Evolution of R&B:1990's to 2000's
Savannah Pannell
R&B in the 90s
How has the evolution of R&B shaped the perspective of individual's views on love?
R&B- the collaboration of Jazz and Blues that was created in the U.S. by black musicians.
R&B originated in New York, Georgia, and New Orleans in 1949.
About R&B in the 90s
- Groups sang mostly about love
- Music was dependent on influences from late Jazz compositions and classic blues
- Groups formed for harmonies (Boys II Men, TLC, En Vogue, and New Edition)
- Borrowed from Jazz by adding various instruments
- Borrowed from the Blues by singing soulfully and about love
R&B in the 2000s
- Closer related to pop music than its roots in Blue
- Moving away from soulful music, separation of singing group, and subject matter changed slightly
- More youthful like pop music
- Independent from love and associated with living life at any age
- Use less live instruments and use utilize faster artificial beats by technology
- Loud and faster music
- Uses aspects of music production like artificial beat makers, auto tune, pitch bending, and flexible use of tempos
The Influence on Love:
R&B reflects the good and the bad of relationships and how it feels to be in love. It shows the happy, complicated, and difficult times that occur during relationships. It also shows how love can push one to make hasty decisions and not thinking things through. This shows the lack of control that being in love brings.
"Feelings, so deep in my feelings. No, this ain't really like me, can't control my anxiety..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtmtELlo6pk
Creep by TLC
Creep was released in 1994 and talks about how the ladies cheat on their partner for attention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x00MCqDrM0E
Boo'd Up by Ella Mai
Boo'd Up was released as a single in 2018 and talks about being with a specific person who has her feeling like she is on top of the world and she loves being with that person. This is one of few songs that is close to R&B in the 90s, but still relates to the new R&B era due to the fast beat.