EXP - What Caused R&B To Split?

What Caused R&B To Split?

Introduction

It is said that R&B dates back to the 1960's, however there were always signs there would be a music of this creation during the 1800's when people who were enslaved felt they needed a way to express themselves through music. Over the years R&B has definitely changed in many ways and this could be due to the demand of R&B fans, it could be due to the world events or it could just be due to newer generations adding their touch to the music. However one question that we are faced with today, is why is there Alternative R&B and Contemporary R&B?

Alternative R&B

People mainly say that Alternative R&B is due to artists and fans alike being bored of Contemporary R&B, which is understandable but untrue. Whilst Alternative R&B is a newer concept of R&B and adds sounds most people thought had no place within R&B, Contemporary R&B is still what people see as classic R&B and can never be replaced, so why is there talk that Contemporary R&B is all but finished? This is because publishers like the Independent think "The girls and guns formula of traditional R&B has grown tired" and that "a new wave of talent has arrived to reinvent the form and challenge listeners." This statement is interesting as many of the artists who join in with Alternative R&B also have had or still have some investment to Contemporary R&B. Frank Ocean for example has different songs that fall in to either brackets. On the contrary most people believe that it is the younger people of today who find themselves enjoying Alternative R&B, so perhaps Alternative R&B is just something of the newer generation, however that doesn't mean there would be no more Contemporary R&B. The thought of Alternative R&B becoming the new "wave" is clearly affecting Contemporary R&B Artists as well, artists like Usher have begun changing their style so they aren't forgotten, by this I don't mean changing to the Alternative R&B side but attempting to connect with the younger generation, we can see this from the video below.

Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is seen as the older generations R&B and whilst it's true that music has changed quite a lot since the 90's when the "bump'n'grind" era was at its peak, many of the younger generation still find themselves listening to this music and would as go as far to wish for this type of music to come back. Even with all this talk about Alternative R&B eradicating Contemporary R&B, Contemporary R&B is still viewed as the mainstream sub-genre. Due to Contemporary R&B being older and having the history in the music industry, I believe it will always be a popular genre.

Conclusion
My conclusion is that R&B split into these two types of genres because the newer generation wanted a different kind of sound from the party anthems we were being bombarded with. Alternative R&B allows for more thinking as it has space in the song. Whilst Alternative R&B does still have many love songs it definitely doesn't have as many as Contemporary R&B, whether thats because Alternative R&B is older or because it's just not the younger generations style, Alternative R&B subjects can be about almost anything.