Soul
Apr 13, 2014 16:09:29 GMT -5
Post by Libra on Apr 13, 2014 16:09:29 GMT -5
OK...hear me out on this.
There's been quite a few threads/discussions/posts that I've seen in the past few months here on Pulse that have led me to wonder. Some choice posts in particular -
From the "The state of R&B" thread: (next-to-last paragraph of a rather long post)
There has also been a gradual fusion of Electronic music and Black Pop/R&B that has happened. Kanye West was the first to take notice of this, and 808s & Heartbreak was extremely influential in this. If you listen to Drake, Kendrick, Frank Ocean, Beyonce's last 2 albums, they really use that as a major foundation in their blueprints. Stuff like Love On Top and Suit & Tie aren't the future of contemporary Black Pop/R&B because they lean heavily retro, which is always more of a trend than a direction that people follow, but it does push more traditional soul elements into the mix, and those are going to be incorporated into what's coming next. The key here is to find the mixture which can crossover, and that will happen in due time, because there are people who want this to happen and there are many many glaring signs right now that it is very possible. As huge as Blurred Lines was, it was also still a retro track that made multiple explicit points to past popular music. I consider Adele to be her own thing. Her music is not R&B, or that R&B influenced. Vocals that are considered soulful don't automatically mean R&B. The music draws more from soft rock than anything else. I think she helped catalyze more organic sounds into popularity again, but it wasn't R&B.
From the "What Happened to R&B Groups?" thread:
This is actually an interesting topic for me. As a preteen, groups such as SWV, Boyz II Men, TLC, Jodeci, and Xscape turned me into a music fan in the first place. I also wonder if the "death of R&B groups" (literally) ties in with the "death of R&B in general" (figuratively). The USP of the R&B group over solo artists was a very musical ingredient at its core: harmony. When harmony left R&B radio, did it take vocal focus (and soul) with it? With few exceptions (songs like "Adorn," "Climax," "Love On Top," etc.) radio R&B music in the 00's and 10's is lacking the soul that had previously defined the format.
...
I DO think music fans today are being deprived of the R&B group. We see acts like Boyz II Men and SWV going on reunion tours and it seems quite nostalgic, but unlike R&B groups of prior generations, the nostalgia is not only for their music itself, but for the very concept of an R&B group. This speaks to just how dated a concept it is now. I can't see the R&B group remaining purely in the historic archives forever, but I can't really imagine it becoming a "thing" again anytime soon. The more time passes, the more of a novelty concept it becomes. Also, R&B radio is not soulful right now. The current generation of kids is growing up without soul in their music, so when will future generations ever got nostalgic for it anyway?
Plus, January's "Pulse Album Club" album was John Newman's Tribute, with a few posts in there citing him as having soul/being soulful. And in that same vein, there's countless posts citing fellow British singers Adele, and more recently Sam Smith, as being "soulful" as well.
I see these soul-referencing posts around and read them, and frankly, I get to wondering...just what, exactly, is "soul"? I feel like on some level that I haven't ever really fully understood just what "soul" is in music/in song. Up to now, I think I could pinpoint it down like so:
Soul is a certain kind of "something" that's most often present in R&B/R&B-driven records. (Though, not 100% of the time, apparently.)
Soul, at its core, has emotion and a certain way of singing both present. ("Method" of singing sounds too technical in this case, IMO.) There's probably additional intangibles there that I'm not thinking of, though no way could I put my finger on what.
...and, that's as close as I can get. Yet, it doesn't seem to me like I'm doing my own understanding of what "soul" is, justice.
That's why I'm turning now to Pulse. I mean, sure, I could just do my own research on this, but just the idea of "researching" what "soul" is...it's really not the way I want to go. There's enough abstract in this to where just looking it up doesn't work, IMO. To me it seems like this would come out much better through discussion, and LBR, Pulse can always use good fruitful discussions. :)
There's been quite a few threads/discussions/posts that I've seen in the past few months here on Pulse that have led me to wonder. Some choice posts in particular -
From the "The state of R&B" thread: (next-to-last paragraph of a rather long post)
There has also been a gradual fusion of Electronic music and Black Pop/R&B that has happened. Kanye West was the first to take notice of this, and 808s & Heartbreak was extremely influential in this. If you listen to Drake, Kendrick, Frank Ocean, Beyonce's last 2 albums, they really use that as a major foundation in their blueprints. Stuff like Love On Top and Suit & Tie aren't the future of contemporary Black Pop/R&B because they lean heavily retro, which is always more of a trend than a direction that people follow, but it does push more traditional soul elements into the mix, and those are going to be incorporated into what's coming next. The key here is to find the mixture which can crossover, and that will happen in due time, because there are people who want this to happen and there are many many glaring signs right now that it is very possible. As huge as Blurred Lines was, it was also still a retro track that made multiple explicit points to past popular music. I consider Adele to be her own thing. Her music is not R&B, or that R&B influenced. Vocals that are considered soulful don't automatically mean R&B. The music draws more from soft rock than anything else. I think she helped catalyze more organic sounds into popularity again, but it wasn't R&B.
From the "What Happened to R&B Groups?" thread:
This is actually an interesting topic for me. As a preteen, groups such as SWV, Boyz II Men, TLC, Jodeci, and Xscape turned me into a music fan in the first place. I also wonder if the "death of R&B groups" (literally) ties in with the "death of R&B in general" (figuratively). The USP of the R&B group over solo artists was a very musical ingredient at its core: harmony. When harmony left R&B radio, did it take vocal focus (and soul) with it? With few exceptions (songs like "Adorn," "Climax," "Love On Top," etc.) radio R&B music in the 00's and 10's is lacking the soul that had previously defined the format.
...
I DO think music fans today are being deprived of the R&B group. We see acts like Boyz II Men and SWV going on reunion tours and it seems quite nostalgic, but unlike R&B groups of prior generations, the nostalgia is not only for their music itself, but for the very concept of an R&B group. This speaks to just how dated a concept it is now. I can't see the R&B group remaining purely in the historic archives forever, but I can't really imagine it becoming a "thing" again anytime soon. The more time passes, the more of a novelty concept it becomes. Also, R&B radio is not soulful right now. The current generation of kids is growing up without soul in their music, so when will future generations ever got nostalgic for it anyway?
Plus, January's "Pulse Album Club" album was John Newman's Tribute, with a few posts in there citing him as having soul/being soulful. And in that same vein, there's countless posts citing fellow British singers Adele, and more recently Sam Smith, as being "soulful" as well.
I see these soul-referencing posts around and read them, and frankly, I get to wondering...just what, exactly, is "soul"? I feel like on some level that I haven't ever really fully understood just what "soul" is in music/in song. Up to now, I think I could pinpoint it down like so:
Soul is a certain kind of "something" that's most often present in R&B/R&B-driven records. (Though, not 100% of the time, apparently.)
Soul, at its core, has emotion and a certain way of singing both present. ("Method" of singing sounds too technical in this case, IMO.) There's probably additional intangibles there that I'm not thinking of, though no way could I put my finger on what.
...and, that's as close as I can get. Yet, it doesn't seem to me like I'm doing my own understanding of what "soul" is, justice.
That's why I'm turning now to Pulse. I mean, sure, I could just do my own research on this, but just the idea of "researching" what "soul" is...it's really not the way I want to go. There's enough abstract in this to where just looking it up doesn't work, IMO. To me it seems like this would come out much better through discussion, and LBR, Pulse can always use good fruitful discussions. :)