2009 Retrospective:Does R&B now stands for “Repetition & Boring” ?

What ever happened to R&B ? And good music too by the way ?

Through the years R&B has turned into something where everybody sounds alike…Sales over Soul!! It’s a damn shame. Since R&B is now the new Electro/Dance and David Guetta is the new Dr Dre or Darkchild,we have to hear over and over again the same rhythm, the same auto tune. I truly blame it on Akon. At first I thought it was something that would just fade but since Whitney corrupted “ A song for you” they all got no excuses. The point of being an artist is having, creating, developing your own style, showing us your talent not all dress and sing like Rihanna. Don’t get me wrong,some of these songs are good and I’m sure the only one who can do it without sounding “boring” is Chris Brown. I’ll trade one “ Forever” for a thousand Flo-Rida feat. Akon “Available”.

With each album dropping I have the hope that we will go back to what R&B ( or even Hip-Hop) used to be, to real songs and I’m almost always disappointed.This is getting worse and worse.I know it’s great sometimes to mix up genres but this is going too far.I still can’t get over Whitney Houston’s version of that CLASSIC “ A song for you”. Even Shakira is doing it now. I used to love her cause she sounded different, she had her own style that beautifully fit her voice but that “She wolf” no! no !

Regarding Hip-Hop, Nicki Minaj ??!!! Please!! I am not a great Hip-Hop connoisseur but I know this ain’t right Not right at all .

Even those we think will come to save up from this mess are also flirting with that new R&B ( Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly, Mariah ). I know it’s hard in the industry and with young singers that keep coming ( Jeremih , Jason DeRulo… ) I understand how hard it can be to satisfy labels with sales, to get media's’ attention.Maybe I'm “old school” but I’d rather listen to a song made for the Soul than for the sales.

Is it to much to ask to hear again albums like “ Confessions”? Is R&B dead with Aaliyah? ( RIP Baby Girl) I really think artist, almost all of them can do better than what they are doing now.I really do!! But since the industry tend to favor tendency, sales over creativity I guess we’re stuck in here for a while…You better be ready for the decline of R&B or just wait for the savior!!!