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Overview

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.

Be ready to:

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."

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Neo-Soul 2

Additionally, Ms. Lauryn Hills' " Lost Ones♫" (1998) and " Sunshine♫" (2002) by Floetry combine singing with elements of hip-hop such as rapping. Jazz harmonies and rhythmic tendencies are heard in " Brown Sugar♫" (1995) by D'Angelo. These harmonies occur in the introduction at 00:00-00:24, played by the electric piano and a Hammond B-3 organ. In addition, in the introduction to the song " 10 Minute High♫" (1995) by Groove Theory, acoustic bass, and brushes on the drums at 00:00-00:08 are typical jazz features. Erykah Badu uses acoustic bass in " Rim Shot♫" and " On & On♫" (1997).

Finally, it is essential to note that neo-soul is known for incorporating other music styles and cultures. An example is Lauryn Hill's song " To Zion♫" (1998) that includes a Spanish guitar (performed by Carlos Santana) throughout the song, as well as harmonic and rhythmic tendencies, and call-and-response phrasing between them from 02:33-04:32.

Floetry

Jill Scott

Jill Scott is another premier neo-soul artist. Some of her albums include Who Is Jill Scott: Words and Sounds, Vol. 1 (2000), and Experience: Jill Scott 826+ (2001). " Exclusively♫ " "...includes jazz-type chordal progressions juxtaposed with her poetic recitation throughout the entire song. The song is somewhat reminiscent of stylistic presentations heard in cool jazz of the late 1950s through the 1960s. The sparse instrumental accompaniment of bass, drums, and a synthesized piano/bell sound in " Do You Remember♫ " powerfully illustrates the focus on the singing-a typical characteristic of 1960s soul music. Additionally, the syncopated and pronounced bass part is akin to funk music of the 1960s" (Breckenridge 2015, 376).

Neo-soul is also known for incorporating features that are not necessarily African American. The following listening guide shows these features of neo-soul in Scott's song titled " One Is the Magic #♫".

Earl Hines and His Orchestra

You were the sunshine, baby, whenever you smiled
But I call you Stormy today
All of a sudden that ole rain's fallin' down
And my world is cloudy and gray
You've gone away
Oh Stormy, oh Stormy
Bring back that sunny day

Frankie Crocker

May you live as long as you want, never want as long as you live, may you live to be 100, and me 100 but minus a day, so I'll never know nice people like you have passed away.