Usher Speaks On State Of R&B
Recently, Super Bowl headliner, Usher shared how he feels about people saying that ‘R&B is dead,’ which he totally disagrees with, and so do I… While making the rounds before the big game, where he’ll perform in front of the largest audience in his career Usher did a recent interview with Billboard where he’d be asked about the current state of the genre he calls home. Usher said, “I’m very happy that there’s a new installation of R&B artists who care to be authentic to what they are creating, inspired by artists of the past.”
He’d go on to say, “Everybody who has ever said to me that R&B is dead sounds crazy. Especially when I know the origins of R&B are in all other genres of music. It’s about creating commerce in other spaces.”
He added, “Lovers & Friends is a successful R&B festival that gives you a place to go and celebrate the songs that we make. We need things that you associate with R&B that you can buy into. Like with hip-hop—glasses, clothes, cars, jewelry, sneakers—ancillary things that people can access. R&B needs and has the potential to have those things as well.”
Usher continued, “My point is, I never felt like R&B was dying. I think it just needs expansion. We’re moving toward a standard where people are looking at snippets—TikTok, Instagram and other things—and when fans get it, they take it and do something with it. But if we start to think of it that way and create from that place, the standards for R&B will change. You won’t be able to compare it in an old-versus-new way. It’ll just be what it is.”
To check out the full interview, click here!
What are your thoughts on Usher’s opinion of the state of R&B? Do you agree? Why?
