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RAndB |
Originally a marketing term for popular African-American music with a strong beat,
R&B has since come to define a few specific styles that are perhaps as much sonic
as racial categories. The term has several distinct associated sounds, depending on
the era. In the early 50s, R&B described popular blues records, and in the mid-50s,
the term came to denote gospel and soul music, as well as popular styles with elements
of electric blues, acoustically similar to contemporary rock and roll (which itself
grew out of early R&B). In the 70s, it largely referred to soul and funk, and in the
80s, the term began to refer to a sonic hybrid of earlier R&B, pop, soul, funk, rap,
and electronic music. It has morphed and evolved while maintaining this hybrid identity
to the present day, taking on newer production and performance styles as time passes.
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