The 1980s
African American artists of the 80s found themselves in a bind that artists of previous decades never faced. In each decade from the 40s to the 70s, there were at least two genres of urban music from which to choose. From the late 70s industry moguls had imported Euro-disco (George 154), and “crossover” music became the popular trend. By the middle 80s soul, funk and R & B had declined, so the artists either had to crossover or become rappers.
Although singers such as Luther Vandross, Patti Labelle, Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan did relatively well during the decade, compared to previous decades, the 80s was a down period for black singers. As hip-hop artists became prominent, however, new singers and writers emulated their attitudes. Rappers maintained that their music reflected their reality, which meant that they did not specifically try to appeal to a mainstream audience.
New Jack Swing
The refusal of rappers to deliberately mainstream their music led the new singers and writers to create an uncompromising genre that reflected urban lifestyles – new jack swing. It is somewhat funky and smooth dance music that is more down to earth than disco but as sophisticated as the group “Chic.”
Although singer/producer Teddy Riley probably created new jack swing, Bobby Brown made it extremely popular. He incorporated the rawness of the rappers with the elegance of well-dressed people dancing in very nice clubs. One could argue that new jack swing is a combination of R & B, funk and disco.
Hip-Hop Soul
With the exception of Anita Baker, Luther Vandross and a few others, the quality of R & B dropped during the latter 80s. New producers and writers listening to it probably determined that producing R & B songs would not generate a following similar to that of hip-hop and new jack swing. Therefore, producers, led by Andre Harrell, came up with the idea to use a soulful voice over the combination of hip-hop beats and R & B rhythms, which created hip-hop soul.
During the early 1990s, Mary J. Blige became the first popular hip-hop soul singer. With her Mavis Staples influenced voice, she puts soul over hard, banging hip-hop beats laced with R & B rhythms. She, like Bobby Brown, became tremendously successful singing music not specifically intended to appeal to a mainstream audience. Lauryn Hill is also a hip-hop soul artist who gained notoriety from her songs.
Neo-Soul
As hip-hop, new jack swing and hip-hop soul dominated the late 80s and all of the 90s, there was an overflow of upbeat tempo music. However, a trend started where new jack swing artists like Keith Sweat remade slow R & B songs. Mary J. Blige covered Rose Royce’s “I’m Going Down.” In addition, baby-boomers and others began listening to “classic soul” as some black-owned radio stations featured it in their programming.
The move to slow and medium tempo music helped to create “neo-soul” of the 2000s. Although neo-soul artists may not come from the black church, they are excellent singers who are able to move their listeners. Neo-soul does not exactly sound like classic soul because it lacks the doo-wop influence, but it is just as powerful. India Arie, Lizz Wright, Jill Scott, Musiq, Conya Doss, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Anthony Hamilton and Leela James are excellent examples of the new soul singers.
Sources:
George, Nelson. The Death of Rhythm & Blues. A Plume Book, 1988.
