Coined by Frankie Crocker in 1974 as a synonym for Black music, "urban contemporary" began as a radio format for the music he was broadcasting at WBLS, the Black music radio station in New York-mainly rhythm and blues, hip-hop, rap, and disco. Other stations with medium to large Black communities in cities across the United States followed similar radio formatting/programming. Thus, "urban contemporary" became a term associated with music by and for Black people until June 5, 2020, when Republic Records announced that it was removing it from all its music material. Then, finally, it appeared the industry was serious about getting it right or at least was moving in the right direction when identifying specific African American music styles, genres, and representative artists.

• Explain the use of the term "urban contemporary," it's positive and negative effects on categorizing music, and the current state regarding its continued use.
• Explain the phrase "Black-sounding" music as it relates to rhythm and blues and other label identifiers.
• Identify specific African American music styles, their representative performers, and their songs that were on the Hot Black music chart.
• Recall the term used to identify Black-sounding music after Hot Black and identify specific African American music styles, their representative performers, and their songs under this new music chart name.
• Define "neo-soul."