rhythm and blues
Motown's musical foundation
Rhythm and blues is a style of popular music originating among Black American musicians in the 1940s, combining blues, jazz, and gospel influences with a strong backbeat.
The term initially served as a music industry category, replacing earlier labels.
R&B evolved through soul, funk, and contemporary forms, and its influence pervades rock, hip-hop, and pop: She grew up listening to classic rhythm and blues.
Innermost animating essence
- funkDepression or groove music
- grooveNarrow cut or routine
- gospelSacred choral tradition
- MotownDetroit's soulful moniker
ballad · doo-wop · boogie · croon · backbeat · syncopation · vocals · harmony
U.S. Black ethnic identity
- Harlem RenaissanceBlack arts explosion, 1920s
- Great MigrationVast collective relocation
- soulInnermost animating essence
- civil rightsGuaranteed individual legal protections
Black Power · heritage · expression · identity · community · juke joint · urbanization · integration
soul
Innermost animating essence
Motown · ballad · doo-wop · boogie · croon · backbeat · syncopation · vocals · harmony · melody
African American
U.S. Black ethnic identity
- Harlem RenaissanceBlack arts explosion, 1920s
- Great MigrationVast collective relocation
- soulInnermost animating essence
civil rights · Black Power · heritage · expression · identity · community · juke joint · urbanization · integration · Apollo Theater
- oldiesElvis, golden oldies, Hound Dog, oldies, Johnny B. Goode
- music genrespop, jazz, rock, classical, rock music
- 1950sEisenhower, poodle skirt, Elvis Presley, Rosa Parks, baby boom
- Black DiasporaAfrican American, African Americans, African diaspora, African heritage, African roots
- Black Musicjazz, gospel choir, hip hop, R&B, funk
- juke jointsjukebox, live music, dance floor, moonshine, bootleg liquor
rhythm and bluescountry
Sovereign state or territory
classical music · country and western · country music · bluegrass · chamber music
rhythm and bluesserialism
Fixed-sequence composition technique
atonal music · musique concrète · ambient · through-composed · white noise
rhythm and blueseasy listening
Undemanding melodic audio
elevator music · muzak · lounge music · smooth jazz · adult contemporary
rhythm, blues, rhythmic, rhythms, rhythmically, arrhythmia, polyrhythm, arrhythmic, arrhythmias