R&B and it’s conventions

Within this slideshow I will present my research into my chosen genre (R&B) and I will research into it’s conventions. Within this research I will

analyse 2 music videos (By R&B artists)

R&BR&B Is a music genre listened to by many people across the world, young and old. This music genre combines elements of Rhythm and blues, Pop, Soul, Funk and Hip hop.

The style of R&B (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_R%26B)

R&B History and artistsR&B was first known as ‘Rhythm and Blues’. This was first used by the Americans in the 1940’s. Mainly on billboards, magazine adverts ect. R&B originated from African-American sounds that came from Blues and Jazz. R&B mainly became popular because of its pure dance ability. It was described as jazz and rocking based with a heavy insistent beat. An example of how R&B was seen in the early years is a song written and performed by Paul Williams and His Hucklebuckers. Paul Williams was A famous saxophone player who in 1947 created his own band. Thus, in 1969 they released their best single ‘The Hucklebuck’. It has been said my many people that this song create a ‘dance craze’. This song for it’s time was known as being wild and out there. In the 1950’s R&B was progressing further and was defining the sound of rock and roll. An example of this is ‘Jonny Otis, Willie and the hand jive’. Though this song was not one the ‘rockiest songs’ it is one of the most famous R&B songs of the 50’s. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxU995zbfno). In the 60’s R&B music again progressed and expanded and now includes soul music. An example of this music is ‘Soul man, Sam Dave’. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn24b5phMG4Progressing into the 70’s another genre had been added into the R&B genre. This being Disco.

R&B TodayToday, R&B Consists more of Hip-hop and is more based on Rhythm. R&B now focus’s more on single artists rather then groups, this is purely down to what the public seem to be buying/listening to. Famous R&B artists to this day are, Usher, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Trey songs ect. The whole look of an R&B artist has changed a lot. The female artists are more influenced by the male gaze (e.g., wearing seductive clothing) and the male artists are more influenced by female dancers within their videos and how they are presented. The music is less pure, it has more editing done to and the pure sounds of instruments is a lot of the time un heard.

R&B 1950’s

R&B 2010

Short Analysis of R&B song (1950’s)

The camera work throughout this video is very simple. It consists of a simple long wide shot, showing all the dancers, then the camera cuts back to the band playing. This is constant and repeated throughout the video. The dancing is cutting with the music which keeps the audience interested in the video. There is no movement of the camera, just cutting to and from the long shots. There is no influence on the male gaze within the video, all the female dancers are wearing normal everyday clothing. The location is a simple, empty room which has been filled with the band and the dancers, this bring in normality for the audience and would have been the easiest place to film a busy video like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxU995zbfno

Video analysis (Ne-Yo)

Video analysis (Rihanna Ft. Justin Timberlake)