Do today's Black artists have soul?

[FeverPitch2]

When you listen to artists from Black artists from back in the day, there was no question they had soul.
You heard and felt it.
Or was that just our imagination?
Do today's artists have a different type of soul or do they have any at all?
What is soul?
Is that the missing ingredient?
Is it even necessary in music today?
I saw Aretha's Amazing Grace movie yesterday so this was on my mind
Let me set out some clips

The Emotions in church from the film Wattstax


Al Green backed by Chicago


Marvin Gaye rehearsing


Stevie Wonder working on a song


Johnnie Taylor from Wattstax


Otis Redding live


Terence Trent D'Arby live:


Aretha singing in church:

 

[Ol’Otis]

a few do

 

[Booker T Garvey]

uhhhhhh.....

 

[YakSpiller]

Nothing mainstream.

90% of this shyt is the most soulless, shallow and plastic music ever created.

This generation of r&b is straight ass.

 

[Booker T Garvey]

Nothing mainstream.

90% of this shyt is the most soulless, shallow and plastic music ever created.

This generation of r&b is straight ass.

if you're signed to a major, you have to use their algorithms, everybody does.

i've posted about this numerous times it's not a conspiracy theory

 

[FeverPitch2]

uhhhhhh.....

 

[Hyperion]

Most musicians who do, would be the ones you rarely hear from and don't clout chase -- they're doing their own thing, and are probably more focused on creating music that's going to make you feel something.

It's tough to be in touch with your soul AND be wrapped up in what everybody else is doing.

 

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

Our music was soulful in the past because it emanated from our spirituality.

The spiritual underpinnings of popular music since the 1990s, have diminished significantly
in comparison to what had come previously.

 

[Booker T Garvey]

Our music was soulful in the past because it emanated from our spirituality.

this is deep. wow.

 

[Dave24]

Not anymore

 

[Wear My Dawg's Hat]

this is deep. wow.

Clearly, you understand just how magical our music once was.

 

[Take It In Blood]

Autotune melodies is the new wave

 

[YakSpiller]

if you're signed to a major, you have to use their algorithms, everybody does.

i've posted about this numerous times it's not a conspiracy theory

Interesting.

I don’t know if anyone knows music theory on here...I have a question.

Spoiler

In that first video, it says something about switching and repeating the 3rd and 5th note in the scale. Is that after the root note?

Like if I’m in Cm...you use the Eb and G note with C to get that catchy melody.

Tryna make a soulless platinum hit outchea

 

[FeverPitch2]

if you're signed to a major, you have to use their algorithms, everybody does.

i've posted about this numerous times it's not a conspiracy theory

That Milliennial Whoop shyt used to piss me way off
Then after that article came out they stopped that shyt immediately
Coincidence?

 

[Days of Future Piff]

Our music was soulful in the past because it emanated from our spirituality.

The spiritual underpinnings of popular music since the 1990s, have diminished significantly
in comparison to what had come previously.

I was listening to this right as I was reading this thread, as well.



I think the issues with current R&B stem from a number of sources...

* Music programs in schools aren't really what they used to be. Not a lot of inner city kids are taught how to read and play music in school or in church (the Black Church was a huge part of our culture, and the birthplace of many musical styles that we've cultivated). I think this is why nearly every other popular song out today is the same four chords

* For the white folks running the record labels, R&B was the one genre that they couldn't quite duplicate. Only we could pull it off. So they dumbed down R&B, phased it out, and replaced it with other genres that white people could copy more easily. They've been biting black music and sabotaging black artists forever, and we're seeing the effects today more clearly than ever.

* I think a part of it also ties into the systematic breakdown of the black family/community, whether it's through gangs, government-planted weapons and drugs, welfare, population control, poor schooling, radical feminism being pushed in our communities, our leaders getting killed off, etc. The quality of our music is reflective of what's happening with our culture.

* I think another part of it is simply regional differences. Certain musical styles and sounds evolved on their own over decades in various parts of the world. Now that we're so interconnected through the web, everyone has access to everything now, so styles don't evolve on their own without outside interference the way they used to. Things are more homogenized today because of the internet.

I could be wrong on all of this though. I want to know what some of you think