FOUNDATIONS OF R&B MUSIC

ORIGINAL R&B MUSIC• R&B was a term originally used during the 1940s in reference to popular

African American urban music of the time.• R&B in its original form was sourced almost entirely in the USA, though

other Western countries used the term in discussion of the music.• Previously the term ‘race music’ had been donned to describe the music

created by African American musicians but after WW11 the term was viewed with more offense and the name R&B was coined, meaning: rhythm and blues.

ORIGINAL R&B GROUPS:• Harlem Hamfats• Louis Jordan• Leroy Carr• T-Bone Walker

R&B MUSIC GENRE• R&B as a recognisable musical genre has developed from the 1940s to

the present day.• Though still a category that is dominated by black artists, the sound and

development of the genre has become much more distinctive. A mixture of styles such as electric blues, gospel and soul, the genre quickly became knows as ‘Contemporary R&B’, as it utilised both ‘rhythm’ and ‘soul’.

MODERN R&B ARTISTS• Beyoncé• Stevie Wonder• Chris Brown• Justin Timberlake• R. Kelly• Mary J Blige