R&B genre & artists

R&B labels

RCA RecordsRepublic Records

Tough luck Records

BSE RecordsAtlantic Records

Columbia Records

Brief History of R&BAlso known to stand for Rhythm and blues, R&B

combines elements of gospel music, jazz and blues creating a different type of melody. The term was created in the United states and first used in Billboard magazine in the late 1940s, it had replaced the term race music (as this form of music was created by blacks at the time), which was considered offensive. By 1970 the term Rhythm and blues was used to describe soul and funk music, American artist such as James Brown and Sly Stone became more established and well known in this genre of music.

By the 2000s there was a mixture of R&B and Hip-hop and it became harder to establish a song as either R&B or Hip-hop. One of the only ways to tell the difference were if the vocals were sung (R&B) or rapped (Hip-hop).

Soulful R&B became vey popular during this time with the helps of strong vocal artist such as Alicia Keys, John Legend and many more.

Lyrics to R&B songs had mainly revolved around everyday life such as work. A lot of music stemmed from love, drinking or sex.

The Weeknd

Often

Wicked Games

High for This

The Hills

Can't Feel My Face

These are some of his highest selling songs

Full name- Abel Makkonen Tesfaye

He used web 2.0 and released songs such as ‘what you need’, ‘loft music’ and ‘The Morning’. When he first released these songs no on was quite sure who he was as little was known about the artist.

Abel slowly found fame after we released three mix tapes ‘House of balloons’, ‘Thursday’ and ‘Echoes of silence’ . After this he got signed to Universal Republic and is continuing his music career.

The Weekend has a very unique style of music which sets him off to other artists. His music has heavy themes of sex and drugs. Resulting in a dark, mysterious soundtracks.

On apps such as Spotify he has up to 24 million listeners monthly, this places him at the top of the Spotify charts.

His music has also been used in movies. His song ‘Worth it’ was used in the movie ‘Fifty shades of grey’.

He has a very urban dress sense, he wears a lot of jackets, such as bomber jackets and jean jackets. He also has very iconic hair, which allows him to be more recognisable

CiaraFull name- Ciara Princess Harris

In her mid-teens, Ciara formed the all-girl group Hearsay with two of her friends. The group recorded demos, but as time progressed , they began to have differences and ended up parting

ways. Despite this Ciara was still determined to reach her goal and signed a publishing deal as a

songwriter.

Ciaras debut album ‘Goodies’ was released September 24th 2004 and quickly became one of the most recognisable albums of that year. It became a

three time platinum award album and had sold up to 2.7 million copies in America alone.

The artist is also recognised for her other abilities such as dance, her skills are demonstrated in her music videos. Outside of the music world she also keeps in trend with the latest fashion. Her style is a mixture, she ccould be strutting in a classy evening dress or an edgy ripped jean paired with a bomber jacket.

Chris Brown

Real name- Christopher Maurice Brown

He had singed with Jive Record in 2004, the following year he released his first studio album. It had peaked within the charts and had received a double platinum award. As time passed on he continued to release many more albums which all lead to more hit songs and a rising career. One of his most recognisable albums would be ‘F.A.M.E’ which was released in 2011. Chris Brown has collaborated with many other well named artist such as Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Kid ink and the list goes on.

Other than music Chris Brown had also appeared in movies, helping gain more recognition. He showcased his dancing talent in 2013s movie ‘Battle of the year’

He keeps in trend with the latest fashions, and is sometimes seen in unique attire. But he is usually sporting an urban look, enhancing the R&B feel.