When we were talking about music, I thought about that more, and went on like a three day listening binge, Jodeci, R. Kelly, Brain McKnight, The Isley Brothers, Janet Jackson, Keith Sweat, Mariah Carey, like all that. And even though I play them all the time, I was struck by how drenched in how romance it was, and how drenched in sex it was, when thinking about modern culture. I found some quote on Reddit about how the music back then had a focus on romantic relationships, the yearning, the passion, the romance. And the heartbreak. But it was rarely just an individualistic perspective, which seemed accurate to me.
And I don't listen to a lot of modern R&B, but I know enough, and I would say it is very focused on one person's experience, often framed negatively. A song like R.Kelly and Sparkle Be Careful, (this song sounds so reasonable in 2025) was a masterpiece, and a song like Drake and SZA Slime U Out is something I like. But a little of that goes a long way, and for a lot of people, that's all they hear. Who are the big stars? SZA? And a lot of imitators. Doja Cat, Dooechii. And the pop stars, like Sabrina Carpenter, the music is maybe "empowering", but compared to like 90's Janet, or Mariah, it's not uplifting.
Some of these women I know, who are like 30, they all seem to lack that romance, that kind of passion. I was thinking if they listened to all that 90's shyt for a month, they would feel better. And I don't know which one is upstream or downstream of the other, music/culture/labels/artists, but it's pretty apparent to me. The music reflects the times.