R&B music originally started in the late 1940s. The genre was later built to international acclaim by the likes of Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. It came about as a result of the addition of some electronic element to the previous plain sound which resulted in a friendly sound which is now known as the Rhythm & Blues (RnB/R&B).
Growth
Some artists such as Janet Jackson with the help of her producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis helped in the development of R&B by helping to add some musical elements to the genre. In 1986, producer Teddy Riley started producing R&B music. The new R&B style was known as ‘new Jack swing’ and it was used by artists such as Michael Jackson in ‘Heal the World’ and also by Bobby Brown who sang ‘Every Little Step’.
In the 1990s, R&B artists such as the Jodeci group began adding the Hip Hop sound to their music. There were major developments in the genre and the East Coast Hip Hop track replaced the new Jack swing tracks. This led to the emergence of a genre called Hip Hop Soul.
Recognition
At the start of 1995, there was an award for the best R&B album wh
ich had been introduced by Grammy awards. Boyz II Men became the first winner of the award for their album II. The 1996 winner was TLC’s Crazy Sexy Cool album, Tony Rich’s ‘Words’ album in 1997, Baduizm by Erykah Badu in 1998 and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was the winning R&B album in 1999. R&B artist Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson were ranked as the top two successful artists in 1990 by the Billboard magazine.
R&B songs have been ranked among the top hits on platforms such as Billboard Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40 and also R&B/Hip Hop songs. Songs such as Fallin by Alicia Keys won awards such as Grammy awards song of the year, best R&B song and also best female R&B vocal performance. Dangerous in Love, an R&B album by Beyoncé, has 5 Grammy awards.
In the 2000s, there was an emergence of songwriters of the R&B genre such as Bryan-Michael Cox. During this period there were also new R&B artists such as Trey Songz, Omarion and also Keyshia Cole. R&B was termed as the most successful genre in commercial terms due to its sales. Some of the artists who had big sales on their music were Usher, Rihanna, and Chris Brown.
The genre keeps growing and evolving, but never relenting.