By Gio Arteaga
Music in African-American culture hasn’t always been categorized as it is today. When the genre first emerged, it wasn’t meant to become the overarching umbrella term for African-American music; it was used as a categorization. When Black artists began to emerge, a lot of music took heavy influence from gospel music, and because of this, “RCA Victor records began using ‘blues and rhythm’ music as a descriptor for African American secular songs,” according to the Library of Congress. Over time, as the 90s progressively became less racially divided, R&B became a term that combined “pop, gospel, blues and jazz with a strong back beat” that was being produced by African-American artists.
Today, many popularized artists—like SZA, The Weeknd, Beyoncé— that write in an R&B style carry on the generational legacy of the numerous artists that came before them. So the next time you listen to an R&B artist, remember that there’s so much more to it than just the title.