Rythm and Blues in short RnB (R&B) is a genre of popular music directly derived from blues music. It is a type of so-called "black music". The term RnB was originally used by record labels as a name for records sold to urban African-Americans. But it went through a great many changes before it became firmly established. Finally, in the 1960s, the name RnB became firmly established. Rock and Roll crystallized from this trend.… Read more
The main target of this music was originally the population of large cities, interested in catchy and rhythmic dance music. It also had to do with the migration of the black population from the South to large urban centers where they could count on jobs. These included cities such as Chicago and Detroit.
From niche music, it began to take on the name of popular pop music. This took place in the 1930s. In the second half of the 1940s, recordings appeared with a strongly accented rhythm, taken from jump blues performed by jazzswing orchestras. The recordings used a brass section to emphasize the rhythm and a piano or organ to add motoricity to the music. Vocalists used blues technique, tinged with more emotional involvement taken from gospel music.
In the 1950s, the most characteristic elements of RnB were very widely used instrumentation based on percussion, dente, guitar, piano. As something modern, the first primitive electric guitars and Hammond organs were used. Songs were multi-voiced, often performed by a chorus, but were dominated by harsh vocals derived from traditional blues.
In the second half of the 1960s, RnB music experienced a kind of renaissance. Rock performers reached out to blues sounds, and it also became popular among young people. RnB performers included Ch. Berry, J.L. Hooker, M. Waters, and bands like The Kings, The Rolling Stones, The Animals later The Cream, used traditional blues material or created their own compositions based on old blues harmonics.
In the 1970s, the development of RnB is parallel to the development of rock, and very often the two trends intermingle. There is even a group of artists creating on the borderline between RnB and rock, and they included Prince, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson or Terence Trent d'Arby.
A very important date for RnB is 1979, at which time Aaliyah, who, despite her short life and even shorter career, became a permanent part of RnB history, was born. She left behind two songs big R&B hits like "Try Again – Romeo Must Die" and "One In A Million". Aaliyah threw a lot of freshness into RnB music. It can be said that she detached this music from Soul - ripped it out into its own world.
It's safe to say that R&B music has already made a permanent mark in the history of music and the popularity of this musical genre continues unabated. In the 90s it became a mainstream of popular music, changing its face significantly thanks to artists such as Babyface, Glenn Lewis, Tony Braxton, Mary J. Blige or the aforementioned Aalyah.
Nowadays, RnB is referred to as a type of music in which we find elements of rhythmic blues (i.e. blues-like vocals plus rich, rhythmic instrumentation), ranging from raw soul to productions that are often perceived as pop in Europe, such as the work of the Jackson family.
And here is a short list of RnB's biggest stars: Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Louis Jordan, James Brown, Janet Jackson, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Usher.