Slow jams can get the romantic mood right for any special occasion. Music is a great way to express your feelings to or for someone. I recently found some old mixed CDs from forever ago that had some of my favorite songs on them. I started looking up the videos on YouTube and after hours of listening, I started to really think about how music and its culture has changed since the 1990s.
As defined by genremusic.com, “R&B was an African-American urban sound that evolved from blues and jazz. In the late 1940s R&B was described as rocking and jazz based with a heavy and insistent beat.”
In the 90s R&B artists like Keith Sweat and R. Kelly set a new bar for R&B love songs. According to genremusic.com, "Going into the 21st century R&B would include New Jack Swing, hip-hop and Neo-Soul".
I am a fan of slow jams and love songs of all types, but 90s R&B has a way of making people feel good and it is easier to relate to than other genres of music. Don’t get me wrong, today’s R&B is still great; it is just different. 90s R&B love songs contained lyrics about sex and relationships that didn't include degrading women. They also didn't elicit embarrassment when listening to it around your parents or grandparents. Explicit words towards men or women were not used in the lyrics like they are now. R&B music of the past definitely included sex, but it was done beautifully. For example, in Keith Sweat’s “Nobody” (1996) featuring Athena Cage, the lyrics, “And who can love you like me (nobody) Who can sex you like me (nobody) Who can treat you like me now, baby (nobody) Nobody, baby (nobody) And who can do it like me (nobody) And who can give you what you need (nobody) Who can do you all night long (nobody) Nobody, baby (nobody)" talked about sex without degrading women or men. Today’s lyrics about sex are always about "getting it in" at the club or somewhere else unromantic, which just isn't cute at all!
The types of relations or relationships sung about in 90s R&B seemed so much more respectable and sensual. Music reflects what the popular trends and societal norms are at the given time when it is released. Relationships have become almost nonexistent because people’s self-respect and values have changed. Because of this lack of self-respect, today’s music has become centered on selfies, "twerkaholics" and women who are objectified and seen as only valued for their bodies. We enjoy it, though, because that is how people represent themselves in public and online, and to be fair, the beats are catchy.
90s R&B love songs can be listened to by everyone. Everyone young and old can relate to them and follow the examples of how relationships and sex should be for people.
These are some of my personal favorite 90s R&B songs.
1. "If I Ever Fall In Love" – Shai
2. "Bump N Grind" - R. Kelly
3. "I Wanna Know" – Joe
4. "So Anxious" - Ginuwine
5. "Nobody" - Keith Sweat & Athena Cage
6. "I Wanna Sex You Up" - Color Me Badd
7. "All the Things (Your Man Won't Do)" – Joe
8. "Any Time, Any Place" - Janet Jackson
9. "Red Light Special" – TLC
10. "Ex-Factor" - Lauryn Hill
