What Happened to R&B/ Soul Music?

Hip-Hop infiltrated R&B radio

It unfortunately disappeared when hip hop and rap took over. There was some good 90’s R&B as well, but by 2000 it disappeared.

Teena Marie's voice was nothing special. It was rather on the shrill side.

Justin Timberlake, Sam Smith, Justin Bieber. . .

90's R&B was excellent and got lots of radio play. It's mostly rap and trap nowadays.

R&B is now used by rappers as samples in rap songs, which is sad.

R3 The "shrillness" was due to her using that tone intentionally when singing the middle notes, it's part of what made her voice unique, she could go from that to high register notes that sound very different. Her high notes are smooth and not too nasal unlike Celine Dion's high notes (and I do think CL had a great voice), plus TM had excellent breath control.

Music as a whole got shittier post 2000s. 90's was the last heyday for rock and r&b. Rock is even more dead than R&B these days.

You can explain it away all you like but I don't get the praise for the woman. I suspect it's because she didn't "cross over", which somehow makes her more authentic to some people.

The 90s had Aaliyah, Brandy, Monica, Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey, Usher, Toni Braxton, Missy Elliot, Boys 2 Men, En Vogue, Mary J. Blige, Keith Sweat, Janet Jackson all at their career peaks. There was also a slew of one hit wonders and artists like Christina Aguilera and Jenniver Lopez dabbling in the genre.

'90s R&B/ Soul was when it became manufactured to sound like it could be pop, I'm mainly talking about En Vogue, Brandy, Monica, Janet and similar types. Pretty much Mary J. Blige was the only one in the '90s who wasn't like that but I think she was also older than Brandy, Monica. I liked Aaliyah when she first hit the scene, it would've been interesting to see what sort of career she'd have if she didn't die so young.

Never put J Lo in the same vein as R&B singers not even dabbling, bitch couldn't even sing and some saying she didn't sing on her tracks.

The Scandi "R&B" had a negative impact, I think.

speaking of one hit wonders.. always ALWAYS loved Zhane's "sending my love"! hypnotic that is song is....

I do not know a Teena Marie but who can forget the infamous Tease-a-Louise?

Old school jam!

R&G "died" because (sadly) many of the great artists are gone.

OP, what happened is that the producer became elevated to god-like status and is now the real star of the show. Also, Rap came in and merged with R&B and then ended up dominating it. That's why there is no good R&B on the radio anymore.

R15, this is one of the best covers I have ever heard in my life.

All of the above and more. Besides hip hop influence, technology wiped out the soulfulness and regionalism of Soul music ie: you can tell the difference between Philly Soul, southern soul and Chicago Soul. The synthesizers innovations of Stevie Wonder and others gave way to cold 80s synthesizers and drum machines unless in the creative hands like Prince or Jam and Lewis can all sound the same. Someone posted a couple of Bobby Womack songs. Bobby Womack was a grown ass man making grown ass music for grown ass people. He had no inclination to make music for kids and he had an audience, black and white. Now everything is geared towards kids. This is part of it, OP. There are many other factors.

It's still here. Just not as mainstream.

Cannot let any serious discussion about R&B music go without mentioning the master, Mr. Barry White.

Mr. White navigated between soul, disco, and R&B, and left such a great legacy.

Still as kids we knew what was going on when we heard Barry White music playing.....

The soundtrack to How Stella Got Her Groove Back is one of my faves of all time. When R&B was alive and well.

My favorite Luther song.

Beyonce’s last album was pretty standard-issue R&B.

I myself listen to nothing but cool/smooth jazz...#66, Watercolors, on Sirius.

Cee Lo Green did some great R&B. Too bad he got #MeToo’d.

Janelle Monae has some good R&B.

Jazmine Sullivan is my favorite R&B singer of today.

OP, there's a lot of commercially and critically successful R&B out there at the moment. How could you miss H.E.R, Summer Walker and Sza who are all young and successful?

I miss Teena Marie, but Ariana Grande is much better....

No, Ariana Grande is NOT better and she isn't even R&B, she's pop. She can hit high notes, but there is no body to her voice. She still sounds like a teenage girl playing dress up. Teena Marie made adult music for adults--Ariana makes music for little girls. Her music is "of the moment" and won't be remembered passed its expiration date.

I sometimes listen to WBLS in NYC which still plays R&B/Soul music.

I understand that it was a very popular station when it launched around 50 years ago.

You can listen to it online via an app or via your browser (link attached.)

Oh, hell no.

We. ARE. NOT. Coming. For. Miss. Teena. Marie.

I will take off my rings and snatch off my WIG if anyone tries to come for her.

Sitcho stanky, nasty asses down and pay homage!

Comparing Ariana Grande to Teena Marie is like comparing Mobile, Alabama to Rome.

R32 Yes!

R&B still exists, but it did get pushed aside with rap and hip-hop. For most people under 40, the percussion in rap/hip hop (or EDM/dubstep, etc.) was more important than the voice(s) in a song.

The "old school" style of R&B/soul still exists in places. It's evolved. Some artists are now labeled "neo soul" and some have been labeled jazz. Some great music still around, but you gotta know where to look.