Where is the Love ( in R & B music)?

A few months ago, I read an article on from a blog site entitled, "Where is the Love in R & B?" They were discussing the downturn in R & B music of today and the causes of why it is very different from the soulful music of yesterday. No longer do these types of artist woo a woman, praise her man, or discuss the beauty in courtship. Today, it is "let's meet at the telly 'cuz you know what it is"....

I grew up in the late 70's, early 80's and can disctinctfully remember the joys of waking up to mom and dad's 'Saturday morning clean up' music. We belted out to The Whispers, The Ojays, Chaka Kahn, Michael McDonald... this was the kind of music that you could hear at cook-outs and holidays, and the 'old folks' were not inclined to cover their ears as they heard about "dropping that thang down low" and Ying Yang Twins' "Wait till you see my ----". Music was about being happy, in love, and for the most part it celebrated the excitement in monogamous relationships...

Then the 90's crept in. While music was not as bad as it is today, you could tell there ws something different in the air. Suddenly, you started to hear about "knocking boots" and women taking other womens' men. The art of dating and being in love seemed to slowly disappear by the decade's end.

2000's came and the love in R & B is all but gone. Radio stations sensored lyrics less and less. Both men and women seemed to glorify promiscuity and marriage became a complete joke. Back in the day, you could literally FEEL the artists' music; they sang genuinely from the heart. What happened? Where is the Love?

Politically and socially, blacks began to migrate from their conservative values and embraced feminism and liberal ideologies around the late 60's, early 70's. Evident in the music, artist who reigned in the "good ole days " were reared in 2 parent homes. They saw their fathers talk sweetly to their mothers, and watched their mothers praise their fathers. Love and marriage were becoming obsolete. Modern R 7 B artists (most, not all) came from an era of single motherhood, where they saw their mothers shamed their fathers and vowed they were 'independent', and their fathers were mostly absent and had an onslaught of "baby mommas".

Here are some excerpts of the disappearance of love:

"LOVE'S HOLIDAY" - Earth, Wind, and Fire

Would you mind, if I touched if I kissed, if I held you tight, in the morning light?
Woud you mind, if I said how I feel tenderly tonight?
Again, cause I, never ever, felt this way in my heart before, ohh
Love, has found a way, in my heart tonight.

"Pony" - Genuine

I'm just a bachelor, looking for a partner, someone who knows how to ride, without even falling off...
If you're horny, let's do it. Ride it, my pony.
My saddle's waiting, come and jump on it.

and

"A Night to Remember" - Shalamar

When you love someone it's natural not demanding
And that's one thing I'm proud to say I found in you
I'm so glad we've reached an understanding
Now I know my heart is safe with you, ooh
So now my love to you, baby, I surrender

"Love More" -Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj

We do it like rock stars, sexin in my hotel room, we so loud
Higher than a smoke cloud....
When you back it up, it really drives me crazy...
'Til we get it right, we gon (blank) some mo'
[Nicki Minaj] On the low I used to holla at his homie...
(Blank) it now, I'm bout to ride him like a pony
Ok thug prolly, ...and pop molly
Could I be your wife, nah we could bang tho.

As Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway asked:

WHERE IS THE LOVE?

It's not about love any more it is about being rich and scoring with the opposite sex till the next thing rolls around .



Want love well here is a song that is written about his wife staying together through it all



might not be your style though. sorry but finding soulful music to me just isn't in the top 20 or 50 or 100 lol

reply to post by QueenofSpades


70's and 80's had some great music. From Rock & Roll to funk, they all had great lyrics. I could never understand how rap music can even be considered music. If you can rhyme the last word of every other sentence, wave your hands in the air, use vulgarity and repeat the same beat through the entire song, you have a hit single? lol I do however, can enjoy listening to Bruno Mars. I hate to say it, but I do like CeeLo Green's hit with the unfortunate "F" word. I just can't understand why today's artists have to resort to vulgarity in their music to convey their feelings.

reply to post by freedomSlave


I like this song!

By the way, my favorite music is Rock and anything 80's. I can't stand today's music, with only a few exceptions.

Going to go see Billy Joel next month on his tour.

reply to post by WeRpeons


I agree.

Plus female artists are now in a big competition for The Most Ratchet Female. Rihanna with "Pour it up" and especially Beyonce with "Drunken Love"

It's disgusting.

The golden age of Soul and R & B is long gone, but that music is timeless and I still listen to it often.
Some favorites:

reply to post by ColeYounger


I love ALL of those songs, and thanks for sharing!

Yes, I agree that true soul music is lost forever

R & B started sucking bad like all other music around the mid-to-late 90's. Now, it's just about being as shocking and perverted as they can be. When you have nothing else(no talent) then sex sells, plus, there seems to be this illuminati symbolism going on. I have an eclectic taste in music, but I cannot stomach anything new. Country has been turned into a yuppie scene; They think if they throw a fiddle in it, that it's "country". Darius Rucker's sales were bad in pop, so they "inducted" him into the Grand Ol opry and put country instruments in his music and now he sings about fried chicken, driving down a dirt road. These imposters sit in circles and write songs that they think will appeal to rednecks. It's so plastic and fake that it makes me wanna puke. I'd like to take all these new "country music artists" and drop them off in "the country". I bet they all stick out like turds in a punch bowl. Same with lame-o rock these days. It just doesn't take much talent to get in the biz. You just have to look like a model.

Thank you for posting this! This is an interesting thread to me, partly because I've noticed the quality of lyrics go downhill in just about every mainstream genre. But also because, while I grew up listening to rock, goth, industrial, etc. my wife listened to r&b, pop and hip-hop. So there's this whole new world for me to explore in the form of r&b, and I have DEFINITELY noticed a downward spiral in lyrical quality after the early 90s. I haven't really found anything new that appeals to me.

I read a post on a forum that made me laugh, and sums it up well. One of the girls said, "nowadays they straight up be like I wanna f--- you.. it's like Dang, could you pretty it up a bit?" Lol. Because it's not that they haven't always been talking about sex. The lyrics are almost always a metaphor for sex. It's that they weren't VULGAR about it. There was still romance and respect in them.

Even the occasional song that attempts to be a true "love" song is lacking. Take Jason Derulo's "The Otherside" for example. While it seems to be about becoming romantically involved with a friend, lyrics like "Tonight we'll just get drunk, disturb the peace" make me want to pat him on the head and say "well, at least you tried".

Side note: the other reason I don't like new r&b is the auto-tune. Seriously, what's with this? The genre is largely about showcasing one's vocal talents! That would be like letting a computer do the guitar solo in progressive rock! It's a shame because many of these performers do seem to have good vocals (theoretically anyway).

reply to post by thepixelgarden


You are so right, and thanks for responding!

Yes, I serioulsly think that 'love songs' are essentially gone. Everything now is reflective of the 'microwave' society that we live in..."gotta have it right now".

I'm so sick of auto tune as well...let's face it; autotune is used because talent is gone. I shake my head when I hear my daughter saying, "Mom, Beyonce can SING"....