A lot of the guys mentioned here are old cats with albums that get worse each year. I'm surprised (or maybe not) that Raheem DeVaughn hasn't been mentioned. Also Dwele and Lyfe Jennings for the most part are quality.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eomeW_Sm8Nk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eomeW_Sm8Nk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Try to battle my voice? its not legal.. heart and soul.. ddddance
LOL, plcmts17... I have that entire CD of Pablo... "Faaaa-eee-i-eee-ine!!!" Uhh... so... how do you define "Rhythm and Blues"??? What in tarnation is that?
Looking at the wiki it shows what i already knew. R&B stems from jazz, gospel, and blues. It also says this type of music used to be called race music or black music. I guess if you go by that definition RR is right, JT doesn't qualify.
This is my take. The difference between Soul Music and R&B is mostly generational. Most people would associate soul with Otis Redding,Wilson Pickett and other Atlantic artists of the 60's. The sound is very soulful with a rougher, more natural sound. R&B is a much smoother sound. Still very soulful and more melodic. To really hear the difference, listen to early Aretha and then her early to mid-eighties albums. The same with the Isley Brothers and especially Stevie Wonder. My Mom practically raised me on Innervisions (the sound has a little of everything) and compare it to the sound he had on Songs In The Key Of Life, which is very R&B.
Damn this is like my list to a T give or take a couple of names.. Man R&B in the 90's were something special.
R&B, Rap, Movies, and the Rockets, everything was better in the 90s <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5-F12ELnVRs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5-F12ELnVRs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Back in the late 90's, Anita Baker and Bobby Brown were gettin' nominations for Grammy's under "R&B"... now WTF... if that has to do with JAZZ... c'mon, now... and then there was DISCO even nominated in the 70's as "R&B"... c'mon with that... Prince's "Baby Mama"? and Luther Vandross' "Dance with my father" can be in the same category? I've come to the conclusion that R&B just means that (with the exception of Chakha Khan) "you have look pretty and black to win it in the Grammys." C'mon now... just admit it. It's just inconclusive how it goes from Slow, to Disco, to Dance, to crap, to Dance, to slow again with the Toni Braxtons and the Donna Summerses and the Anita Bakers.
I know you've been here long enough to know that the Grammys know as much about any genre of music as I do about neurosurgery. This is the same group that gave Milli Vanilli Grammys, that gave the 1st Heavy Metal Grammy to Jethro Tull !!! Don't ever go by Grammys. Seriously. R&B as we know it and as a template for what was to follow developed in the late 70's. The style, the image and sound. Think of all the male singers who could lay it down smooth and/or rough and totally exude sexuality(Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Philip Bailey) or the vocal groups who could sing ballads and funk like EW&F, The Gap Band and The Spinners (my all time favorites). They did have their predecessors to be sure, but a lot of groups of today emulate those from the late 70' and early 80's more than anything. And yes, Anita Baker is R&B. She has a jazz background, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Rapture is one of the best R&B albums of all time.
It all starts in the modern rock & roll era with: Sam Cooke Little Richard Ray Charles James Brown Then it goes to: Marvin Gaye The Temptations The Supremes The Four Tops Stevie Wonder The Miracles (Smokey!) Martha Reeves and the Vandellas Otis Redding Aretha Franklin Sly and the Family Stone Then you have: The Jackson 5 / Michael Jackson Teddy Pendergrass The O'Jays Kool and the Gang Earth, Wind and Fire Rufus and Chaka Khan Tavares Heatwave George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic Then: Prince Bobby Brown and the rest of whom everyone mentioned from the 80's on up. My personal favorite is Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder is a close 2nd, Otis Redding and Aretha are definitely up there, also. But as Marvin and Smokey and, particularly, Otis have said, there is a godfather of soul, before James Brown and Ray Charles and Little Richard, and that was Mr. Sam Cooke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpxo7oDxyQM
I agree with the Anitas, the Marvins, the Teddy's, the Tonis and the Luthers. But, the Bobby's, the Ushers... the Donna's? C'mon, now. Ok, I also agree that the grammy's know as much of R&B as Mexico's football team knows about defending Landon Donovan. Satisfied?
What's "Pop" music? Pop is the most ambiguous assemblage of a genre ever. Any genre of music has some stereotypes lumped in, that the artists WILLINGLY submit into. Country remakes of pop & R&B songs amuse me. Same exact words of Brian McKnight's "Back at One" sang by Mark Wills. The only difference is Mark Wills has some country drawl in his voice, so its then considered a country song..... Leann Rhimes crossing over into pop, Jessica Simpson crossing into country. It can become indeterminable after a while.
No R&B list can be complete without the inclusion of Whitney Houston. She's been on a downward spiral the last few years, but there is no denying her impact or that voice. Would also include the likes of Janet, Boyz II Men, Tamia, Deborah Cox, Chante Moore, and Kenny Lattimore to the list.
