy, Monica, Usher, Ginuwine and many more. I could go on to list my favourite songs from this era, but I think that’s a post saved for another day. I have nothing but respect for 90′s r&b.
Usher was undoubtedly a major player in the 90′s r&b scene. It was his second album, rather than his first album that got him the attention from the masses. ‘My Way’ was released in 1997 and charted far better than the debut ‘Usher‘ album which peaked at number 167 in the US. ‘My Way‘ peaked at number 4 and sold over $3 million in the US alone and earned the singer Grammy nominations.
I was very impressed with the album and three songs off the record could easily make it into my top 10 songs of the 90′s. The three singles being ‘You Make Me Wanna’, ‘Slow Jam’ (Featuring Monica) and my favourite Usher song to date ‘Nice and Slow‘.
If you want to watch the video version, you’ll have to watch it on YouTube: click here
Contemporary r&b at it’s purest?
Usher is the main reason for the topic at hand today as I find it difficult to listen and enjoy his current music. If a first time listener had to hear ‘Nice and Slow‘, ‘Slow Jam‘ and then move on to ‘OMG‘, and ‘DJ got us falling in love‘ they could be forgiven for thinking they were by two different artists.
Is this really Usher?
I don’t doubt that the music industry is hard to survive in as one year you can be a the top of the game and the next your sophomore album can be found in the bargain bin in HMV. However I just feel some artist’s like Usher have followed suit with what is seen as ‘in’ now and forgot the music that they were really appreciated for.
R&B is crossing over more and more to the dance floor and mixing with pop and euro club sounds. Artists such as Usher, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Kelly Rowland and Mariah Carey have all changed their sound and have moved away from their early career days in order to stay relevant. R&b is not dead, however it seems it is not so accepted with the mainstream audience. What are your thoughts on this?