AS Foundation Portfolio - Harry Iggleden: Genre Research

What Genre?
Contemporary R&B will be the genre of my music magazine.

RnB and Current Chart Music
'Disco Shuffling' RnB
Massive Chart Anthems

History of my chosen genre:
Contemporary R&B, stylized as 'RnB' is a relatively new style of music featuring Rhythm and Blues, Pop, Soul, Funk and Hip-Hop. RnB has been revitalized over the past few years, with the re-emergence and change of style in artists. Artists have seen that this style of music is growing again, and are tailoring their tracks, albums and music videos to attract the new contemporary R&B listeners. It is clear to see that the genre is ever changing, with many new videos being studio set and the style of the artists becoming more street, and the things that they wear or do seem to catch on and become mainstream style within teenagers and young adults.

The term Rhythm and Blues, R&B, was first used by Billboard magazine in the late 1940′s. R&B came about during a shift in America that began just before World War II when large segments of the black population moved from the South to cities in the Midwest, Northeast and West Coast. This migration created a young, urban black audience with a growing taste for up-tempo dance music. This can be seen in Chris Browns new single, Loyal. He has two editions of his single, ' Loyal (west Coast)' and 'Loyal (East Coast'). Currently R&B is seen to be ruling the music world, it is said that R&B is the worlds most listened to genre, is modern and is ever changing with the times. This is vital for a music genre or new listeners will not be found once the first generation has passed. If the genre didn't appeal to another generation then it would die out, however this isn't the case for R&B music as it is ever changing.

There have been many world superstars of R&B, here are a few of the biggest who will always have a place in history:

James Brown

Stevie Wonder

Aretha Franklin

Marvin Gaye

Otis Redding

These artists would have grown up with the demographic movement which I spoke about above, and this has influenced their music style.

Although Otis Redding died in the late 1960's, he features on Kanye West and Jay-Z's new song, Otis.
It is a mix of a previously unreleased Otis Redding song, with Kanye West and Jay-Z adding their current music style to the music and adding lyrics, the song is a Grammy Award winner.

The Genre has become more mainstream, the genre has changed and developed. Here is a list of more current artists.
Current Big Artists included:
Robin Thicke - USA
Miley Cyrus - USA
Chris Brown - USA
Usher - USA
Rihanna - USA
Will.I.AM - USA

Who are in the charts now?
Robin Thicke -Artist on the biggest track of 2013, Blurred Lines, which spent 6 weeks at the top of the UK charts - an American Artist.

Miley Cyrus - 2 massive hits - We Can't Stop & Wrecking Ball - both were at number 1 in the UK when released. Also an American Artist.

Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus performed together at the VMA's in America and social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook were absolutely full of posts about the performance.

Chris Brown - Has had a new album called Fortune released in the UK and has extended his 2014 UK tour to accommodate more shows as the original dates sold out within days. He has released a line of clothing. He is again an American artist.

Daft Punk - They released the hit summer anthem Get Lucky, which took the number 1 spot for 3 weeks and was played non stop across the airwaves in the UK. Daft Punk are yet again an American success over here in the UK.

Existing Magazines in this genre:

RnB Mag - A self titled magazine produced in America. Features artists who are big in RnB over in America.

Vibe - An R&B magazine based in America that is sold in Britain. Features mainly black artists, as the magazine does seem to not want to move with the trend and feature artists from a Caucasian background but those of Black American street grime artists.

Some Music Videos: