Inclined to agree.The producers of today can barely read unless it is for a vape ingredient. But making real music built on music theory and not chopping up 90s samples? Nah...
R&B is trash in 2020
But even if artists couldn't read music, old school artists could at least play instruments. And that last part seems to be dying.
I saw an interview of Rick James where he touched on this, saying that because kids aren't taught music and instruments in schools or at a young age, they never learn fundamentals of music or how to create something new and original. So all they have is to sample the works of someone else (and I suppose by extension, means music is less interesting -- but this is my conclusion)
I think hip hop/rap/R&B is all the same thing now. You give it different names but to me it's all just pop music.

I won’t ask how

then maybe folks will stop believing they have to have a "sound" that sells


