Now I can understand that it’s currently popular and sells but why can’t some quality RnB get the air time it deserves? If you listen to the mainstream radio stations, I’m now including 1xtra in this – they seem to following the trend of everyone else and slowly dropping RnB for what is popular and putting everything in the RnB basket.

DJB used to hold down the RnB mix show and you got a nice selection of upfront RnB that actually felt like an RnB show. Now you get the likes of Gyptian – Hold Yuh, Wretch 32 – Traktor, Drake – Fancy …all big tracks in their own right – but RnB really?

At some point someone in the industry unleashed a euro-pop rnb track and the public lapped it because they think bass makes a good music and they love everything to sound the same. They like their comfort zone if you give them something different they don’t know what they are listening to – are the people buying records/MP3s young teenagers who know know no better?

How is our music ever going to progress from the current situation when this is all our younger generations know? Maybe they are too young to understand/appreciate “grown” RnB granted it’s subject matter is mainly relationship based. They can relate to the bubblegum lyrics they are force fed daily on TV and Radio. I’m just brain-storming, I realize we can’t all have the same musical opinions but you can’t seriously tell me that a Jazmine Sullivan album doesn’t deserve as much success as Cheryl Cole’s latest album which I’m sure somewhere will have been brushed with the “RnB” brush!

Interestingly I’ve just got to “Luv Back” on the Jazmine album it reminds me of the last Alexandra Burke single “Start Without You” which was the worst song of the year in my opinion – why can’t Burke release material like Luv Back its in a different league it hasn’t got a nobody feature rap feature – its just Jazmine’s vocals and it works. There is no doubting Alexandra Burke has a great voice but the material provided to her is so weak yet it is still packaged as RnB!

Maybe I’m just getting old and don’t understand the current situation. But I know I’m not the only one thinking this mainly music heads. People who listen to their new music via mainstream TV/Radio can never understand my beef with the current industry and the material that is forced upon us as a population. I’m sure if I wasn’t so big on music then I wouldn’t even be writing this because all I knew was what I was spoon fed?

I just wish more people would dig a little deeper for their music. It would help if the Radio/T.V. stations would stop pushing weak RnB and give strong rooted real RnB a chance to shine! It would help if more artists were stronger willed and released music that they are capable of making of instead of bowing to pressure to make what is “current” – but at they end of the day they want their £,$ and the people are buying it!

Maybe one day in the near future the trend for Europop RnB will fade and we can get back to the real deal…. Here’s to hoping anyway!!

There are other artists like Lady GaGa, Soulja Boy on the track list who I guess they can fit into this genre in some form. But before long Justin Bieber will be branded R&B just because Usher is involved in the project (OK there is no doubt he has potential but right now?)

I’m sorry there are so many better R&B artists out there that don’t even get a look in Melanie Fiona, Dwele, Raphael Saadiq who all released tracks in the same period of time that the artists on this compilation did yet get ignored.

My problem isn’t with the artists like N-Dubz they do what they do, their popular and people would buy the compilation. But the teenagers growing up being told that this is R&B are being fooled and the guys making R&B true to its roots then struggle to get the Airplay/Promotion they deserve;

Q. What music do you like?

A. R&B?

People hear this and think your taste in music is a joke, they see the media promoting R&B as the above which isn’t the strongest musically lets be honest its watered down R&B at best.

When I talk R&B I am talking Mayer Hawthorne, Saadiq, Melanie Fiona, Alicia Keys, Dwele, Slakah, Maxwell, Eric Roberson, D’Angelo etc etc

Interestingly if you Wikipedia R&B it starts in 1940 the last section is around 1970 when it changes its name to “Contemporary R&B” which then gets to 2001 and the information is lacking so is R&B dead Wiki thinks it is?

R&B is still around the media just seem to get it twisted and the public are too easily influenced by the likes of Radio 1/Major TV Channels and the people that put these compilations telling them this is R&B – the lazy music fan that doesn’t dig a bit deeper to discover there is good music amongst the shit they are told is R&B!

If you were to take Cheryl Cole and someone like Maxwell back to the 1950’s to perform in a American Blues/R&B Club who’d get the best reception?

Rant over….