It’s always fun to watch VH1 shows about bands, groups, and artists to learn what they were going through when certain epic albums or songs were released. Sometimes a band’s roster would change and the sound would evolve as a result.
One special in particular had me thinking about an apparent trend in Afro-soul music today. The special talked about the days of funk in the 70s on up to the inception of hip hop in the 80s. It focused on James Brown and how his band fragmented/inspired other groups. In particular it showed how JB picked up Bootsy Collins and then let him go which led to the creation of the Parliament and the rise of George Clinton. Indirectly, it made me think of what popular Afro-American bands there are… soul or otherwise. Recently, I couldn’t really think of any.
From memory all I could come up with was The Roots or Mint Condition. Now, when I say bands I mean a group consisting of instrumentalist where you recognize a band member with a particular instrument. Like when you say Lars Ulrich, you think drummer. Thing is now when you do that with Afro-American artists today, there aren’t many ‘bands’ per se where you have that kind of word or name association. If you flip side and go into the rock genre, you’ll see groups like Foo Fighters or Queens of the Stone Age trading guitarists or drummers between recent bands like trading cards while keeping the face of the band to keep a certain identity.
It’s almost as if most black instrumentalists will either be their own solo act or they’ll turn up as mega producers because of their talents. For some reason there usually isn’t an in between. For instance, D’Angelo is a great producer and multi-instrumentalist. Because of his ability, he has stayed on the solo path since his debut on the scene working on the Jason’s Lyric soundtrack. Dwele, another talented multi-instrumentalist, even began as an emcee that could play various instruments including the flugelhorn yet became a talented producer and solo artist.
Article comments
1 - CXTH
R&B bands have too many people, and larger bands have a difficult time staying together. It's hard enough with 3-4 people. There are more personality clashes, artistic differences, and of course less money per member. An instrumentalist should be able to make a better living hopping from group to group, doing many little projects than trying to become successful as a member of an ensemble(especially these days). I do love live instruments though and wish artists would put out more live recordings.
2 - zingzing
prince? maybe i only say that because he's black. but at least mlpsound is sorta r&b-ish. but you do have a point...
3 - Geordi Calrissian
My wife and I had this discussion the other day. In particular we thought about how cool it would be to see a young band come up and gain popularity like Coldplay's of today. Are there any kids into R&B band-style music? Any "afrosoul" garage bands? Part of this issue may be providing a local scene for them to be showcased. Any R&B SXSW festivals out there?
4 - cindy ignatia
i like this history but how is it going to help youth or young artist of South Africa as they want to be a part of the music industry
5 - nomsaj
great article. its always good to gain perspective on the evolution and history of music...keeps one diverse and leads to growth on the part of artists of today.
6 - BJ Brown
It is so intersting how the music industry has changed over the years and how, as CXTH says, profitability and sustainability for groups is hard. I just think it is interesting how as a genre rock seems to have and keep groups together whereas R&B does not. Hip hop has had some good ones (Fugees, Tribe, De La) yet R&B typically defers to solo acts.