8 Signs You’re a Fan Of R&B
If you're a true-blue R&B fan, you'll definitely agree that no matter if it’s pop, rock, whatever - R&B is where it all began.
I grew up listening to old R&B CDs, from TLC to the Fugees, Lauren Hill, Mariah Carey, and Michael Jackson. Having loved R&B music from such an early age, this genre became one of my favorites for many reasons; For one, it makes you experience different emotions - love, heartbreak, happiness, and sadness to name a few.
It is undoubtedly refreshing to listen to a soulful R&B song that explores these emotions and evokes many memories in an era dominated by hip hop / rap in the music industry. There are many reasons why you are attracted to R&B music.
Here are three signs that you're a R&B fan:
The music we listen to is directly related to our personality traits. Basically, you are what you listen to. R&B attracts a lot of outgoing, extraverted listeners. If you are a fan of R&B, you are a true follower of your heart. You have no problem in showing your emotions. Especially the emotions inspired by the music.
If you are someone that expresses how you feel about that special person in your life with a song, or just someone who loves soothing love songs, R&B jams are your thing.
R&B is a universal expression of tender and soulful love.
When it comes to songs about love, no genre produces better songs about love, emotions and feelings than rhythm and blues or R&B. Since the birth of R&B music, songs about love or lost love are just rhythm and blues ringing reality. R&B love songs communicate the strongest emotions. R&B music gives you the heartfelt message of how sweet love can be. When it comes to love, you often separate your thoughts from reality. Naturally, the dream comes first. Love begins as a fantasy.
In music, especially in the R&B genre, love maintains a fairy tale sensibility. There is no better escape for hopeless romantics than love-hitting albums like Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On, Stevie Wonder's Talking Book or Whitney Houston's I'm Your Baby Tonight.
If you happen to be an R&B admirer you are reflective, open-minded, and highly creative. You use music to exercise the brain than the body. If you want to move an audience spiritually and physically, a well-written, well-performed R&B song will do just that.
Music is an expression of who we are emotionally, socially and intellectually.
R&B fans being deep thinkers are naturally empathic. You tend to overestimate what is going on and are often sensitive to the energies and forces around you. You are an incredibly passionate and energetic listener. You give your undivided attention to people.
Although people's musical choices change over time, observing their empathy levels can predict what kind of music they will play. If you have high levels of empathy you prefer one of three types: low energy (soft), negative emotions (sadness) or emotional depth (poetry or sigh).
If you are an R&B fan with such personality traits you particularly like songs such as Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, Billy Holliday's All of Me and Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
R&B is the music genre where you will find tracks for all kind of souls. If you are more into the chill R&B jams then you have the personality traits of an easy-going person. You are outgoing and don’t like taking unnecessary stress. You live in the moment and follow your heart. This is what makes you the fan of both contemporary and soul R&B. You are more of a person who enjoys the vibes from the music and laidback R&B is all about enjoying.
Whether you were born in the 80s or the 90s, you probably would have heard the slick styling of 90s R&B. Back then musical acts like Groove Theory, Toni Braxton, Faith Evan’s blessed our ears with their refreshing songs which were undeniable. Although so much of soul/r&b is being produced even today, fans still love listening to the 90s R&B. It reminds you of the time when you would listen to an album straight through, in a single sitting.
What makes the R&B music of the 90s so special to fans is that they grew up listening to it. At every life phase from childhood to young adulthood there was a song to celebrate growth and the understandings of the world. There was always a song for you to dive into as per the situations in your life. For happiness there was always a song. For sadness there was always a song. There was a song for every emotion and feeling one could experience. Basically, you grew up with R&B and you miss it. You have so many memories.
Although there is no specific definition for what real or authentic R&B is, you just naturally understand it. You are a self-proclaimed expert at differentiating authentic R&B from the other genres of music. Whether you are listening to a song for the first time or you are zoning out to an old classic, there are certain emotions in you that only an R&B lover can understand. These are the emotions that help in recognizing and understanding R&B.
Over the years the style of R&B has changed as it became a combination of pop, hip-hop and funk but what remains constant is that the music is still soulful and moving. Being an R&B fan, you are invested in the genre. You even wait years just for your favorite artist to drop a single album. The loyalty of an R&B fan to an artist is unmatched. Even the announcement of a new project by the artist makes you all excited. And finally, the album drops it is no less than a celebration for you. This investment in the genre is how you recognize the Authentic R&B.
With the changing style of R&B music it’s audiences also kept on changing. Initially, it targeted the urban youth but gradually it became a genre accepted by all races and ages worldwide. The fondness for R&B grew for its soothing music. R&B music, videos, and lyrics also helped shaped culture in many countries. It is a genre that puts an emphasis on both voice and sound. Also, I love R&B for how it has grown to be culturally diverse.
Over the years as pop, hip-hop and funk got associated as the killer of R&B. R&B is dead, they would say. But if you are a fan R&B you believe it has never been dead nor will it be in future. Although in terms of commercial success the genre might have suffered like Beyoncé’s 4 which was predominantly an R&B focused album. Tyrese's album Black Rose also may have suffered but I, like many other R&B fans, believe it was a fantastic album.
A genre that has given so much to the music industry can never be dead. Music is all about Rhythm and Blues.
The developments within R&B during the past couple of years has seen the rise of many new faces. LIGHTS ON FESTIVAL was organized by GRAMMY Award winner H.E.R. in order to show and prove that R&B is not dead. Many R&B artists came together to perform proving everyone wrong who doubted R&B.
We as fans must always be thankful for the artists that bring something new to the genre. Frank Ocean is one such artist who brought the youth to R&B scene, something that hip-hop always had. I as a fan believe he brought in a new era where one openly discusses numbness, suicidal thoughts, and unrequited love. R&B was not dead but it required this freshness that spoke to masses.
There are also other artists like SZA, Daniel Caesar, Kamela and DVSN that represent alternative R&B crowd. R&B sure has gone through transitions but for all the fans out there it was never dead and never will be!
It doesn’t matter what music genre you are a fan of, we all end up using lyrics of the songs we love in our every day conversations. There’s a wisdom to these lyrics which everyone can learn from.
There are many songs with meaningful lyrics but the one that I feel resonates the most with me is Drake’s God’s Plan. My favorite lines from the song are
She say Do you love me? I tell her Only partly
I only love my bed and my mom, I’m sorry
You can have the love of the most desirable man/woman in the world but your mom’s comforting touch is all you need sometimes. You could be relaxing at the most luxurious hotel in the world but your own shaggy bed at home always feels heavenly. The theme of the entire song revolves around his life and how everything that happens is God’s plan for him and the same goes for us.
So next time if something unfortunate happens in your life just remind yourself it’s "God’s Plan."
Khalid's Up All Night has these hard-hitting lyrics everyone can relate to. It belongs to the genre of Soul/R&B. The song focuses on the idea of crossing a stage in life, where one is inquisitive about the world around him. There's a line in the song there’s so much more left to find, well every one of us have experienced this phase in life. This realization of how your current level of knowledge and wisdom still has much to learn. Desire is what makes this song more realistic and makes fans delve into their own thoughts.
Moreover, he questions where his life is going, especially in the context of getting older you felt that right? The disposition is where he understands that pain is an ever-present reality. In addition to it his attitude is such that he feels his actions are inconsequential. To sum it all up, he comes off as an individual who is not satisfied with the current state of his life, though he is thankful that he’s still alive. The song is centered around many types of complex thoughts
If you have at least one of these signs, we have to agree that you have great taste in music!