Hip Hop has officially been the biggest genre of music in the United States since 2018 when it overtook rock in terms of consumption, helped in part by the rise of streaming, the popularity of transcendent superstars like Drake and rap’s overall internet savvy.
While this statistical achievement serves as yet another reminder of how far the genre has come (word to Christopher Wallace), some feel Hip Hop’s dominance has inadvertently left other forms of music behind.
During an appearance on Gillie Da Kid and Wallo’s Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast on Tuesday (June 21), Chris Brown bemoaned the current state of R&B, claiming the genre has become stagnant in the wake of rap’s ubiquity.
“It’s obsolete in the fact of it being primary, meaning like, you used to listen to the radio and they had an R&B day,” he said. “Not to take anything away, Hip Hop has just been dominating shit. A n-gga can’t hate on Hip Hop. I’m apart of it so I love it. Let all the Hip Hop be heard.
“But I feel like — not to sound lame when I say this — it’s really no more artistry left in that type of showmanship lane. A lot of the R&B people have to go introverted or look like they’re emo, and if they’re not that, people will give them the neo-soul type of genre. I don’t feel that’s right. But I feel like there’s a scarcity of confident males that can sing.”
Fellow R&B crooner Jacquees echoed Breezy’s sentiment during a 2018 interview with Music Choice ahead of the release of his debut album 4275.
“It’s a lot of dope R&B artists, I like everybody that’s out right now,” the self-proclaimed “King of R&B” said. “But it’s still not the same as what it used to be, but of course it’s a new time so we’re all adjusting to what’s going on.
“My style is just different, I got a classic sound of R&B. And I think when I drop 4275, everybody gonna be like, ‘Dang, y’all remember when R&B used to sound like this?!’ I see it on my comments all the time like, ‘Oh, this type of R&B coming back? We miss this R&B!’ It’s like love, passion, affection.”
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In a recent interview with HipHopDX, Atlanta-bred singer/rapper K Camp offered a more positive outlook on the genre. “I think it’s stronger than it was a couple of years ago,” he said. “Right before COVID, R&B was dead for a second. Nobody was trying to hear no R&B, it was straight rap. But it’s back. A lot of dope artists are emerging and coming with that flavor.”
In any case, there’s no overlooking the fact that 2022 has produced a string of solid R&B releases, from The Weeknd’s record-breaking Dawn FM, Lucky Daye’s Candy Drip and Blxst’s Before You Go to Kehlani’s Blue Water Road, Syd’s Broken Hearts Club and Ravyn Lenae’s Hypnos.
Watch Chris Brown’s full Million Dollaz Worth of Game interview below.
No music genre can make another obsolete….i disagree bro….what makes r&b obsolete is trash music, nothing heart-felt…just this bs spin on hiphop with the same melody in every song is what makes r&b obsolete. Become creative again, get back to the roots of r&b and why people. listened to it in the first place.
It’s the opposite, all this melodic weak ass r&b infused rap has made real hiphop obsolete.
Nah son the females are running rnb from Ella Mai, Summer, SZA, Teyena & Kehlani
R&B usedta be filled with singers that had church/gospel backgrounds. If they didn’t go to church, their parents did, so they had that soulful flavor. Plus, there were a lot more organic instrumentalists—folks who played guitar, piano, live drums, etc.
we’ve got a generation of kids who never set foot in a church, and neither did their parents. and their “instruments” are apps and preprogrammed sounds that are even based on sounds old school instruments make… overall it just makes for more mechanical, hollow music.
now best thing we got is a Bruno Mars kinda remixing past sounds like a Vegas jukebox…. there’s no young D’Angelos or Maxwells or Luther Vandross types.
Now we got Drake, who cannot carry a tune if you put it in a shopping cart for him. None of these guys know how to sing in any key..
it’s sad
nah bro. Auto tune messed it up for those born with natural singing voices. Blame T Pain. And also blame the record labels. Frank ocean can sing whateva tf he wants and sound good without the contracts. Follow suit young Blood. Rap is also getting messed up by auto tune and mumble rap. You got this. Eff auto tune
The music got heavily influenced by hip-hop and the labels geared the genre towards teenagers, when R&B used to be “grown folk” music.
It’s not that rap is the best genre (it fuckin isn’t) it’s just that he’s overlooking the obvious: rnb is GAY!!!