Realizing R&B's Identity Crisis: An Analytical Research Paper (original) (raw)
Related papers
Black Music & Identity: How Commodification Changed The Narratives of R&B Music
This paper engages in a careful examination of how African-American identity has been impacted by popular culture, specifically the commercialization of black music. Over the last 30 years, the soul of black music has been replaced with a more homogenized sound that embodies the characteristics of popular music, as defined by a European ideology. As the genre gained crossover acceptance in the 1940’s, texts that once signified black cultural identity and family unity have now been replaced with those of extreme materialism, violence and promiscuity. The more commercialized the genre becomes, the message of love, freedom and self-expression for the black community gets more diluted leaving me to question whether or not the soul of black music is dead and if it can ever be revived.
"The Evolution of Rhythm and Blues From Gospel Roots to Modern Hip Hop Influence"
2024
This paper examines the evolution of Rhythm and Blues (R&B) from its origins to its contemporary form, tracing its development through various decades and highlighting key shifts in style and influence. Originally rooted in the fusion of gospel, jazz, and blues, R&B emerged as a distinct genre characterized by syncopated beats and emotional depth. In the 1980s, the genre began incorporating elements of funk, soul, and pop, leading to the rise of contemporary R&B, which became globally popular throughout the 1990s and 2000s. This era saw artists like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey redefine the genre with their innovative blending of R&B with pop sensibilities. The 2010s marked a further evolution of R&B, as it increasingly integrated hip-hop, electronic, and indie influences. Artists such as Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, and Miguel spearheaded a new wave of experimentation, merging introspective lyrics with progressive electronic sounds. Meanwhile, collaborations between R&B singers and hip-hop artists blurred genre boundaries, reflecting the growing influence of hip-hop on R&B. This paper also explores the rise of a new generation of R&B artists, including Alina Baraz, Daniel Caesar, and H.E.R., who continue to push the genre forward by fusing it with neo-soul, trap, and other contemporary styles. The study concludes that while the original elements of R&B have evolved, the genre's ability to adapt and incorporate diverse influences has ensured its continued relevance. The progression of R&B exemplifies the fluidity of music genres, offering artists a platform for creative experimentation and pushing the boundaries of traditional musical classifications. Through this exploration, the paper underscores R&B’s enduring legacy as a dynamic and transformative genre in the global music industry.
Grit & Ghetto: American Pop Music from the \u2790s to the \u2700s
2018
Since music became easily accessible through technological advances, the industries progression has been largely dictated by the preferences of middle-class, adolescent Caucasians. When bearing this in mind, the prevalence of pop music that was either made or inspired by African American influences, particularly from an urban setting, or that invokes the persona of the white, suburban rejects , like Nirvana, becomes an interesting inquiry. This article charts how both members and pretenders of the seemingly unpopular subgroups of black ghetto city-folk and awkward, friendless scruffy white males has led to some of the most critically-acclaimed and popularly adored genres of music of the nineties and noughties, including grunge, hip-hop, R&B
2012 Crossover Fatigue: The Persistence of Gender at Motown Records
Feminist Media Studies, 2012
This article examines the cultural politics of “crossover” at Motown Records, focusing on the relationship between genre, gender, and career longevity. Beginning with the Supremes’ covers albums in the mid-1960s, the article links notions of musical originality to commercial logics of publishing, gendered divisions of labour, and racialised channels of record distribution. It also traces the rise of the celebrity songwriter-producer in soul, including artists like Isaac Hayes, Norman Whitfield, and Stevie Wonder, who fit a new mould of artistic authenticity that clashed with the carefully manicured performances of 1960s “girl pop.” The professional mobility afforded to men in both rock and r&b should prompt media scholars to consider the temporal dimensions of artist trajectories in the music industry, and taking the constraints on girl group singers seriously allows for reflection on (gendered) music industry knowledge about which audiences matter and for how long.
Transposition: Musique et Sciences Sociales , 2022
« Conquérir l’Amérique ». Autrement dit remporter sur le marché de la musique aux États-Unisun succès comparable à celui qu’ils ont obtenu au Royaume-Uni : tel est le voeu pour l’année 1988 que prononcent les membres du groupe pop britannique Five Star au micro de Mike Read, animateur sur Radio 1 BBC, dans une interview menée en 1987. Formé en 1983, le groupe composé de cinq frères et soeurs enchaîne les succès en Grande-Bretagne entre 1985 et 1987, classés à six reprises dans le top 10 des meilleures ventes, avant de recevoir en 1987 le prestigieux Brit Award du meilleur groupe britannique, en grande partie grâce au succès de leur deuxième album Silk and Steel. Mais leur quatrième album, Rock the World, sorti en août 1988, voit sa chanson la mieux classée n’atteindre qu’une modeste 49e place dans le Single Chart britannique, amorçant le déclin dramatique de Five Star. Le groupe ne parviendra jamais à percer sur le marché américain – sa meilleure chanson au Billboard Hot 100, le single de 1986 intitulé « Can’t Wait Another Minute », ne se hisse qu’à la 41e position – et restera pratiquement inconnu de la plupart des amateurs de musique américains. En associant une sociologie des organisations fondée sur la production de la culture, avec un examen musicologique de l’histoire et de la définition des frontières des genres musicaux, et une évaluation critique de la façon dont l’identité britannique noire du groupe a été présentée et reçue, cet article montre comment la visibilité éphémère de Five Star au Royaume-Uni, et son invisibilité aux États-Unis, ont peu à voir avec la qualité de leur musique, mais doivent être attribuées aux politiques de l’industrie et aux impacts transnationaux des notions dominantes de race, de genre et d’authenticité sur la réception de la musique populaire.
This volume brings together for the first time book chapters, articles and position pieces from the debates on music and identity, which seek to answer classic questions such as: how has music shaped the ways in which we understand our identities and those of others? In what ways has scholarly writing about music dealt with identity politics since the Second World War? Both classic and more recent contributions are included, as well as material on related issues such as music's role as a resource in making and performing identities and music scholarship's ambivalent relationship with scholarly activism and identity politics. The essays approach the music-identity relationship from a wide range of methodological perspectives, ranging from critical historiography and archival studies, psychoanalysis, gender and sexuality studies, to ethnography and anthropology, and social and cultural theories drawn from sociology; and from continental philosophy and Marxist theories of class to a range of globalization theories. The collection draws on the work of Anglophone scholars from all over the globe, and deals with a wide range of musics and cultures, from the Americas, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This unique collection of key texts, which deal not just with questions of gender, sexuality and race, but also with other socially-mediated identities such as social class, disability, national identity and accounts and analyses of inter-group encounters, is an invaluable resource for music scholars and researchers and those working in any discipline that deals with identity or identity politics.
The Discourse of Diversity: the making of identities in the music industry
2013
This article investigates the definitions of "particular" and "universal" found in the music industry, especialy the so-called "World Music" industry. It will be demonstrated that since theses definitions are not constant, they can be used for creating differences and similarities, wich produce social impact. In the case os World Music elaborated inthis study, I argue that the discourse of diversity divides musicians into "flexible" or "fixed" actors. Accordingly, these distinct categories of actors also possess varying degrees of facility when dealing with their identity and negotianting the value of that identity; consequently, musicians are faced with unequal conditions and oportunities.
For Black women in America, the political landscapes of feminism, race, and sexuality have always represented a sensitive balancing act. Considered “other” within the hegemonic structures of white-supremacist patriarchy, Black women have historically confronted and combated a myriad of stereotypes, using the tools afforded to them, as they faced specific challenges that placed them in subordinate position for equity and opportunity. Music, particularly blues, offered a platform unlike any other available as its creation lent itself to the understanding of recurring themes, ideas, and multiple frames of consciousness that existed in both the social and private spheres of politicized Black life. My research makes an intervention by bridging this gap and exploring contemporary manifestations of this legacy. By choosing Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, and Beyoncé, and bringing their art to the forefront of conversation, I am representing almost five decades of musical innovation and creation. With a focus on the role of popular culture in identity politics and cultural formation, I use close readings of their art as well as analysis of music charts, journalism, and reviews, to explore the influence of traditional blues culture, Black feminisms, and contemporary politics on the work produced by the three while providing a frame in which to explore implications of contemporary popular culture on identity formation and representations of racialized womanhood.