Has R&B Lost Its Soul? Ehh? Ehh? Ehh?

(A few days ago, just browsing through my iTunes
I was listening to some of my R&B and it made me want to blog on this matter.
So here it goes.....and all you die hard R&B'ers dont take it personal,
this is coming from one of your own....me!)

For the last few years, R&B music has gotten progressively worse
and it doesn't take a genius to realize that. In this decade, we have
been in what I like to call the "Porn" era, where damn near 90
percent of the R&B music that you hear is filled with nothing but sex,
sex and more sex. I'm exhausted from it, and not to mention disgusted.
Long gone are the days of singers who actually stood for something.
Singers like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield,
and Donny Hathaway offered social commentary, life experiences, and
so much more in their music. In this new era, artists(and I use that term
very loosely) offer almost the exact opposite.

Marvin Gaye
Curtis Mayfield

Stevie Wonder

R&B artists follow this repetitive cycle that I've grown tired of,
and it goes as follows: You go to the club, you spot the girl, you approach
the girl and get the girl, you have countless hours of passionate or sometimes
rough sex with the girl, you fall in love with the girl, you cheat on the girl
or vice versa, break up with the girl, become heartbroken, and then repeat.
This cycle is what has been dominating mainstream R&B music of this millenium.
I think that cycle is pathetic, because its not authentic, and its not life.

Music is an expression of life and if "love" and sex dominate your life,
you need to reevaluate it asap. Sometimes people wanna hear about that job you
got fired from,we wanna hear about your family, your everyday struggles,
the world as you see it, or things that make you happy. I just don't wanna hear
about your new late night hype or your girlfriend on every song, because you
know you get tired of them sometimes. I think it all boils down to the simple fact
that artists don't write songs anymore, co-writing is one thing but having
someone write your entire song for you, completely takes away from the
creativity and artistry that is required to make timeless music like the Marvin's
and Stevie's. So not writing your music = lack of originality, and if you suffer from
a lack of originality.....well that pretty much means you wont last very long in music.

Despite these non writing porn singers, there still is hope for this genre.
John Legend, Robin Thicke, Van Hunt, Alicia Keys, Darien Brockington,
Erykah Badu, Bilal, Dwele, Musiq, Raheem DeVaughn and several others are
bringing back the authenticity and substance to the R&B/Soul category. My
challenge to this listeners is to go out and search for something new, don't
settle for the "J.Holiday", or the "Dream". They may have great singles
but lets be honest, they probably will be out of commission in 2 years or less.
No one wants to hear an ALBUM full of SINGLES. Step outside of your radio/top 40
box for once. Try some "Neo Soul" (Jill Scott, Dwele, Miss Badu, Musiq, etc.)
Or, go back a few decades and listen to some old school soul music.
I'm pretty sure you're just going to go for the porn music anyway so I'll quit
wasting my time preaching to your music perverts!

This is what you R&B dummies need in your life

just a few dope R&B/soul albums, some new...some kinda old
but if you haven't heard them yet....buy or download them now!



Oh, and since you actually took the time to read through
my boring blog, here's a nice musical treat for you
http://rapidshare.com/files/82212012/1973SwInn.rar
"Innervisions" by Stevie Wonder...one of his greatest
albums to date, hear how good music sounds you jerks!
oh and shout outs to Niyi for puttin me on game.