R&B Is Making a Comeback (And It Is Kind of the Best Thing Ever)

Does everyone remember the lovely musical “hey day” of the late 90’s/early 00’s, back when the top 40 was filled wonderful pop hits twinged with punk, grunge, and of course R&B? I’m talking about the days when Usher sang some real talk about making babies instead of “boobies like pow pow pow,” and episodes of TV shows had songs like “Too Close” by R&B boy band, Next, as the soundtrack to adolescent dance parties (Sister, Sister was my show back then). Yes, the 90’s were an interesting time for us as a nation, and the groove behind groups like Boyz II Men and Destiny’s Child was actually a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, it left us oh too soon and suddenly every radio hit was left devoid of that soulful passion and filled with far too many bass drops for my liking (DJ, would you kindly pick the bass back up?)

HOWEVER, we - and by ”we” I mean probably just me - can all breathe a sigh of relief. R&B as a genre is experiencing a much awaited resurgence and, as an influence, it is seeping back into the realm of the mainstream music. Try and tell me you haven’t shimmied along to that sax in DeRulo’s “Talk Dirty,” or unleashed your inner diva as you attempt and fail to hit those high notes in Grande’s “The Way.” Yes, more and more top 40 hits are slipping into my not-so-guilty pleasure playlist lately, and the number of bedroom dance parties I’ve had (which should never be witnessed by anyone else) has probably doubled lately. Yet even more dance inducing is the R&B genre-blending trend that I see popping up. It’s not just Pop music; it’s Rap, Rock, Indie and my poor music obsessed heart just can’t take anymore of this momentous era of music. So, in a pathetic and likely to be futile attempt to calm myself over all the incredible new music I've been shamelessly wiggling my hips to, the final months of 2014 on Auditory Adventurer are dedicated to all my current favorite R&B and R&B influenced songs.  It is my sincerest hope that the collection of songs and artists I’ll be raving about over the next few months will unleash everyone’s inner mover and shaker, or even perhaps serve as some killer mood music.