R&B 2017

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
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Tunji Ige - Why Don't You?
 

luka

Well-known member
Rayvon Owen (born June 27, 1991) is an American musician from Richmond, Virginia and a finalist in season 14 of American Idol finishing 4th overall.
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
The problem with that is the R&B Industry is kind of overly segmented right now in that the core demographic radio listeners are split between younger and older (the grown & sexy, more orthodox and 'retiring' crowd vs. the younger dance/rap/pop acknowledging crowd) and that's not acknowledging the younger soundcloud-type R&B Crowd who are pushed by a more internet clued audience. So one artist might be a big thing for one demographic, but is entirely written off elsewhere.

Syd is someone who's going to do fine in internet world without ever being acknowledged by R&B Radio, so even if she did anything musically interesting (HA) it'd only matter to a select audience, so you don't get that Timbaland type influence because he was so dominant in R&B at a time that the audience was still essentially homogenous. Sure you had your fringier elements as far as sub-genre (gospel crossover, earliest Neo-Soul) but he thrived in a time where the audience was still there; also he benefitted from coming around in a time where pop/rap was inherently tied to the R&B industry whereas now Pop Rap in its peak works more alongside EDM.

The closest to an auteur figure in R&B from an R&B background in modern times would be probably Ty Dolla Sign but even then his reach and reception is so limited.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I think that style of production - bright and exuberant and flashy - has fallen out of favour. It's all 'atmospheric' and druggy ATM it seems. From Solange to Bryson Tiller or whoever.
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
I think that style of production - bright and exuberant and flashy - has fallen out of favour. It's all 'atmospheric' and druggy ATM it seems. From Solange to Bryson Tiller or whoever.

Yeah again, that's actually a much smaller piece of the pie than we're led to believe.

Solange's commercial recognition is a result of a long period of strategic reinvention over the course of several records and working alongside trends; Bryson is one of many post-Drake pop-rap/R&B hybrids (there's more than a few of these; PnBRock, Tory Lanez...) who actually exist more pronouncedly in Rap than anything.

The problem is that audience is being treated as more commercially vital of late, probably because that's the audience for whom Streaming, the big direction of the industry at large, is the most essential way of continuous income despite so little of it being seen in the way of artists. Mostly because it doesn't have the expense of the manufacture of physical media. Those audiences who'd commonly do things that depends on older formats that require expensive production (Radio) or an industry of retail (CDs/Vinyl/Etc.) are what the industry wants to kill off so they don't have to take the inherent loss that they've been obligated to take on the chin for years.
 
eh nobody feeling SweetSexySavage? I've had it on repeat since it came out. People on ILX seem to dig it but the reviews have been mostly 'good' but not raving about it
 
Its OK, but I feel like Pop & Oak are a bad choice of team to work with for her.

I love their collabos personally; the production of the 1-2 combo of 'distraction' and 'piece of mind' is ace. Who would you prefer her to work with btw? Bother her songs with Jahaan Sweet are great but I don't think his production style differs too much from Pop & Oak so I'm not sure if you think she should work more with him or an outsider
 

CrowleyHead

Well-known member
I honestly thought her best collabs circa the last album were with JMIKE, that sort of fluorescent, yearning energy. A real shame he didn't make the cut a lot here. I do like "Distraction" a lot though.
 
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