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[minilpiyukson]

R&B has come a very, very long way from the days of Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, etc. And maybe it's just old(er) people being old, but I keep hearing people say that the people making new music in the genre, keeping it alive and thriving in a new age; aren't making "real" R&B music.

Specifically, artists like Tinashe, Frank Ocean, Jhene Aiko, The Weeknd, Drake (to an extent), etc-etc. Get a lot of flack from older crowds for calling some of what they do "R&B". My personal theory is that, it's not simply old people not liking change. I think it has more to do with how older music in the genre sounded happy, even when it wasn't sounding sexy. Newer music in the genre tends to dwell in the oft times depressing darkness, even when it's sounding as overtly sexually explicit as possible. From lyrical content to production, new R&B is dark most of the time.