Contemporary R&B rose in the 1980s from the ashes of Disco. Some of the first artists to embrace this new sound were Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey…Tina Turner was even able to revamp her career due to the smooth, synthesized tones.
The new sound encompassed elements of Funk, Soul, Pop, Dance-Pop, and Electronic music with a smooth, polished finish.
For more on Contemporary R&B, check out this write-up.
I just wanna listen to some fucking baby-making music and I don’t have like ANY on my iPod. Wtf, self?
And my Bruno Mars album is missing four songs. Fml I’m going to bed.
n.
According to New Oxford American Dictionary: genre is a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter: Category, class, classification, group, set, list.
ORIGIN early 19th century; French, literally ‘a kind’.
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I often use my Dictionary widget on my Macbook which is powered by the New Oxford American Dictionary, and part of its features includes a Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Wikipedia…
At the bottom of each definition is sometimes a paragraph that goes more in detail about the word called a “Word Note”, which is “conversational, opinionated, and idiomatic, these Word Notes are an opportunity to see a working writer’s perspective on a particular word or usage”…
That being said, I found the “Word Note” pertaining to ‘genre’ to be quite interesting, take a look:
genre
Genre in pop music is mostly racism: soul, rhythm-and-blues, urban, etc., are euphemisms for any music made by African-Americans; singer-songwriter, new wave, electropop, soft rock, etc., are categories exclusive of them. Billboard magazine, the music industry’s paper of record, used to have three charts: Race, Folk, and Pop. Race meant African-Americans; Folk meant European-Americans from the South; Pop was everything else. Nowadays there are many more charts, but the organizing principle—social exclusion—is identical. We would not call all music by Jews klezmer, nor would we file Alice Walker under “soul” writers. Please use musical labels advisedly.
To kick start the “Baby Makin’ Project,” for some it only seems logical and appropriate to begin by highlighting who many applaud to be the King of R&B, R.Kelly. When speaking of R&B in this highlight, we are talking about Contemporary R&B, and for the last 20 years R.Kelly has reigned on and behind the scenes as a musical giant. The 3 time Grammy-winning, Chi-town native has created hit after hit, and the argument can be made that in fact he actually was the one to “invent sex”*. Interestingly enough, R.Kelly has never been shy to show gratitude to the ‘Big-Man-Upstairs’, having written some Gospel tracks. That being said, Mr.kelly is no saint, and yes, this is in reference to the sex scandal that has haunted his career for the past 10 years; he was recently found not guilty on all accounts.
The 41-year old singer has had an amazing career, and is still producing music with the release of his Write Me Back album June 26.
For more on R.Kelly visit the Official R.Kelly site.
*In reference to Trey songz I Invented Sex, Ready (2009)
n.
a colloquial term used to describe music that creates an ambiance which encourages copulation: Freakums, slow jams, slow jamz, grown folks music, grind songs.
As defined by Urbandictionary: “Music that makes one want to fornicate*, thus making babies. i.e. Van Morrison and Marvin Gaye” (*or engaging in marital activities under those circumstances…basically, sex… bow chicka wow wow!)
ORIGIN, not readily known, but an educated guess suggests late 20th century urban slang.
Word Note: The phrase Baby Making Music is often (mistakenly) conflated with the genre R&B and with the idea of “Love Songs/Ballads”.
Through joint efforts of all interested parties, “The Baby Makin’ Project” strives to create a niche where music, lovers, and music lovers can mingle and celebrate the words of Marvin Gaye, “Let’s Get It On”.
*Songs not uploaded to Grooveshark Playlist
