Normani: “Why Does Pop Have To Be So White?”

[Sonic Boom of the South]

I only know this Bih from here never heard 1 song from that group or her solo shyt

She cute tho

 

[VertigoKnight]

I just don’t get where the shift in the erasure of blk musicians from pop music came in when we used to run shyt.

N'Sync and Backstreet Boys were some of the first ones who were by all accounts 'wiggas'

But when white pop artists started having more black producers and black rappers on their songs it was a wrap

So Neptunes era.

Their sound kinda paved the way for most of these white pop artists to use that sound.

 

[Lootha VanDraws]

When she drops an album I'm getting it no questions asked. Hell maybe even two copies...

 

[CarmelBarbie]

I really need some music heads to breakdown how and why this shyt happened. B/c when I was growing up black artists were KILLING pop. Hell “Thong Song” was everywhere. “Waterfalls”
“I’ll Make Love To You”
“The Boy Is Mine”

I thought those songs were considered R&B?

 

[Cel 510 kid ados forever]

I thought those songs were considered R&B?

I thought she was too carmel I didn't kno this is considered pop

 

[CarmelBarbie]

N'Sync and Backstreet Boys were some of the first ones who were by all accounts 'wiggas'

But when white pop artists started having more black producers and black rappers on their songs it was a wrap

So Neptunes era.

Their sound kinda paved the way for most of these white pop artists to use that sound.

They weren’t “wiggas” rofl, they were another extension of pop. Around that time musical groups with that sound were popular. Spice girls(I loved them), that black group Cleopatra, 98 degrees—they were all in the band/group pop era. It’s distinctly different from the sounds, vibe, and artists that were considered R&B.

Maybe I’m getting confused but I don’t remember a time where we reigned or cared for pop, outside of Michael Jackson. I feel like spice girls, Backstreet Boys, Brittany Spears, Jessica Simpson Mandy Moore, were all examples of pop. Whereas Brandy, Monica and other black musical groups and artist had a little more soul and less of that bubbly sound so they were considered R&B.

 

[⠝⠕⠏⠑]

I thought those songs were considered R&B?

I think what I’m trying to describe is how our R&B WAS pop back in the day.

The charts and genres have always been separate but blk R&B reigned at one time.

 

[I Really Mean It]

I really need some music heads to breakdown how and why this shyt happened. B/c when I was growing up black artists were KILLING pop. Hell “Thong Song” was everywhere. “Waterfalls”
“I’ll Make Love To You”
“The Boy Is Mine”

White America can’t erase us, but they can make strides towards the erasure of our cultural impact, given they control the mediums through which that influence is channeled. Most black artists would rather get a check from white daddy, along with the seeming acceptance by white people that accompanies it, rather than build their own economy that facilitates the ownership of what they create.

 

[⠝⠕⠏⠑]

N'Sync and Backstreet Boys were some of the first ones who were by all accounts 'wiggas'

But when white pop artists started having more black producers and black rappers on their songs it was a wrap

So Neptunes era.

Their sound kinda paved the way for most of these white pop artists to use that sound.

Please tell me this ain’t the case. I do remember thinking these groups were imitating black boy bands...didn’t know about blk producers.

 

[Taadow]

I’ve wondered this as well. What shifted from the time in the 90s where blk RnB reigned on the charts to now?

I can’t be the only one who remembers blk artists literally Debo’ing the music charts in the 90s.

Baby face, Toni Braxton, TLC, Boyz 2 Men, ect...

You just answered your own question here...3/4 of these artists come from the same source,
who by their own admission said that "We wanted to make Pop records, because Black Catalogue doesn't sell as good as Pop" and "sometimes our music could sound 'too pretty'".

 

[Taadow]

N'Sync and Backstreet Boys were some of the first ones who were by all accounts 'wiggas'

But when white pop artists started having more black producers and black rappers on their songs it was a wrap

So Neptunes era.

Their sound kinda paved the way for most of these white pop artists to use that sound.

Before that...but the cold part is, those Black producers and artists were working with White artists because the Black artists didn't want to work with them.

 

[satam55]

I really need some music heads to breakdown how and why this shyt happened. B/c when I was growing up black artists were KILLING pop. Hell “Thong Song” was everywhere. “Waterfalls”
“I’ll Make Love To You”
“The Boy Is Mine”

I thought those songs were considered R&B?

We've talked about this a bunch times in The Booth over the years. Growing up, I remember in the early 2000's that Hip-Hop/R&B/Urban hits regularly got played on the Pop radio stations. These were usually Hip-Hop/R&B/Urban hits hits that crossovered into pop hits But by the late 2000's, Pop stations no longer played them in favor of EDM music.

 

[Kiyoshi-Dono]

N'Sync and Backstreet Boys were some of the first ones who were by all accounts 'wiggas'

But when white pop artists started having more black producers and black rappers on their songs it was a wrap

So Neptunes era.

Their sound kinda paved the way for most of these white pop artists to use that sound.

New Kids on the Block..
Were really the first group to be pushed as the white “urban” group..
With Mark Wahlberg racist ass to come soon after..

 

[CarmelBarbie]

I think what I’m trying to describe is how our R&B WAS pop back in the day.

The charts and genres have always been separate but blk R&B reigned at one time.

Oh I see.

I think honestly back then R&B was better, point blank period. It also had more of a crossover appeal between the different pockets of black people, so older and younger could rock to some of the same songs. Mary j, Toni Braxton, Mariah, Maxwell, etc. you felt the songs, they touched you. These days that’s not happening. For instance I don’t think even half of the popular R&B stars crossover or sound memorable enough. I don’t think summer walker is that good for instance. Her voice, sound, etc. yet she’s popular for that younger dem. group.

You have a strange fusion happening where R&B and hip hop are molding together as a sound. For instance Chris brown. His first CD was really the only classic R&B album. The rest is partially him singing, rapping, and talking about the same shyt we hear in rap. That’s another issue happening. A lot of these singers are singing about the same dumb topics that’s being rapped about. R&B used to be about love, heartbreak. Now we hearing R&B songs calling women hoes. No matter how many new R&B artists they introduce they all be sounding the same, lacking emotion and soul, nothing authentic, no real vibe—Reflecting the current generation perfectly.

 

[Cel 510 kid ados forever]

They weren’t “wiggas” rofl, they were another extension of pop. Around that time musical groups with that sound were popular. Spice girls(I loved them), that black group Cleopatra, 98 degrees—they were all in the band/group pop era. It’s distinctly different from the sounds, vibe, and artists that were considered R&B.

Maybe I’m getting confused but I don’t remember a time where we reigned or cared for pop, outside of Michael Jackson. I feel like spice girls, Backstreet Boys, Brittany Spears, Jessica Simpson Mandy Moore, were all examples of pop. Whereas Brandy, Monica and other black musical groups and artist had a little more soul and less of that bubbly sound so they were considered R&B.

this I dont remember blacks ever dominating pop outside of mj.

r and b was the black genre