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Billboard report.
The R&B Takeover: Crooners Surge in 2006 .
This time last year, Destiny's Child, John Legend and Omarion were the only crooners to make it to No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart amid airplay dominated by rappers that included 2Pac, 50 Cent and the Game.
But this year, there is a R&B coup.
Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown are delivering songs with melodious choruses—and radio is eating it up. Is R&B merely filling hip-hop's seasonal void or making better music?
Whatever the reasons, the trend is contributing to more balanced playlists at the format, paralleling a similar juggling act under way at top 40 over the past year.
"For a time we were getting great music from hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, 50 Cent and Ludacris," says Tom Calococci, PD of Radio One's KKBT (the Beat) Los Angeles. "Right now, there aren't any real superstar hip-hop artists recording. This, coupled with the fact that there is some great R&B available right now, gives R&B a chance to get airplay."
In the last week of March 2005, only three R&B singers made Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart's top 10: Mario's "Let Me Love You," Fantasia's "Truth Is" and Legend's "Ordinary People."
Now R&B's got a rat pack. With Blige's "Be Without You," Jamie Foxx's "Unpredictable," Ne-Yo's "So Sick," Cole's "Love," Beyoncé's "Check on It" and Brown's "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" all in the top 10, Dem Franchize Boyz have to "Lean" a bit harder.
MELODY, PASSION AND CROSS-POLLINATION
"R&B adds passion to the radio," says Nate Bell, PD at Clear Channel's WWPR (Power 105.1) New York. "For instance, the way Keyshia Cole pours her heart out in 'Love,' the way Ne-Yo opens up in 'So Sick' and the way Mary J. Blige makes you want to fall in love with 'Be Without You.' "
Tina Brown, who manages Chris Brown's career, suggests R&B's resurgence has been helped by hip-hop cross-pollination. "Kids don't have the R&B history that I have with Teddy Pendergrass and New Edition," she says, "so Chris Brown is their guy. Sean Garrett and Scott Storch working together made it easier for Chris to come into the hip-hop society with 'Run It!' and be accepted as an R&B singer. With Sean, who has produced R&B hits, and Scott, who has hip-hop hits, their combination was a great fusion."
Truthfully, R&B has long used hip-hop for airplay footing, and 2006 is no different. Radio One WILD (Wild 97.7) Boston APD Rick Anderson, who remembers when Gladys Knight had break dancers in her "Love Overboard" video and Chaka Khan used hip-hop breaks on "I Feel for You," says, "The industry follows the culture, and if it's leaning towards hip-hop, a lot of that will flow into R&B."
To wit, Beyoncé hired fellow Texans Slim Thug and Bun B for "Check on It" while Foxx tapped platinum MC Ludacris for his No. 4 single "Unpredictable."
"We're riding a wave of really special records," says Jeff Burroughs, senior VP of urban promotion at J Records. "People miss melody. And thank God the radio support has been there because we've been battling stations to have more balanced playlists, and now they're doing more of that. It's partially the demand of the consumer and us driving hard with R&B—and what's not available from the superstar hip-hop artists."
In contrast, KKBT MD Tawala Sharp says, "I think it's a combination of record labels giving radio the music that our listeners are demanding."
'CHEAPER TO MAKE A HIP-HOP RECORD'
Not everyone agrees on what tipped R&B's takeover, but some attribute its previous slump to lackluster artist development.
"R&B slowed down several years ago because record labels could spend less money snatching up this hot rapper and then the next one," says Emmis' WQHT (Hot 97) New York MD Ebro. "Labels could find rappers with completed albums, spend minimal money signing the project, release it and generate decent sales."
Major-label groups are snatching up ready-made local labels like Houston's Swisha House and Young Jeezy's Corporate Thug Entertainment. And though these business moves pay off in airplay and music sales, some say they come at the expense of artist development. Thanks to a major label push, Swishahouse/Asylum/Warner Music Group MC Mike Jones entered the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at No. 1—from relative obscurity. But industry folks still wonder if he can produce another hit album.
"Over the years it has been cheaper to make a hip-hop record than an R&B record," says Helen Little, OM at Radio One's WPHI (the Beat) Philadelphia. "Bigger profit margins from hip-hop may have kept R&B on the back burner."
Others say creating an R&B artist from scratch is a daunting task, so hip-hop heavyweights like 50 Cent, Eminem and West rule the charts. But a shortage of A-list hip-hop releases doesn't automatically open the floodgates for R&B music, WPHI PD Colby Colb says.
"There is so much competition for artists now, and they are forced to give quality," Colb says. "When the heavyweights come out, they don't catch a break either. Consumers are smart, they can pre-screen an album before they buy, and they want quality."
Davis thinks hip-hop's slump aided and abetted R&B but "no one made the decision. It was just time. I think that hip-hop is a Harlem renaissance for us, so that's never going away. But people need room for love."
Big Von Johnson, APD/MD at Clear Channel's KMEL San Francisco, has what may be the industry's most unorthodox hit radar detector. "I go by the ladies in the hair shops," Johnson explains. "If she won't hum it while she's doing hair, it's not a hit.
"Mary J. Blige and Keyshia Cole are single-handedly holding it down," Johnson continues. "Ultimately, the listeners make the change. It's not the radio because you can tell with the record sales. D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz get mad spins, but nobody wants to buy their album."
Others believe R&B artists encourage their own popularity.
"I think artists create the change," Ebro says. "And with the support of their label and fans, artists can create a movement that the mainstream can digest. In my opinion, the most important trends start underground."
And there's always the argument for seasonal spins, playing slower cuddly songs during the winter and more energetic joints in the summer.
"Programmers would say it's too hot to play a ballad," says Elroy Smith, OM at Clear Channel's WGCI Chicago. "Ask the average listener about 'A House Is Not a Home' by Luther Vandross, do you only want to hear it in the wintertime? These philosophies are crazy. A strong song can be played at any time of the year. We're not into seasonal, we just play hits."
Great music seems to have a way of finding its way up a chart—and ultimately crossing over. Infectious melody and matching lyrics transported Ne-Yo's "So Sick" to No. 3 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart.
"I think the market is always ready for great music that moves people," Little says. "The key is someone believing in something enough to say, 'This could work, and it doesn't have to shock or titillate in order to do so.' "
Regardless of the trend's origin, R&B artists like Foxx and Blige, who traded the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 for five weeks, are kicking down radio's door for spins. And listeners appear to enjoy the change.
"It starts with choices," Little adds. "If the choices are limited to start with and if what you have to choose from is less than compelling, then the options are what's available to you. But you can only do the same thing for so long before we as a disposable society decide we want something new. Having artists like Chris Brown, Ne-Yo and Keyshia Cole make the choices viable. Kudos to the labels on these projects."
Ultimately, R&B artists produce hit records that seem almost undeniable. 2006's R&B class has proved the adage that give the audience a good hook and they'll sing with you forever.
"A hit is a hit, and if they want to hear more ballads than uptempo, and the charts are dominated by these types of records, then you have to play them," Colb says. "Last year it was the complete opposite." ••••
<P ID="signature">______________
America most awful Hip Hop station list , KS107.5 Denver , KLUC Las Vegas , and Wired in Philly .</P>
The R&B Takeover: Crooners Surge in 2006 .
This time last year, Destiny's Child, John Legend and Omarion were the only crooners to make it to No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart amid airplay dominated by rappers that included 2Pac, 50 Cent and the Game.
But this year, there is a R&B coup.
Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown are delivering songs with melodious choruses—and radio is eating it up. Is R&B merely filling hip-hop's seasonal void or making better music?
Whatever the reasons, the trend is contributing to more balanced playlists at the format, paralleling a similar juggling act under way at top 40 over the past year.
"For a time we were getting great music from hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, 50 Cent and Ludacris," says Tom Calococci, PD of Radio One's KKBT (the Beat) Los Angeles. "Right now, there aren't any real superstar hip-hop artists recording. This, coupled with the fact that there is some great R&B available right now, gives R&B a chance to get airplay."
In the last week of March 2005, only three R&B singers made Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart's top 10: Mario's "Let Me Love You," Fantasia's "Truth Is" and Legend's "Ordinary People."
Now R&B's got a rat pack. With Blige's "Be Without You," Jamie Foxx's "Unpredictable," Ne-Yo's "So Sick," Cole's "Love," Beyoncé's "Check on It" and Brown's "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" all in the top 10, Dem Franchize Boyz have to "Lean" a bit harder.
MELODY, PASSION AND CROSS-POLLINATION
"R&B adds passion to the radio," says Nate Bell, PD at Clear Channel's WWPR (Power 105.1) New York. "For instance, the way Keyshia Cole pours her heart out in 'Love,' the way Ne-Yo opens up in 'So Sick' and the way Mary J. Blige makes you want to fall in love with 'Be Without You.' "
Tina Brown, who manages Chris Brown's career, suggests R&B's resurgence has been helped by hip-hop cross-pollination. "Kids don't have the R&B history that I have with Teddy Pendergrass and New Edition," she says, "so Chris Brown is their guy. Sean Garrett and Scott Storch working together made it easier for Chris to come into the hip-hop society with 'Run It!' and be accepted as an R&B singer. With Sean, who has produced R&B hits, and Scott, who has hip-hop hits, their combination was a great fusion."
Truthfully, R&B has long used hip-hop for airplay footing, and 2006 is no different. Radio One WILD (Wild 97.7) Boston APD Rick Anderson, who remembers when Gladys Knight had break dancers in her "Love Overboard" video and Chaka Khan used hip-hop breaks on "I Feel for You," says, "The industry follows the culture, and if it's leaning towards hip-hop, a lot of that will flow into R&B."
To wit, Beyoncé hired fellow Texans Slim Thug and Bun B for "Check on It" while Foxx tapped platinum MC Ludacris for his No. 4 single "Unpredictable."
"We're riding a wave of really special records," says Jeff Burroughs, senior VP of urban promotion at J Records. "People miss melody. And thank God the radio support has been there because we've been battling stations to have more balanced playlists, and now they're doing more of that. It's partially the demand of the consumer and us driving hard with R&B—and what's not available from the superstar hip-hop artists."
In contrast, KKBT MD Tawala Sharp says, "I think it's a combination of record labels giving radio the music that our listeners are demanding."
'CHEAPER TO MAKE A HIP-HOP RECORD'
Not everyone agrees on what tipped R&B's takeover, but some attribute its previous slump to lackluster artist development.
"R&B slowed down several years ago because record labels could spend less money snatching up this hot rapper and then the next one," says Emmis' WQHT (Hot 97) New York MD Ebro. "Labels could find rappers with completed albums, spend minimal money signing the project, release it and generate decent sales."
Major-label groups are snatching up ready-made local labels like Houston's Swisha House and Young Jeezy's Corporate Thug Entertainment. And though these business moves pay off in airplay and music sales, some say they come at the expense of artist development. Thanks to a major label push, Swishahouse/Asylum/Warner Music Group MC Mike Jones entered the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart at No. 1—from relative obscurity. But industry folks still wonder if he can produce another hit album.
"Over the years it has been cheaper to make a hip-hop record than an R&B record," says Helen Little, OM at Radio One's WPHI (the Beat) Philadelphia. "Bigger profit margins from hip-hop may have kept R&B on the back burner."
Others say creating an R&B artist from scratch is a daunting task, so hip-hop heavyweights like 50 Cent, Eminem and West rule the charts. But a shortage of A-list hip-hop releases doesn't automatically open the floodgates for R&B music, WPHI PD Colby Colb says.
"There is so much competition for artists now, and they are forced to give quality," Colb says. "When the heavyweights come out, they don't catch a break either. Consumers are smart, they can pre-screen an album before they buy, and they want quality."
Davis thinks hip-hop's slump aided and abetted R&B but "no one made the decision. It was just time. I think that hip-hop is a Harlem renaissance for us, so that's never going away. But people need room for love."
Big Von Johnson, APD/MD at Clear Channel's KMEL San Francisco, has what may be the industry's most unorthodox hit radar detector. "I go by the ladies in the hair shops," Johnson explains. "If she won't hum it while she's doing hair, it's not a hit.
"Mary J. Blige and Keyshia Cole are single-handedly holding it down," Johnson continues. "Ultimately, the listeners make the change. It's not the radio because you can tell with the record sales. D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz get mad spins, but nobody wants to buy their album."
Others believe R&B artists encourage their own popularity.
"I think artists create the change," Ebro says. "And with the support of their label and fans, artists can create a movement that the mainstream can digest. In my opinion, the most important trends start underground."
And there's always the argument for seasonal spins, playing slower cuddly songs during the winter and more energetic joints in the summer.
"Programmers would say it's too hot to play a ballad," says Elroy Smith, OM at Clear Channel's WGCI Chicago. "Ask the average listener about 'A House Is Not a Home' by Luther Vandross, do you only want to hear it in the wintertime? These philosophies are crazy. A strong song can be played at any time of the year. We're not into seasonal, we just play hits."
Great music seems to have a way of finding its way up a chart—and ultimately crossing over. Infectious melody and matching lyrics transported Ne-Yo's "So Sick" to No. 3 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart.
"I think the market is always ready for great music that moves people," Little says. "The key is someone believing in something enough to say, 'This could work, and it doesn't have to shock or titillate in order to do so.' "
Regardless of the trend's origin, R&B artists like Foxx and Blige, who traded the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 for five weeks, are kicking down radio's door for spins. And listeners appear to enjoy the change.
"It starts with choices," Little adds. "If the choices are limited to start with and if what you have to choose from is less than compelling, then the options are what's available to you. But you can only do the same thing for so long before we as a disposable society decide we want something new. Having artists like Chris Brown, Ne-Yo and Keyshia Cole make the choices viable. Kudos to the labels on these projects."
Ultimately, R&B artists produce hit records that seem almost undeniable. 2006's R&B class has proved the adage that give the audience a good hook and they'll sing with you forever.
"A hit is a hit, and if they want to hear more ballads than uptempo, and the charts are dominated by these types of records, then you have to play them," Colb says. "Last year it was the complete opposite." ••••
<P ID="signature">______________
America most awful Hip Hop station list , KS107.5 Denver , KLUC Las Vegas , and Wired in Philly .</P>