Where are the African-American artists in today's mainstream AC?

[new_friends_gr]

Has anyone else noticed that today's mainstream AC seems to be "whiter" than it used to be? I miss hearing artists like Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, Anita Baker, Toni Braxton, etc. on mainstream AC.

It seems to me that mainstream AC should be a bit more racially mixed than it is. The Urban AC sound is nice, but why should these types of artists only be found on Urban AC stations? Integration is indeed a good thing. ;D

 

[carolinaradio]

A lot of the artists you mentioned had hits in the 90s, which is a decade that many of the AC
stations seem to play little of (not much good material overall) and might be considered dated.....I hear "I Will Always Love You" regularly.

Boyz, Anita, Toni, etc are overall considered too sleepy for most AC's, probably.

Most new African-American titles I hear on terrestrial radio are too rhythmic for AC. Perhaps there is just not enough decent material?

 

[new_friends_gr]

A lot of the artists you mentioned had hits in the 90s, which is a decade that many of the AC
stations seem to play little of (not much good material overall) and might be considered dated.....I hear "I Will Always Love You" regularly.

Boyz, Anita, Toni, etc are overall considered too sleepy for most AC's, probably.

Most new African-American titles I hear on terrestrial radio are too rhythmic for AC. Perhaps there is just not enough decent material?

I'm sure there's plenty of new material by African-American artists that's decent enough (and soft enough) for Urban AC. But what I'm really getting at is, why isn't there more crossover from current Urban AC music over to mainstream AC? Why does the racial divide have to exist when the music is just as soft? That divide didn't exist as much in the '90s when artists like Luther, Toni, Anita, etc. were played just as much on mainstream AC stations as they were played on Urban AC stations. I can't think of any specific examples of Urban AC artists who are popular today, but I know they're out there. Why aren't mainstream AC stations giving them any exposure?

 

[Seltzer]

It really is a market by market situation. A station that still plays lots of "urban AC gold" is WLYF in Miami.

But with the occasional crossover by Beyonce or Rhianna, its pop vocalists like Colbie Caillat, Michael Buble, the occasional country crossover and Hot AC bands that make up AC current music today.

 

[atlantaboy]

I'm sure there's plenty of new material by African-American artists that's decent enough (and soft enough) for Urban AC. But what I'm really getting at is, why isn't there more crossover from current Urban AC music over to mainstream AC?

I think the crossover usually happens from CHR to Hot AC to Mainstream AC (rather than Urban AC to Mainstream AC) - in the early 90s there was a lot more "Urban AC" stuff on CHR (Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Luther Vandross, etc.), and now there's literally nothing Urban-AC sounding on pop

And when you look at the Top 40 on Urban AC, there are only two tracks (out of 40) that are even charting at pop, one by Michael Jackson and one by Chris Brown - and Rihanna isn't charting there at all

IMO there's always going to be a racial divide between Urban AC and Mainstream AC, cause to put it bluntly, one is targeted at blacks, and the other is targeted at whites - I think the difference is that in the early 90s, there were a lot of black R&B artists that hade huge white audiences, and that's just not the case now

 

[vchimpanzee]

I don't like today's black artists.

Roberta Flack is one of the few still on AC who sings "normal". Now that I think of it, Sade shows up on the smooth jazz station I try for a few minutes on weekends. She has a nice style but the problem is her backup musicians.

And what is not "normal"? Black artists today, and 'N Sync, The Backstreet Boys and Rascal Flatts, add extra syllables and sometimes sound like they're trying to throw up. Not that this would keep them off AC since it didn't back in the day.

Deborah Cox has a song on my radio station where she does some of that, but she's backed by a big-band orchestra so it doesn't really sound so bad.

Gladys Knight did a new album. I like one of her songs which plays on my station. I wasn't crazy about what she did at the Macy's parade.

Brandy sang the "Cinderella" songs almost straight.

Now as for classic artists on my radio station who are black and sing straight, there are Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis, Brook Benton, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Della Reese, Louis Armstrong ... I can't think of anything by Ella Fitzgerald but she should be there.

 

[icycool7227]

Has anyone else noticed that today's mainstream AC seems to be "whiter" than it used to be? I miss hearing artists like Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, Anita Baker, Toni Braxton, etc. on mainstream AC.

It seems to me that mainstream AC should be a bit more racially mixed than it is. The Urban AC sound is nice, but why should these types of artists only be found on Urban AC stations? Integration is indeed a good thing. ;D

Listen to Jacaranda 94.2 in South Africa if you're so dissatisfied.

 

[musicman3355]

Good one icycool. No really, good one.

That was sarcasm FYI.

 

[AM FM listener]

Interesting question. Mainstream AC does seem to be getting more "white bread" these days. Perhaps it has taken over the space that Adult Standards used to have, the place for straight ahead pop vocals, without all the extra "syllables" as Vchimp says. When AC recently added more guitar rock material, I guess something had to go in order to keep the AC playlists tight so R&B/Soul was reduced to make room. At the same time though, Hot AC has been adding more rhythmic/r&b material so it's a bit of a trade off.

 

[RDO]

Why should it matter what color skin the artist has. As long as its a good song that fits your format.

 

[mikl73]

1 observation missed it that in the 80s there were not many Urban AC stations. There were Urban stations that played all urban hits. They were usually day parted allot also. That doesn't seem to exist now. Most markets with a sizable African American population have an Urban AC and another station that plays R&B and Hip Hop.

The AC stations have not only reacted to changes in the music but the change I bring up also. Their Demo has changed.

I recall a few urban stations played Aerosmith's - Dude Looks Like a Lady. In 2010 a song like that would never be noticed by urban stations. Every market has more station and each station has narrowed its focus to a very specific group of people. I don't think they are trying to be racist by any means since they all are operated by the same companies.

 

[Seltzer]

Black ballads were a huge part of the A/C recipe when it was a "soft" format.

Now it's very pop based format. Black pop can work IF it's not TOO rappy. I Got A Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas is a perfect example.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I recall a few urban stations played Aerosmith's - Dude Looks Like a Lady. In 2010 a song like that would never be noticed by urban stations. Every market has more station and each station has narrowed its focus to a very specific group of people. I don't think they are trying to be racist by any means since they all are operated by the same companies.

When the term "urban contemporary" was invented WPEG was the Charlotte, NC station doing it. My understanding was that one song which distinguished "urban contemporary" from "soul" was "I Can't Go for That" by Hall & Oates. WPEG started out disco so it's understandable white people listened then and white artists were included. The soul station was on AM. What really surprised me, though, was "Jump" by Van Halen.

But eventually WPEG became a black station. The one competitor I remember on FM was Kiss 102 in the late 80s, which was "churban" and had lots of white artists and mostly white DJs. That station ended up being the first uban AC on FM, taking over the role the AM once had.

 

[carolinaradio]

Black ballads were a huge part of the A/C recipe when it was a "soft" format.

Now it's very pop based format. Black pop can work IF it's not TOO rappy. I Got A Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas is a perfect example.

Agreed. Trey Songz, Usher, Ne-Yo, Mary J., etc are the Urban AC artists now. They don't fit the format like Boyz II Men, Whitney, Anita, etc did. Most of the Black ballads of yesteryear have disappeared from AC. Today's Urban music just doesn't fit with AC like it used to.

I think the largest, most recent success for AC by a black artist that comes to mind is Beyonce's Irreplaceable. Some stations play Single Ladies. Could I Gotta Feeling's success on some AC's be due to the fact that Fergie (who had a huge AC hit in '07) is part of the act?

 

[AM FM listener]

I recall a few urban stations played Aerosmith's - Dude Looks Like a Lady. In 2010 a song like that would never be noticed by urban stations. Every market has more station and each station has narrowed its focus to a very specific group of people. I don't think they are trying to be racist by any means since they all are operated by the same companies.

When the term "urban contemporary" was invented WPEG was the Charlotte, NC station doing it. My understanding was that one song which distinguished "urban contemporary" from "soul" was "I Can't Go for That" by Hall & Oates. WPEG started out disco so it's understandable white people listened then and white artists were included. The soul station was on AM. What really surprised me, though, was "Jump" by Van Halen.

But eventually WPEG became a black station. The one competitor I remember on FM was Kiss 102 in the late 80s, which was "churban" and had lots of white artists and mostly white DJs. That station ended up being the first uban AC on FM, taking over the role the AM once had.

Yup, that Hall & Oates song was a distinguishing factor back then. Other songs that come to mind were "Another One Bites the Dust," by Queen, and "Lowdown," by Boz Scaggs. Growing up in DC, WKYS used to play those whereas WOOK (OK 100) did not.

Yesterday's "Black" or "Soul" station has become today's "Urban" or "Urban AC" station. Yesterday's "Urban Contemporary" has become today's "Rhythmic CHR". The format labels they keep a changing....

 

[Seltzer]

Black ballads were a huge part of the A/C recipe when it was a "soft" format.

Now it's very pop based format. Black pop can work IF it's not TOO rappy. I Got A Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas is a perfect example.

Agreed. Trey Songz, Usher, Ne-Yo, Mary J., etc are the Urban AC artists now. They don't fit the format like Boyz II Men, Whitney, Anita, etc did. Most of the Black ballads of yesteryear have disappeared from AC. Today's Urban music just doesn't fit with AC like it used to.

I think the largest, most recent success for AC by a black artist that comes to mind is Beyonce's Irreplaceable. Some stations play Single Ladies. Could I Gotta Feeling's success on some AC's be due to the fact that Fergie (who had a huge AC hit in '07) is part of the act?

I thought I Gotta Feeling was predominantly a pop song with a little rap in it. I'm not sure Fergie really played into stations playing this.

 

[atlantaboy]

If you look at the Urban AC chart, most of their songs aren't even crossing over to CHR, so they're definitely not gonna get to mainstream AC

I don't think AC is racist - Bruno Mars isn't African-American (I don't think - not sure), but he's not white, and I'm pretty sure Just The Way You Are is gonna become an AC staple

 

[new_friends_gr]

Hot AC has been adding more rhythmic/r&b material so it's a bit of a trade off.

Great point. I hadn't thought of it that way.

 

[new_friends_gr]

Why should it matter what color skin the artist has. As long as its a good song that fits your format.

You're right in that skin color doesn't matter. But typically, African American vocalists have deeper, more soulful voices if that makes any sense. Luther Vandross, Barry White, Anita Baker, Usher, Jason Derulo, etc. have different-sounding voices than, say, Colbie Caillat or Pink. All I was saying in my post was that more vocal diversity would enrich the AC format. (And I'm mainly talking about mainstream, rather than Hot, AC.)

 

[new_friends_gr]

My understanding was that one song which distinguished "urban contemporary" from "soul" was "I Can't Go for That" by Hall & Oates.

What's the distinguishing factor in that song? Is it "urban contemporary" or "soul"?