by Garian Clark

Created on: January 17, 2009

The early days of black R&B music was always characterized by the struggle between artistic innovation and the lucrative allure of "crossover" success. Groundbreaking R&B artists from the late 50's to the 80's faced the dual challenge of making authentically soulful music while at the same time appealing to a mainstream (i.e. white ) audience. Artists ranging from Sam Cooke to Luther Vandross faced the ever-present task of being true to their artistic and cultural roots while balancing the pressures of a music industry that was often more concerned with putting hits on the pop charts than nurturing black R&B artists. Nevertheless, during this period, the world was blessed with some of the best music ever recorded in any genre. Those great masterpieces include Marvin Gayes' socially conscious "What's Going On," the sassy, bravado of Aretha Franklin's "Respect," the funky groove of James Brown's "Poppa's Got a Brand New Bag," and the silky smooth romantic voice of Smokey Robinson in "Ooh Baby Baby" among many others.

However, when Hip-Hop reached the zenith of its popularity during the early and mid-1990's, R&B music was irrevocably changed forever. Many have said that Hip-Hop effectively killed what we traditionally call R&B music. Contemporary R&B artists stopped mimicking the sweet melodious tunes and beautiful lyricism of their forbears, and instead adopted the pulsating beats, hard charging lyrics, and crass sexuality often associated with Hip-Hop music. While some may argue that the demise of traditional R&B music occurred even sooner with the advent of disco music, there was still lots of great R&B music being produced during the late 70's and 80's with artists like Earth, Wind ,and Fire, Prince, Anita Baker, and many others. During the 90's, the gospel-tinged R&B made famous by artists like Aretha Franklin and Al Green during the 60's and 70's gave way to music that placed less and less emphasis on the heartfelt soul and stylized arrangements of R&B. The cool, sophisticated style of Marvin Gaye was replaced by the more unrefined and pedestrian style of R Kelly. Among female artists, the powerful feminine vocals of artists like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight was replaced by a new generation of female artists who seemed more interested in promoting their sexuality than singing with real, unabashed passion, with only a few notable exceptions.

The main culprit of this phenomenon appears to be black urban radio. If

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