Beyonce and Genre
Source: Wikipedia
Rhythm and blues
• Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B and RnB, is a
genre of popular African-American music that originated in
the 1940s.[1] The term was originally used by record
companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to
urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking,
jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming
more popular.[2]
• The term has subsequently had a number of shifts in
meaning. In the early 1950s, the term rhythm and blues was
frequently applied to blues records.[3]
• Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music contributed
to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became
used to refer to music styles that developed from and
incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music.
• By the 1970s, rhythm and blues was used as a blanket term
for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a newer style of R&B
developed, becoming known as "Contemporary R&B".
African-American music
• African-American music is an umbrella term covering a
diverse range of musics and musical genres largely
developed by and for African-Americans.
• Jazz, blues, gospel, soul, rock and roll, and hip hop
constitute the principal modern genres of AfricanAmerican music. Their origins are in musical forms that
arose out of the historical condition of slavery that
characterized the lives of black Americans prior to the
American Civil War.
• The modern genres were developed during the late
19th century by fusing European musical styles with
those of African origin.
• The only exception was hip hop, which was formed in
the late 20th century from earlier forms of AfricanAmerican music such as jazz and blues.
Soul music
• Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the United
States in the 1950s and early 1960s. It combined elements of
African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues, and often jazz.
Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United
States – where music such as that of the Motown, Atlantic and Stax
labels was influential during the period of the civil rights movement
– and across the world, directly influencing rock music and the
music of Africa.[1]
• According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that
arose out of the black experience in America through the
transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky,
secular testifying."[2] Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps and
extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul
music.
• Other characteristics are a call and response between the soloist
and the chorus, and an especially tense vocal sound. The style also
occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary
sounds.[3]
Gospel music
• Gospel music is a music genre. The creation, performance,
significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies
according to culture and social context.
• Gospel music is composed and performed for many
purposes, including aesthetic pleasure, religious or
ceremonial purposes, and as an entertainment product for
the marketplace
• Gospel music in general is characterized by dominant vocals
(often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a
Christian nature.
• Several forms of gospel music utilize choirs, use piano or
Hammond organ, tambourines, drums, bass guitar and,
increasingly, electric guitar.
• In comparison with hymns, which are generally of a
statelier measure, the gospel song is expected to have a
refrain and often a more syncopated rhythm.
Funk
• Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when
African-American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new
form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and R&B.
• Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong
rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground. Funk
songs are often based on an extended vamp on a single chord,
distinguishing it from R&B and soul songs, which are built on chord
progressions.
• Like much African-inspired music, funk typically consists of a
complex groove with rhythm instruments such as electric guitar,
electric bass, Hammond organ, and drums playing interlocking
rhythms. Funk bands sometimes have a horn section of several
saxophones, trumpets, and in some cases, a trombone, which plays
rhythmic "hits".
• Many of the most famous bands in the genre also played disco and
soul extensively. Funk samples have been used extensively in genres
including hip hop, house music, and drum and bass. It is also the
main influence of go-go, a subgenre associated with funk.[2]
Pop music
• Pop music (a term that originally derives from an abbreviation of
"popular") is a genre of popular music which originated in its modern
form in the 1950s, deriving from rock and roll.[1] The terms "popular
music" and "pop music" are often used interchangeably, even though
the former is a description of music which is popular (and can include
any style).[1]
• As a genre, pop music is very eclectic, often borrowing elements from
other styles including urban, dance, rock, Latin and country;[1]
nonetheless, there are core elements which define pop. Such include
generally short-to-medium length songs, written in a basic format
(often the verse-chorus structure), as well as the common
employment of repeated choruses, melodic tunes, and catchy hooks.[1]
• So-called "pure pop" music, such as power pop, features all these
elements, using electric guitars, drums and bass for instrumentation;[1]
in the case of such music, the main goal is usually that of being
pleasurable to listen to, rather than having much artistic depth.[1]
• Pop music is generally thought of as a genre which is commercially
recorded and desires to have a mass audience appeal.[1]
Contemporary R&B
• Contemporary R&B, also known as R&B, is a music genre that
combines elements of rhythm and blues, pop, soul, funk, and hip hop.
• Although the abbreviation "R&B" originates from traditional rhythm
and blues music, today the term R&B is most often[by whom?] used to
describe a style of African-American music originating after the decline
of disco and funk in the 1980s.
• Some sources refer to the style as urban contemporary (the name of
the radio format that plays hip hop and contemporary R&B).
• Contemporary R&B has a polished record production style, drum
machine-backed rhythms, an occasional saxophone-laced beat to give
a jazz feel (mostly common in contemporary R&B songs prior to the
year 1995), and a smooth, lush style of vocal arrangement.
• Electronic influences are becoming an increasing trend, and the use of
hip hop or dance-inspired beats are typical, although the roughness
and grit inherent in hip hop may be reduced and smoothed out.
• Contemporary R&B vocalists are often known for their use of melisma,
popularized by vocalists such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder,[1]
Whitney Houston,[1][2][3] and Mariah Carey.[2][4][5]
Beyonce – most recently
• On December 13, 2013, Beyoncé unexpectedly released her fifth
self-titled album on the iTunes Store without any prior promotion.
• It was described as a "visual album" due to every track having a
music video.
• The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart, giving Beyoncé
her fifth consecutive number-one album in the US.[172][173] This
made her the first woman in the chart's history to have her first five
studio albums debut at number one.[173]
• Beyoncé received critical acclaim[174] and commercial success,
selling 828,773 digital copies in three days;[172]
• The New York Times noted the album's unconventional, unexpected
release as significant.[174]
• Musically an electro-R&B album, it concerns darker themes
unexplored in her work previously such as "bulimia, postnatal
depression [and] the fears and insecurities of marriage and
motherhood."[175]
Beyonce's Drunk In Love: should we
have a problem with it?
• Lyrics referring to domestic violence and
abusive men have passed largely unchallenged
in discussions of Beyoncé's hit song. And that
is disturbing
• Beyonce and Jay-Z
performing at the
Grammys
Photograph: Rex Features