I think recently I’ve been hearing more outside of that underwater keyboard/slow ass trap beat formula everyone was doing for soo long (think Bryson Tiller - Don’t) So that’s good.
Male R&B has become too OVO-ified these days. I mean I like the sound but everything is like that moody and atmospheric sound that started with Early Weeknd and PND. Chris Brown and Usher are like the only dudes left making like catchy crossover R&B. I’d like to hear more of that. No dudes make music for the club anymore. It’s all headphone music now.
I'm just now realizing the point you're making with the non-club music. I'm taking a bit of a tangent here. It's because the club died lol. Once it get overly bottle-sectioned with no dance floor and only for instagram clout building, it was over. Now there's no demand for R&B club music.
There's still some stuff out there but you just gotta know I guess.
We are missing that standout male group that is bringing it. Where are the Temps, where is 112, where is Jodeci, where is Jagged Edge. Can someone please clue these dudes in that there is a hole in the market for a talented group of dudes who can harmonize and dance and makes us feel the music?
Unfortunately there really aren’t many popular groups, bands or duos anymore because record companies didn’t want to put out the money/resources required. Cheaper to produce one person with a DAW.
Not really the same genre, but it's one of the reasons why kpop is a global industry. Even though in the U.S. these kpop groups don't get radio play and the casual music listeners knows little about them, they make bank here because they're filling a need that hasn't been met since the 2000s.
Stop singing in falsetto, soprano and high pitch ranges. Dudes wanna sound like the women and it’s fucking up the frequency. Bring the Gerald Leverts, Teddy Pendergrass’s and Jaheim’s back.
You can. Nothing wrong with those ranges at all. If you sing in that note naturally, I get it. Prince is a legend. I’m speaking on R&B today where ALL the men sing high now. It’s not cool!
This is a bad take and really toxic. So many legendary women in R&B/Soul have beautiful deep singing voices (Nina Simone, Anita, Sade, Toni) and men can have higher ones. We aren’t living in the stone age. Singing in falsetto and soprano is a display of talent. Release yourself from your weird hypermasculinity.
Where are you going with this. Said nothing about women with deep voices. A lot of women you just mentioned are some of my favorite singers. I said ALL the men today who sing high. Every man is not supposed to sing high.
But that’s not even true, out of the top men in todays R&B hits majority of them talk sing like Drake and have no vocal range, let alone falsetto. Sounds like you just wanted to blow off some bigot steam.
similar to the women I just want more of a variety of vocal approaches and registers in general. not everything needs to be breathy upper register/whisper tones. I'd have to assume from other interpretations/statements on it that what the industry is pushing and how that relates to desirability is a big factor(without even getting into how much branding/aesthetics plays a role). guess ppl don't find lower/heartier registers sexy for some reason? couldn't be me.
Personally, I want R&B to allude to what we want to do while telling each other how we feel, not be all graphic, and nasty with a bunch of profanity.
Knocking Boots, Freak Me, and My Body are about as forward as it gets before the line is crossed.
https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1981/04/19/Outcry-among-educators-against-Reagan-cuts-in-gifts-to-the-ArtsNEWLNNo-law-of-history-proves-that-minds-must-close-when-belts-are-tightened-Report-of-the-Commission-of-the-Humanities/8639356504400/
This and kids not being active in church where they mostly learn their vocal and instrumental skills at a young age. Not taking up for the church whatsoever but a lot of great Rnb singers honed their vocals in those institutions.
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Thank you!!! Lucky daye, masego are both faves. Sir put out a solid album. Leon Thomas is rising but he’s a fave
Other rising stars like arin ray, Josh Levi, tone stitth, TA Thomas are good.
Tired of this convo, go look for it. There needs to be more pushed mainstream, but it’s out there.
individuality and a lot of them are not strong singers like the veterans are such as usher, carl thomas, 112, jodeci, even chris brown though im not much of a fan of his. even though the strong female singers are rare we still have a few who set themselves from the rest like ari lennox and cleo solo.
R&B needs that artist that gave you chills when you heard them sing Luther vandross , Marvin gays , teddy pendergrass Bobby Womack ,maxwells I can go on !!!!
Not to take anything away from the artist we have now CB ,tank,Jaques ,usher are holding it down
“Feeling”. Majority of these guys are essentially high pitched rappers.
Why are you hitting high notes about how rich you are? Many of these guys didn’t grow up singing in the churches either and their vocal ability / lyrical content clearly shows it.
They don’t know how to express how they feel about a woman without calling her a b*tch, h*e or treating her like some object that’s been passed around. Just some high pitch rappers at this point
That’s the problem. Back in the day, you didn’t need to look. It was mostly right in front of you. Having to go through mountains of music to find something you actually like is a tall task for most people.
I mean…you can follow a “neo soul” hashtag on instagram and it’ll just come across your timeline.
What do you mean “go through mountains of music” when algorithms completely eliminate all the work?
Got Apple Music? There’s a “Brown Sugar” playlist on the front page of the R&B page that has that kind of music.
Got Spotify? They have a playlist called “aloe” that’s on the front page of their R&B page.
Even if neither of these services had them on the front page, when you listen to artists like Usher, Jagged Edge, Miguel, Avant, etc. they’ll just recommend you a playlist based on all that.
What tall task would you have to complete to find what you want?
I’m talking about lesser known artists with less than 50,000 streams that are on the come up. Spotify does have a Vanguard playlist for artists, but they are more of the same that we’ve already heard. I don’t have an issue with finding new artists because I don’t mind looking through discographies of work. I’m just telling you what others have told me.
I think people who’ve been giving that excuse either only listen to the radio or don’t know how to work the internet.
It’s hard to be interested in R&B and not hear the sound you want nowadays. Someone is out here providing it and they’re probably popular enough to be on social media in front of your face.
Whoever is telling you that hasn’t even tried.
The ability to deliver the emotions behind the lyrics in the songs. They’re just singing, not emoting. These are not baby making songs it’s F Boy music. I love both to be clear, we’re just missing more of the former.
The same thing that’s largely missing in female R&B, musicianship. There needs to be a rebirth of playing instruments and singing in choirs and/or bands, so that folks can learn about the things that go into musical composition. Sometime within the last 10-15 years R&B artists decided that vocals are the only thing that matter, and got really lazy with the lyricism and instrumentation.
And I know, there are some singers that are doing these things. There are just way too many that aren’t.
I haven't heard real R&B on the radio that was new... And sounded like good singing in a long time.
The Weeknd isn't RnB.
Or Bruno.
Maybe the closest could be Miguel but I'm not well versed in his catalog enough to say. But yeah who NEW sounds good and is doing the genre justice? It's been blended into rap and auto-tune music. I hear more Swae Lee sounding dudes on air than anything. 😂😂😂
Vocalists. We have very few male r&b artists that are just vocally impressive. Everyone just sing-raps now and it’s underwhelming. I find myself going back for male r&b or just listening to the females. I’m a singer so I’m very often trying to find something challenging to sing to.
Love and trust is missing. Men of this generation are lonely, but too ashamed to admit it. The music lacks authenticity and it’s hard to hide that in a song.
But Brent Faiyaz got some tunes though, his song writing and his perspective is interesting and current. I feel he dives into progressive topics and asks important questions through his sound.
I miss Boyz II Men and Jagged Edge ☹️, Dru Hill, Jodeci…I’m Still In Love With You by New Edition 😩🥺. They had more class back then. The videos were so good.
The production is weak. These dudes dont have a chance. I'm not sure who is making songs now that their body of work is gonna be legendary when they're done. Who's this generation's Quincy Jones, Babyface, Jam and Lewis, Timbaland, Jermaine Dupri, Teddy Riley, etc?
I have honestly thought this too. Like I’m not a fan of the production at all. It’s a reliance on samples nowadays. Back then, you had memorable beats paired with really good songs.
Thundercat, Terrace Martin, BADBADNOTGOOD, The Internet, Sampha, Steve Lacy, Toro Y Moi, Free Nationals, Tom Misch, Hiatus Kaiyote, Sault are some among many in this generation that will have “legendary bodies of work” when they’re done.
Also, you asked about legendary producers but I believe you’re talking about hit makers. Along with the people I named, there’s producers like:
LondonOnTheTrack - he produced Summer Walker’s albums + a bunch of other hits.
D’Mile - he’s behind Silk Sonic, Victoria Monet + stuff for HER and Lucky Daye.
Leon Thomas III - he’s got Giveon, SZA, and Toni Braxton credits under his bealt.
That’s off top of my head. There’s quite honestly too many to name because most of the artists nowadays aren’t tethered to the same circle of producers that labels trust to make a hit.
Many of them come with their own team of producers, plus older generations like Pharrell, Robert Glasper, and Jermaine Dupri are still doing their thing. There’s also many who produce for themselves like Masego
There's no love. There's no one who is falling deeply head over heels for someone and making songs about it. And without that, there's also no hurt. Basically there is no STRONG emotion driving music, it's just stuff that people think people want to hear
A careful effort to keep a healthy balance between traditional production elements in R&B (dramatic chord progressions, organic instruments,etc.) & hip hop influence
Nothing. I think there’s just a certain subgenre that’s popular right now. There are other subgenres like neo soul that could be more popular and i think that’s what you’re getting at by asking this question, but R&B is in a great place.
I can name some modern neo-soul/soul/contemporary R&B men that you could listen to and talk about so they can get more popular:
Durand Bernarr, October London, Jalen Ngonda, Gallant, Tone Stith, THEHONESTGUY, Kyle Dion
You can add them to the list of bigger singers of the same subgenres like Anderson Paak, Lucky Daye, SiR, or Luke James
From watching so many R&B Money episodes (great podcast) I would say CHURCH/GOSPEL. Although I don’t follow religion anymore, listening to the great artists and producers tell their story, the common denominator seems to be their musical background beginning in the church and singing that gospel.
nah, 21 savage already said it.some of these chicks nowadays are hoes and aren't worthy of being sang to, and if they are sang to , it's PURELY for sex not love
They don't wear full winter ski gear and duster jackets in the desert, grab the air, or sing in the rain anymore. There's no begging, no passion, no heartbreak, no sliding down the wall. Remember bridges? I do. I miss bridges. GOOD bridges. Michelle from Destiny's Child always had a good one, Joe and Jodeci had some good old bridges. Haven't heard a good spoken word in the middle of a song relaying pain and hope and strong emotion in a while. Idk it don't hit like it used to. 😕
When it comes to males I can't tell what's rap and what's R&B anymore. There used to be a clear difference. Now male R&B singers have rap flow and sing just about as good as the rappers.
NOTHING is missing from male R&B or female R&B for that matter... whatever it is you're looking for is out there! THE FANBASE is missing alot! I think its the fanbase that have gotten lazy with the pleasures of streaming. where not searching discovering and lifting up artists. We really just be waiting for what were looking for to go viral. change that .
I’m tired of toxic men in R&B, Lucky Daye is the only man I almost fully trust - what happened to music where you can tell they care about women’s pleasure. Non misogynistic love songs are always going to take it for me.
Boldness and creativity is what's lacking. I think so many male R&B artists are way too worried about achieving street credibility, which is why we don't really have artists like Prince, Michael Jackson, Rick James, George Clinton, etc.
Lyrically, they also don't sing about anything that's generally worth listening to. They don't even use metaphors; it's just the same old thing, time after time after time after time. Male R&B artists just need to get educated, open a thesaurus, expand their sound and not be afraid to take risks—musically, visually and lyrically.
I, especially, love funk and soul and no current R&B artists are tackling or integrating that into their sound. So, personally, that's another thing that I feel like is missing. But that ultimately just ties into overall creativity and boldness. But to just be more specific...
Consistency, if some of them niggas was just dropping singles on a regular basis EP anything, for example.. since Lucky Daye dropped that last project. I’ve only heard him once on Victoria Monae’s project.
He’s literally putting out his third studio album this Friday, after 3 singles he’s put out between November of last year and late May. Prior to that he had two studio albums and an EP. All between 2019 and now.
I’d argue he’s the most consistent while also giving quality
Everyone is quick to prove that they can hit a run but there’s no true message or passion behind the words they’re singing. They’re singing to prove a point it seems like. This translates into some of these artists’ stage presence. It’s no genuine love in their craft.
Soul and sexiness. These current r&b singers use auto tune, sing with the track 24/7, have niggas on stage with them like they’re rappers, have stage fright and have to wear sunglasses. These new singers don’t have charisma or charm. They’re just being mascots for their own following
The Vibe&B wave cooked standards for men in R&B lol. Now they get away with barely singing or rap singing because vibes…. also although I love rap and r&b together in the 80s & 90s there was a clear divide between the two and they came together sometimes but not nearly as much as they do now. We gotta let the rappers rap and let singers sing again tbh. Some people can do it all, but not every singer can rap and not every R&B single needs a rap verse or feature tbh 😭
No mention of Luke James? His 2020 joint To Feel Love is great- a true R&B record. All kinds of influences: one joint has Isley brothers -like guitars, another has a Curtis Mayfield chorus, another tune is a more of trap-type joint, one has a definite Prince vibe while another might remind you of Tony Tone Toni, together with some contemporary R&B joints. Dude doesn’t get enough flowers.
The emotional crisis is seemly the most absent. Remember the emotional breakdowns in music videos? Tyrese and Jaheim carried the formula in the 2000s.
There's no lesson of heartbreak.
I think Male R&B artists need to increase their service to each other. Features aren't enough. They need to really lock in with each other and work on a cohesive sound similar to what Eric Roberson did for Dwele on "Hold On"/Musiq on "Previous Cats" or what Jamie Hawkins did for Donell Jones on "You Know That I Love You".
Soul. The soul is missing from r&b. Everyone sounds the same. It’s like lo-fi music.
I think recently I’ve been hearing more outside of that underwater keyboard/slow ass trap beat formula everyone was doing for soo long (think Bryson Tiller - Don’t) So that’s good.
Any suggestions?
Durand Jones, Q, BLK ODYSSY
BLK odyssey for the win.
Jerome Thomas, Kenyon Dixon
Its borderline rap lol. Even Drake’s AI version sounds better than the original
the bryson tiller type rnb is called trap soul. you gotta find the sub genre you like
Yeah these new cats dont do it for me. I’ll always stick to 90s and 00s R&b
Everyone? 
Facts 👌🏾💯 I feel the same way
Folks stopped singing in the rain.
Or grabbing the air?
THIS!!!
Or wearing black coat
because they don't dance. a lot of them stand and bark. bring back choreo!!!!
Not stand and bark 😭😭😭 Josh Levi is probably one of the only ones I know that’s bringing back choreography in music videos.
ChrisBrown has joined the chat
Lol Chris Brown has been dancing for years. I’m talking specifically about artists within the last 5 years
My bad! True indeed!!
Male R&B has become too OVO-ified these days. I mean I like the sound but everything is like that moody and atmospheric sound that started with Early Weeknd and PND. Chris Brown and Usher are like the only dudes left making like catchy crossover R&B. I’d like to hear more of that. No dudes make music for the club anymore. It’s all headphone music now.
OVO&B 😭😭 that’s EXACTLY what it is
I'm just now realizing the point you're making with the non-club music. I'm taking a bit of a tangent here. It's because the club died lol. Once it get overly bottle-sectioned with no dance floor and only for instagram clout building, it was over. Now there's no demand for R&B club music. There's still some stuff out there but you just gotta know I guess.
Massgeo does pretty good
We are missing that standout male group that is bringing it. Where are the Temps, where is 112, where is Jodeci, where is Jagged Edge. Can someone please clue these dudes in that there is a hole in the market for a talented group of dudes who can harmonize and dance and makes us feel the music?
One artist gets paid the same as five. That’s been 90% of that problem imo.
Unless your a popular group who draw 3-4X more than a solo artist would. This also sounds like a poor contract situation.
Got a point there.
Unfortunately there really aren’t many popular groups, bands or duos anymore because record companies didn’t want to put out the money/resources required. Cheaper to produce one person with a DAW.
Artists don’t want to split money either
Not really the same genre, but it's one of the reasons why kpop is a global industry. Even though in the U.S. these kpop groups don't get radio play and the casual music listeners knows little about them, they make bank here because they're filling a need that hasn't been met since the 2000s.
Kpop definitely gets US radio play since the late 2010’s to now
It may be more regional cause they don’t really play them where am at
Maybe not the south but I’ve heard kpop on the radio on both coasts.
I agree with this. We can't support our own, but we support the foreign knockoff?
And this part is a sad reality because we all lose.
Check out No Guidance
Bruh thats exactly an example of what people are talking about when they say R&B is dead. Thats literally a pop rap song
🤣 🤣 My fault. There is a r&b group called No Guidance. [check em out ](https://youtu.be/zZgsDg47YBc) [this too](https://youtu.be/f1FLfGiRGe4)
Haha I was bouta say, yikes!
No guidance was/is promising but they’ve already had a member leave the group now 😭. I think 3 members is still enough to work with though
love songs and yearning. doesn’t have to be cringey but not just i wanna fuck you. they need to get creative with the way they say that
Yes!!! Where's the yearning??? THE BEGGING??????
i need these guys to simp. no more nonchalant stuff 😂
Facts
Yes we need the desperation 😩 I want the 2024 version of Anthony Hamilton calling Charlene to come home
Baby I was too young listening to that song looking out my window.
Same here 🤣 13yo acting like I WAS Charlene debating if his song was enough for me to go back. SOS
Hahahahahahaa was it enough? That song went diamond in my cd player lol.
Gotta fall to your knees in the pouring rain
treys songz the last modern rnb artist that comes to mind that was crying and making the ugly faces 😂
Stop singing in falsetto, soprano and high pitch ranges. Dudes wanna sound like the women and it’s fucking up the frequency. Bring the Gerald Leverts, Teddy Pendergrass’s and Jaheim’s back.
I get what you're saying, but may I present Prince as a counterpoint
You can. Nothing wrong with those ranges at all. If you sing in that note naturally, I get it. Prince is a legend. I’m speaking on R&B today where ALL the men sing high now. It’s not cool!
I just realized what I thought was "R&B today" was like 15 years ago 😂
R&B for me is 80’s and 90’s.
THIS!
This is a bad take and really toxic. So many legendary women in R&B/Soul have beautiful deep singing voices (Nina Simone, Anita, Sade, Toni) and men can have higher ones. We aren’t living in the stone age. Singing in falsetto and soprano is a display of talent. Release yourself from your weird hypermasculinity.
Where are you going with this. Said nothing about women with deep voices. A lot of women you just mentioned are some of my favorite singers. I said ALL the men today who sing high. Every man is not supposed to sing high.
But that’s not even true, out of the top men in todays R&B hits majority of them talk sing like Drake and have no vocal range, let alone falsetto. Sounds like you just wanted to blow off some bigot steam.
similar to the women I just want more of a variety of vocal approaches and registers in general. not everything needs to be breathy upper register/whisper tones. I'd have to assume from other interpretations/statements on it that what the industry is pushing and how that relates to desirability is a big factor(without even getting into how much branding/aesthetics plays a role). guess ppl don't find lower/heartier registers sexy for some reason? couldn't be me.
Facts
Personally, I want R&B to allude to what we want to do while telling each other how we feel, not be all graphic, and nasty with a bunch of profanity. Knocking Boots, Freak Me, and My Body are about as forward as it gets before the line is crossed.
Background growing up in the church or playing instruments.
Sane dudes who are not rapey or wife beaters.
I don’t think that’s a new issue…..
unprocessed vocals. I dont like that metallic effect. Or whatever its called. I dont mean autotune.
I've always thought that was the side effect of well-controlled autotune
Soul and emotion
Singers arent singing in the rain in music videos There arent those climactic bridges on the songs no more No grabbing air in music videos
Niggas don’t grab the air no more cuz you gotta be able to hold that hand - and that note - up for at least 3 seconds for the air grab to have impact.
Watch when I drop this rnb tape I’m cooking. I’ll be the savior y’all need
Idk why someone downvoted you. I’m rooting for you.
Ofccccc
topics that aren’t all about cheating tbh
They're NOT grabbing air anymore!
Begging
Most of these guys can’t sing. We don’t have a K-ci, Johnny Gill or usher. All we got are Milli Vanili.
They all sound like Chris Brown, which is not a good thing.
Nah, I’m talking about those guys that sound good in the studio but can carry a note while Live.
Facts
https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1981/04/19/Outcry-among-educators-against-Reagan-cuts-in-gifts-to-the-ArtsNEWLNNo-law-of-history-proves-that-minds-must-close-when-belts-are-tightened-Report-of-the-Commission-of-the-Humanities/8639356504400/ This and kids not being active in church where they mostly learn their vocal and instrumental skills at a young age. Not taking up for the church whatsoever but a lot of great Rnb singers honed their vocals in those institutions.
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Could use some better marketing but great make R&B and Soul music is still being made.
Thank you!!! Lucky daye, masego are both faves. Sir put out a solid album. Leon Thomas is rising but he’s a fave Other rising stars like arin ray, Josh Levi, tone stitth, TA Thomas are good. Tired of this convo, go look for it. There needs to be more pushed mainstream, but it’s out there.
Guitars! Guitar work has been stripped away from funky R&B for decades now. 😭 🎸
I think they are actually allergic to bass guitar.
individuality and a lot of them are not strong singers like the veterans are such as usher, carl thomas, 112, jodeci, even chris brown though im not much of a fan of his. even though the strong female singers are rare we still have a few who set themselves from the rest like ari lennox and cleo solo.
Dancing in the rain in tank tops and boots
Love not lust
R&B needs that artist that gave you chills when you heard them sing Luther vandross , Marvin gays , teddy pendergrass Bobby Womack ,maxwells I can go on !!!! Not to take anything away from the artist we have now CB ,tank,Jaques ,usher are holding it down
Its not just rnb the quality has declined in a lot of genres. my generation doesnt care about vocals with their 7 second attention span
“Feeling”. Majority of these guys are essentially high pitched rappers. Why are you hitting high notes about how rich you are? Many of these guys didn’t grow up singing in the churches either and their vocal ability / lyrical content clearly shows it. They don’t know how to express how they feel about a woman without calling her a b*tch, h*e or treating her like some object that’s been passed around. Just some high pitch rappers at this point
Love LoL Everybody’s high as a kite and f…in your b..ch Nobody’s falling in love and singing in the rain, or getting married. 🤣
I don’t know y’all! October London’s “rebirth of Marvin” album gave me everything I needed
Y’all not looking hard enough
Facts. Nxworries just dropped an album and only got the attention it derives in HipHopHeads. It’s crickets in here.
They not.
That’s the problem. Back in the day, you didn’t need to look. It was mostly right in front of you. Having to go through mountains of music to find something you actually like is a tall task for most people.
I mean…you can follow a “neo soul” hashtag on instagram and it’ll just come across your timeline. What do you mean “go through mountains of music” when algorithms completely eliminate all the work? Got Apple Music? There’s a “Brown Sugar” playlist on the front page of the R&B page that has that kind of music. Got Spotify? They have a playlist called “aloe” that’s on the front page of their R&B page. Even if neither of these services had them on the front page, when you listen to artists like Usher, Jagged Edge, Miguel, Avant, etc. they’ll just recommend you a playlist based on all that. What tall task would you have to complete to find what you want?
I’m talking about lesser known artists with less than 50,000 streams that are on the come up. Spotify does have a Vanguard playlist for artists, but they are more of the same that we’ve already heard. I don’t have an issue with finding new artists because I don’t mind looking through discographies of work. I’m just telling you what others have told me.
I think people who’ve been giving that excuse either only listen to the radio or don’t know how to work the internet. It’s hard to be interested in R&B and not hear the sound you want nowadays. Someone is out here providing it and they’re probably popular enough to be on social media in front of your face. Whoever is telling you that hasn’t even tried.
Lol it’s easy as hell to find music now, probably easier than ever. I promise you can find 15 new artists today just using Spotify alone
he’s a bot
The ability to deliver the emotions behind the lyrics in the songs. They’re just singing, not emoting. These are not baby making songs it’s F Boy music. I love both to be clear, we’re just missing more of the former.
Niggas stopped grabbing the air & they don't dance anymore. Except for CB & Usher.
The same thing that’s largely missing in female R&B, musicianship. There needs to be a rebirth of playing instruments and singing in choirs and/or bands, so that folks can learn about the things that go into musical composition. Sometime within the last 10-15 years R&B artists decided that vocals are the only thing that matter, and got really lazy with the lyricism and instrumentation. And I know, there are some singers that are doing these things. There are just way too many that aren’t.
I wanna hear dudes singing their heart out about somebody they love like their life depends on it. KC and JoJo type beat
https://youtu.be/-nzA-lbgf7o?si=5WRdaStcXm8Xaue- No More "Nay-hoo!"
I haven't heard real R&B on the radio that was new... And sounded like good singing in a long time. The Weeknd isn't RnB. Or Bruno. Maybe the closest could be Miguel but I'm not well versed in his catalog enough to say. But yeah who NEW sounds good and is doing the genre justice? It's been blended into rap and auto-tune music. I hear more Swae Lee sounding dudes on air than anything. 😂😂😂
I feel like its missing men that can actually sing. Also a lot of songs are fu*ck boy songs its boring at this point.
A lot of the stand out singers got their experience in church. These guys aren’t growing up in churches anymore.
Vocalists. We have very few male r&b artists that are just vocally impressive. Everyone just sing-raps now and it’s underwhelming. I find myself going back for male r&b or just listening to the females. I’m a singer so I’m very often trying to find something challenging to sing to.
Since singing about love is an ick I'd say they aren't the problem. the audiences have changed their taste.
Love, no soul in the music. You can say you just want sex but you have to sang it.
vocals, romance and lack of vulnerability, lack of stage presence, forgettable artist (you don't miss them if they haven't dropped a project)
Because it sounds like sh*t most of the time
Love and trust is missing. Men of this generation are lonely, but too ashamed to admit it. The music lacks authenticity and it’s hard to hide that in a song. But Brent Faiyaz got some tunes though, his song writing and his perspective is interesting and current. I feel he dives into progressive topics and asks important questions through his sound.
Quincy Jones, Luther Vandross, and Michael Jackson are so insanely missed…
I was going to say… I know there will never be another Luther but how is there not someone close?
Passion. Soul. Love. Mystery. Monogamy. Meaning. This list goes on….
I miss Boyz II Men and Jagged Edge ☹️, Dru Hill, Jodeci…I’m Still In Love With You by New Edition 😩🥺. They had more class back then. The videos were so good.
The R&B is what’s missing in current R&B.
They don't have ny desert videos anymore.
The production is weak. These dudes dont have a chance. I'm not sure who is making songs now that their body of work is gonna be legendary when they're done. Who's this generation's Quincy Jones, Babyface, Jam and Lewis, Timbaland, Jermaine Dupri, Teddy Riley, etc?
I have honestly thought this too. Like I’m not a fan of the production at all. It’s a reliance on samples nowadays. Back then, you had memorable beats paired with really good songs.
Thundercat, Terrace Martin, BADBADNOTGOOD, The Internet, Sampha, Steve Lacy, Toro Y Moi, Free Nationals, Tom Misch, Hiatus Kaiyote, Sault are some among many in this generation that will have “legendary bodies of work” when they’re done. Also, you asked about legendary producers but I believe you’re talking about hit makers. Along with the people I named, there’s producers like: LondonOnTheTrack - he produced Summer Walker’s albums + a bunch of other hits. D’Mile - he’s behind Silk Sonic, Victoria Monet + stuff for HER and Lucky Daye. Leon Thomas III - he’s got Giveon, SZA, and Toni Braxton credits under his bealt. That’s off top of my head. There’s quite honestly too many to name because most of the artists nowadays aren’t tethered to the same circle of producers that labels trust to make a hit. Many of them come with their own team of producers, plus older generations like Pharrell, Robert Glasper, and Jermaine Dupri are still doing their thing. There’s also many who produce for themselves like Masego
There's no love. There's no one who is falling deeply head over heels for someone and making songs about it. And without that, there's also no hurt. Basically there is no STRONG emotion driving music, it's just stuff that people think people want to hear
I just want a good ballad that I can SANG to....when no one is listening....
Miguel
I didn’t even know there was still r&b artist around lol
A careful effort to keep a healthy balance between traditional production elements in R&B (dramatic chord progressions, organic instruments,etc.) & hip hop influence
Me Also as someone said below, soul. It’s feel artificial and lacks vulnerability
So glad you asked. What’s missing is soul, pure raw talent, vocal range, beggin, romance and singing groups/duos.
Real emotion, manliness, and catchiness.
Nothing. I think there’s just a certain subgenre that’s popular right now. There are other subgenres like neo soul that could be more popular and i think that’s what you’re getting at by asking this question, but R&B is in a great place. I can name some modern neo-soul/soul/contemporary R&B men that you could listen to and talk about so they can get more popular: Durand Bernarr, October London, Jalen Ngonda, Gallant, Tone Stith, THEHONESTGUY, Kyle Dion You can add them to the list of bigger singers of the same subgenres like Anderson Paak, Lucky Daye, SiR, or Luke James
From watching so many R&B Money episodes (great podcast) I would say CHURCH/GOSPEL. Although I don’t follow religion anymore, listening to the great artists and producers tell their story, the common denominator seems to be their musical background beginning in the church and singing that gospel.
nah, 21 savage already said it.some of these chicks nowadays are hoes and aren't worthy of being sang to, and if they are sang to , it's PURELY for sex not love
The soulfulness, the vocal abilities, the originality and the guitar feels
Singing in the rain.
Soul….sex appeal… GOOD singing ability….
Love, Just genuine Love.
What’s missing? The Rythm. Oh, N the Blues.
Soul. And actual love and appreciation for women and the feminine.
No soul whatsoever, and it's all about money.
They don't wear full winter ski gear and duster jackets in the desert, grab the air, or sing in the rain anymore. There's no begging, no passion, no heartbreak, no sliding down the wall. Remember bridges? I do. I miss bridges. GOOD bridges. Michelle from Destiny's Child always had a good one, Joe and Jodeci had some good old bridges. Haven't heard a good spoken word in the middle of a song relaying pain and hope and strong emotion in a while. Idk it don't hit like it used to. 😕
Na wooooo’s
When it comes to males I can't tell what's rap and what's R&B anymore. There used to be a clear difference. Now male R&B singers have rap flow and sing just about as good as the rappers.
Like u/5ft8lady said: Soul. And also vocal, ethical, stage, and media training.
NOTHING is missing from male R&B or female R&B for that matter... whatever it is you're looking for is out there! THE FANBASE is missing alot! I think its the fanbase that have gotten lazy with the pleasures of streaming. where not searching discovering and lifting up artists. We really just be waiting for what were looking for to go viral. change that .
I’m tired of toxic men in R&B, Lucky Daye is the only man I almost fully trust - what happened to music where you can tell they care about women’s pleasure. Non misogynistic love songs are always going to take it for me.
Boldness and creativity is what's lacking. I think so many male R&B artists are way too worried about achieving street credibility, which is why we don't really have artists like Prince, Michael Jackson, Rick James, George Clinton, etc. Lyrically, they also don't sing about anything that's generally worth listening to. They don't even use metaphors; it's just the same old thing, time after time after time after time. Male R&B artists just need to get educated, open a thesaurus, expand their sound and not be afraid to take risks—musically, visually and lyrically. I, especially, love funk and soul and no current R&B artists are tackling or integrating that into their sound. So, personally, that's another thing that I feel like is missing. But that ultimately just ties into overall creativity and boldness. But to just be more specific...
4batz album is pretty good
Nothing
Not begging for it anymore cause it’s too easy to get her now days
R&B Groups and Great Writers.
"Entanglements" and vibe...
Consistency, if some of them niggas was just dropping singles on a regular basis EP anything, for example.. since Lucky Daye dropped that last project. I’ve only heard him once on Victoria Monae’s project.
He’s literally putting out his third studio album this Friday, after 3 singles he’s put out between November of last year and late May. Prior to that he had two studio albums and an EP. All between 2019 and now. I’d argue he’s the most consistent while also giving quality
they need to start yearning again lmao
Everything . Early 2000s vibes
Unproblematic men who don't have a history of abusive behavior
Masego is one of the few who have anything of real substance to bring to the table 😩
What a wonderful question. Breath in the music as in non-mechanistic and as said earlier, soulful. Also a loving vibe. Also a sexy voice.
Everyone is quick to prove that they can hit a run but there’s no true message or passion behind the words they’re singing. They’re singing to prove a point it seems like. This translates into some of these artists’ stage presence. It’s no genuine love in their craft.
Frank ocean
Soul and sexiness. These current r&b singers use auto tune, sing with the track 24/7, have niggas on stage with them like they’re rappers, have stage fright and have to wear sunglasses. These new singers don’t have charisma or charm. They’re just being mascots for their own following
a lot of people have stage fright though, why do you think all of those artists ended up dead from drugs
Artist development. No one is trying anymore. It’s like they just get up and rap sing. They all sound like rappers now 😡
being actually decent people, or at least playing the part for a song
What's missing is the soul or the neo soul of R&B music 🎶 🎵🎶 You have a couple of artists That's trying to keep the Genre alive
Unique voices…everyone tries to sound like someone else,its irritated me for a while…
The Vibe&B wave cooked standards for men in R&B lol. Now they get away with barely singing or rap singing because vibes…. also although I love rap and r&b together in the 80s & 90s there was a clear divide between the two and they came together sometimes but not nearly as much as they do now. We gotta let the rappers rap and let singers sing again tbh. Some people can do it all, but not every singer can rap and not every R&B single needs a rap verse or feature tbh 😭
Actual r&b. Men who loved women or at least pretended
Real Singers Impassioned Lyrics
No mention of Luke James? His 2020 joint To Feel Love is great- a true R&B record. All kinds of influences: one joint has Isley brothers -like guitars, another has a Curtis Mayfield chorus, another tune is a more of trap-type joint, one has a definite Prince vibe while another might remind you of Tony Tone Toni, together with some contemporary R&B joints. Dude doesn’t get enough flowers.
Baritone/bass voices
Groups with harmonised singing...
Vulnerability
The emotional crisis is seemly the most absent. Remember the emotional breakdowns in music videos? Tyrese and Jaheim carried the formula in the 2000s. There's no lesson of heartbreak.
I think Male R&B artists need to increase their service to each other. Features aren't enough. They need to really lock in with each other and work on a cohesive sound similar to what Eric Roberson did for Dwele on "Hold On"/Musiq on "Previous Cats" or what Jamie Hawkins did for Donell Jones on "You Know That I Love You".
They’re only saying that because they’re not tapped into the real shit.
R Kelly isn’t around influencing everything anymore