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Alternative R&B

Not to be confused with Neo soul.

Alternative R&B (also referred to as alt-R&B, indie R&B, and originally known as PBR&B, hipster R&B, emo R&B,[5][6] or R-Neg-B[7]) is a term used by music journalists to describe a stylistic alternative to contemporary R&B that began in the mid 2000s and came to prominence with musical artists such as Frank Ocean, Drake, the Weeknd, SZA, Khalid, Bryson Tiller, PartyNextDoor, Tory Lanez, 6lack, and others.[8][9][10][11] It is considered to be "more progressive and diverse" than its mainstream counterpart.[12]

Alternative R&B
Other names
  • Alt-R&B
  • indie R&B
  • left-field R&B
  • emo R&B
  • experimental R&B[1][2][3]
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsMid-2000s, U.S. and Canada
Fusion genres
Other topics

Etymology

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See also: Progressive soul

"Alternative R&B" was once used by the music industry during the late 1990s to market neo soul artists, such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Maxwell.[13] There has been a variety of discussion about the differing genre terms, with several critics describing the music under the broad category of "alternative R&B" or "indie R&B".[14][15] The term "hipster R&B" has been commonly used, as has the term "PBR&B"—a combination of "PBR" (the abbreviation for Pabst Blue Ribbon, a beer most recently associated with the hipster subculture)[16] and R&B. The first use of "PBR&B" was on Twitter by Sound of the City writer Eric Harvey in a 2011 post.[17][18][19] Three years later, amazed and distressed at how far the term—meant as a joke—had traveled, Harvey wrote an extensive essay about it for Pitchfork.[20] Slate suggests the name "R-Neg-B", as a reference to "negging."[21] The genre has sometimes been called "noir&B."[22][23] However, the terms are often criticized for "pigeonholing" artists into hipster subculture and being used in a derisive manner.[24][25]

Characteristics

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Alternative R&B artist Frank Ocean performing at the Coachella Festival in 2012

Barry Walters of Spin characterizes the unconventional style as an "exchange between EDM, rock, hip hop and R&B's commercial avant-garde", and cites Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak, Frank Ocean's Nostalgia, Ultra and Channel Orange, the Weeknd's 2011 trilogy of mixtapes, Drake's Take Care, Miguel's Kaleidoscope Dream, Holy Other's Held and How to Dress Well's Total Loss as works associated with alternative R&B.[7] AllMusic's Andy Kellman cites the early albums of Bilal—1st Born Second and Love for Sale—as antecedents to the "left-field R&B" that developed in the late 2000s.[26] According to Jim Farber of the New York Daily News, the Soulquarians collective of the late 1990s and early 2000s, which Bilal was a part of, "corral[ed] leaders of the alternative R&B movement like the Roots and D'Angelo".[27] Janet Jackson's sixth studio album The Velvet Rope (1997) is cited as one of the genre's stylistic origins.[28][29] Dee Lockett from Slate credits Aaliyah's musical style on her second studio album "One in a Million" for "giving rise to a new subgenre, loosely referred to as experimental R&B (or "PBR&B")".[3] While NPR writer Stasia Irons stated Aaliyah's self-titled album "became a catalyst and bridge that created a smooth transition from '90s style R&B into Modern PBR&B".[30]

Brandon Neasman of The Grio observes a "changing of the guard in R&B, from the smooth, cool heartthrobs to these vulnerable, off-kilter personalities" amid the prevalence of social media in society.[31] Neasman finds the subject matter of "these new-wave artists" to be more "relatable" and writes of alternative R&B's characteristics:

[A] lot of the production is echo-laden and lofty, often using many synthesizers and filtered drums—sonically giving a nod to Prince's vintage '80s sound. Additionally, for the most part, it doesn't feel as if these artists are selling sex as their main entrée. Granted, they still sing about the topic, and in explicit detail, but it's in equal proportion to drugs, spirituality and personal philosophies. You don't get that same diversity in subject matter from the majority of modern R&B singers.[31]

Hermione Hoby of The Guardian writes that "the music is quietly radical" and observes "an ongoing, mutually enriching dialogue between indie and electronic musicians and R&B artists."[16] Gerrick D. Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times feels that "the new movement feels like the most significant stylistic change in R&B since neo soul rolled around in the 1990s."[32]

Response

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There are two predominating opinions regarding alternative R&B as a classifier of sonic and lyrical characteristics within the larger R&B genre, the first of the two being a reluctant acceptance of its existence—if only for the sake of marketability.

Stereogum described the genre as a group of "co-conspirators, not a unified movement."[4] Similarly in thought, How to Dress Well, while not offended by the term "PBR&B", finds it "tacky"; in an interview with Complex, he points out that "if you put records [released by other alternative R&B artists] side-by-side, me and whoever, like you're just not going to [hear] the same sounds, period", before proceeding to cite Miguel as an example.[33] Miguel himself has said that he is "comfortable" with the term "indie R&B" because it "insinuates a higher art. Or a deeper or somehow more artistic delivery of rhythm and blues music. It suggests there's more artistry within a genre that has become more of a cliché of itself."[34]

Frank Ocean, when first asked in an interview with The Quietus, whether he considers "Novacane" to be an R&B song, responded, "You're limiting it. And that's why I always say that about the genre thing, because that's what it does. When you say 'it's that', you listen to it in a certain way. And you might not necessarily miss it, but it's just inaccurate, and you'll miss a couple of things, contextually."[35] He proceeds to point out that race and vocal delivery are stereotypical signifiers of R&B music, in turn forcing himself and his peers into a category they may not identify within; when considering Nostalgia, Ultra Ocean argues that if he were a different complexion, "people would listen to it and be like 'Yeah, he borrowed from R&B but it's just not R&B—it's a lot of things, and you can't just call it 'R&B.'"[35] Ocean also uses alternative R&B for challenging norms in hegemonic masculinity. Channel Orange has prevalent queer-coded lyrics and scenarios within the characters he portrays.[36]

In an interview with The Guardian, FKA Twigs rejected the term by declaring, "Fuck alternative R&B!" She further explained: "It's just because I'm mixed race. When I first released music and no one knew what I looked like, I would read comments like: 'I've never heard anything like this before, it's not in a genre.' And then my picture came out six months later, now she's an R&B singer.'"[37] The Fader echoes her sentiment, stating, "By adding the prefix, it sidelines R&B itself by implying it's not experimental, boundary-pushing or intellectual. It throws side-eye at the genre, while at the same time claiming to have discovered something worthy within it."[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Cliff, Aimee (September 12, 2014). "FKA Twigs Is Right, "Alternative R&B" Must Die". The Fader. Retrieved November 12, 2018. "Alternative" or "experimental R&B" is a term that needs to die, and that's why I cheered when I read these words from Twigs.
  2. ^ Flanagin, Jake (October 7, 2014). "R&B 2.0". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2023. under this "hipster" moniker and its iterations: "alternative R&B," "experimental R&B" and "R-neg-B," to name a few.
  3. ^ a b Lockett, Dee (May 23, 2014). "Where Do I Start With Aaliyah?". Slate. Retrieved August 21, 2023. loosely referred to as experimental R&B (or "PBR&B")
  4. ^ a b DeVille, Chris (April 30, 2014). "Indie Rock's R&B Movement Reaches Its Saturation Point". Stereogum.
  5. ^ "What's that Racket?". New York Post. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  6. ^ "Emo/New Wave Songs from Jordin Sparks, Mariah Carey & Jhene Aiko Lead Top 10 Most Popular R&B Singles of the Week. - Singersroom.com". Singersroom. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  7. ^ a b Walters, Barry (August 22, 2012). "Frank Ocean, Miguel, and Holy Other Usher in PBR&B 2.0". Spin. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  8. ^ "How Hip-Hop And R&B Became One Genre". Essence. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  9. ^ Abebe, Nitsuh (August 14, 2011). "PBR&B Ten Pack". New York. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  10. ^ Murray, Nick (December 21, 2011). "Underwhelmed And Overstimulated, Part IV: The Joys Of Nicola Roberts And The Problem With Odd Future". The Village Voice. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  11. ^ Beasley, Corey (December 8, 2011). "The Best Producers of 2011". PopMatters. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  12. ^ Holbrook, Emma (November 11, 2014). "Sex, Race and Alternative R&B". Concrete. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  13. ^ Mitchell, Gail (June 3, 2000). "Reinventing The Real: R&B Gets Its Groove". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 23. p. 42. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  14. ^ Richards, M.T. (August 19, 2013). "10 Unconventional R&B Acts You Should Listen To". Vibe.
  15. ^ "Discussion: Hipster R&B Or Alternative R&B – Should The Genre Exist?". ThisIsRnB. April 6, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  16. ^ a b Hoby, Hermione (November 8, 2012). "The Weeknd: Sounds and sensibility". The Guardian. London. section G2, p. 12. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  17. ^ Fennessey, Sean (March 23, 2011). "Love vs. Money: The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, and R&B's Future Shock". The Village Voice. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  18. ^ Harvey, Eric [@ericdharvey] (March 22, 2011). "Okay, so out of the nascent PBR&B thing of Weeknd, How to Dress Well, Frank Ocean, it's not even a question that Ocean is the best, right?" (Tweet). Retrieved July 25, 2017 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ Barshad, Amos (March 24, 2011). "Hilarious New Subgenre Alert!". Vulture. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  20. ^ Harvey, Eric (October 7, 2013). "I Started a Joke: "PBR&B" and What Genres Mean Now". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2016-02-22. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  21. ^ Wilson, Carl (December 28, 2011). "Why was there so much whistling in pop this year?". Slate. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  22. ^ Merchand, Francois (June 22, 2015). "Weekend Extra: On the road again to B.C.'s summer music festivals". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  23. ^ Hudson, Alex (August 28, 2015). "The Weeknd 'Beauty Behind the Madness' (album stream)". Exclaim!.
  24. ^ Cummings, Jozen (March 30, 2011). "You Say Hipster R&B, I Say Nappy-Headed Pop. Either Way, It's Offensive". The Awl. Archived from the original on May 24, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  25. ^ Macpherson, Alex (March 29, 2011). "Ready for the Weeknd? Most R&B fans have better things to listen to". The Guardian. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  26. ^ Kellman, Andy (n.d.). "Airtight's Revenge – Bilal". AllMusic. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  27. ^ Farber, Jim (June 24, 2001). "Bilal Set to Wow". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  28. ^ DJ Louie XIV (June 16, 2015). "Can Janet Get a Hit?". The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  29. ^ "The Impact Of Janet's Creatively Liberating Album, 'The Velvet Rope'". Essence. 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  30. ^ Stasia Irons (July 24, 2017). "The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women". NPR. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  31. ^ a b Neasman, Brandon (October 4, 2012). "Changing of the guard: How Frank Ocean, Miguel and more helped R&B find its soul again". The Grio. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  32. ^ Kennedy, Gerrick D. (November 11, 2012). "Miguel helps lead the charge for an edgier kind of R&B artist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  33. ^ Diep, Eric (September 18, 2012). "His Thoughts on the Term "PBR&B" – Who is How To Dress Well?". Complex. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  34. ^ Jonze, Tim (February 8, 2013). "Miguel: the slow-burn success of a new R&B superstar". The Guardian. London. The Guide section, p. 10. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  35. ^ a b Bradshaw, Melissa (November 22, 2011). "'Imagery, And A Little Bit Of Satire': An Interview With Frank Ocean". The Quietus. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  36. ^ Dhaenens, F; De Ridder, S (June 2015). "Resistant masculinities in alternative R&B? Understanding Frank Ocean and The Weeknd's representations of gender". European Journal of Cultural Studies. 18 (3): 283–299. doi:10.1177/1367549414526730. ISSN 1367-5494.
  37. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (August 9, 2014). "FKA twigs: 'Weird things can be sexy'". The Guardian. Retrieved November 12, 2018.

Further reading

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