Urban contemporary music

Urban contemporary music,also known asurban music,hip hop,urban pop,or just simplyurban,is a musicradio format.The term was coined by New York radio DJFrankie Crockerin the early to mid-1970s as a synonym forBlack music.Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of Black genres such asR&B,pop-rap,quiet storm,urban adult contemporary,hip hop,Latin musicsuch as Latin pop, Chicano R&B andChicano rap,andCaribbean musicsuch asreggaeandsoca.Urban contemporary was developed through the characteristics of genres such as R&B andsoul.

Because urban music is a largely U.S. phenomenon, virtually all urban contemporary formatted radio stations in the United States are located in cities that have sizeableAfrican-Americanpopulations, such as New York City; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Atlanta; Miami; Chicago; Cleveland; Philadelphia; Montgomery; Memphis; St. Louis; Newark; Charleston; New Orleans; Milwaukee; Cincinnati; Dallas; Houston; Oakland; Sacramento; Los Angeles; Trenton; Columbia; Jacksonville; Flint; Baltimore; Boston; Birmingham; Indianapolis; Charlotte; Savannah; Hartford; and Jackson.

Urban contemporary music includes the more contemporary elements of R&B and may incorporate production elements found in urban Euro-pop, urban rock, and urban alternative.

Summary

The termurban contemporary musicis heavily associated withAfrican-American music,particularly with R&B in African-American contexts. ForLatin Americans,reggaetonandLatin hip hopare considered "Latin urban"due to influence of above mentioned genres.

Urban contemporary playlists are dominated by singles by top-selling hip hop and R&B performers. On occasion, an urban contemporary station will play classic soul songs from the 1970s and early 1980s to satisfy the earlier end of the genre.

Many urban-formatted radio stations, such asKJLH,KPRS,KMEL,KDAY,KRNB,andWVEE,playgospel musicorurban contemporary gospelmusic on Sundays.

Mainstream urbanis a branch of urban contemporary, andrhythmic contemporaryis also a branch.

History

The 1970s

In 1971,Frankie Crockerwould combine all the elements of his background, withjazzandR&B.When Frankie Crocker was appointed asprogram directorof the newly createdWBLSin 1974, he created an eclectic music mix ofR&Banddiscoredefining the R&B format asurban contemporary.In 1975, WDMT in Cleveland began programming a mix of rhythm, blues, R&B, disco, and rap. The station featured livestreet jocksmixingvinyl recordseach night. The station's popularity grew and in 1980, it wasArbitronrated No. 2 12+, just behind the No. 1 ratedWMMSwith the original "Morning Zoo".

The 1980s

In 1983,WBLSinNew York Citywas the first station to air arapradio show, "Rap Attack" withMr. MagicandMarley Marl.Freddie Jackson and Luther Vandross were popular in urban contemporary music scene.Late 1980s, Luther Vandross, Freddy Jackson, andWhitney Houstonwere popular in this genre.

During the early 1980s as newly formedWRKS-FM(98.7 Kiss FM) became the first rap station in the United States,WBLS quickly began adding more rap songs to its playlists. The urban format by this time was redefined by an eclectic mix ofR&B,rap,reggae,dance,house,andfreestyle.WBLS continued as the flagship station of the urban format; however,Kiss FMsurpassed them in the ratings.

Another successful early urban outlet wasWDRQin Detroit, which switched from a top 40 format in the spring of 1982 and made a #2 showing 12+ in its first Arbitron ratings book. In addition to rap, R&B and dance music, WDRQ featured mainstream pop music with a danceable beat from artists.

Many radio stations imitated the urban sound since it was proven to be more profitable than other formats and had proven itself more adept than straightforward black-targeted R&B formats at attracting white and Latino listeners.

Late in the decade,WVAZChicagoandWALRAtlantabecame some of the firstadult R&Bstations, playing artists that appealed to adults rather than rap or other styles that young people enjoyed.

Another subformat of urban contemporary isrhythmic contemporary hits.Stations playing rhythmic contemporary hits plays a great deal of dance music; however, hip-hop has become increasingly popular in the format in recent years.WQHT-FM(Hot 97) andKPWR(Power 106) were the first stations to utilize this format.

1990s–present

Since the 1990s, as urban contemporary hits have dominated the US pop charts, manytop 40 stationshave turned to playing tracks popular on urban contemporary radio stations.

Following periods of fluctuating success, urban music attained commercial dominance during the early 2000s, which featured massivecrossoversuccess on theBillboardchartsby R&B and hip hop artists.In 2004, all 12 songs that topped theBillboardHot 100were African-American recording artists and accounted for 80% of thenumber-one R&B hitsthat year.Along withUsher's streak of singles, top 40 radio and both pop and R&B charts were topped byOutKast's "Hey Ya!",Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot",Terror Squad's "Lean Back"andCiara's "Goodies".Chris Molanphy ofThe Village Voicelater remarked that by the early 2000s, urban musicwaspop music.

In late-mid of the decade,KRNBDallassigned on as an R&B and classic soul station.

By the late 2000s, urban music had taken a backseat on top 40 radio to mainstreamEDMsounds, and several successful urban artists, includingRihanna,Chris Brown,Ciara,Usher,Nicole Scherzinger,Akon,Trey Songz,Pitbull,Flo Rida,andNe-Yo,were making EDM records for top 40 airplay while continuing to make hip hop or pure R&B records for urban airplay. Pure urban formats continue to be successful in markets with largeAfrican-Americanpopulations, while medium or smaller markets are more likely to feature urban music through the subset ofrhythmic contemporarystations with danceable mainstream hits mixed in.

TheGrammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaborationhas been awarded since 2002.

Name controversy

In 2020, members of the music industry voiced disagreement over the use of the termurbanin describing music genres and formats, especially among African-American artists who see the term as a "catchall for music created by black artists, regardless of genre".Contributing to the debate, Lance Venta of radio industry publicationRadioInsightclaimed that the termurbanwas outdated in that hip hop and R&B music had gained massive popularity outside the inner cities and the descriptor should not serve as a euphemism for "black music". He recommended substituting the termship hopfor the urban contemporary format andadult R&Bforurban adult contemporary.Tyler, the Creatoralso spoke out, stating "[i]t sucks that whenever we — and I mean guys that look like me — do anything that's genre-bending or that's anything, they always put it in a rap or urban category", adding that "I don't like that 'urban' word — it's just a politically correct way to say then-wordto me ".

Myron Fears, operations manager and program director of the black owned Carter Broadcast Group in Kansas City, defended the use of theurbantag. Responding to Republic's elimination of the term, he expressed concern that the action diminishes the status of black music executives within record companies and the industry as a whole:

I do not think it's a great idea because it nullifies all the hard work that past African American music executives built. This potentially leads to the dissolving of people and positions within the Urban music division. Hip Hop and R&B is leading the way for the surge in music sales and usage of streaming. Are the other positions, titles and departments within a record company going to change or dissolve?... Do they realize the cultural power of Urban Music?

— Myron Fears, Carter Broadcast Group operations manager/program director

In the wake of themurder of George Floydand the subsequentprotests,a number of institutions dropped the termurbanin favor of other terms. In June 2020,Republic Recordsand artist management company Milk & Honey stated that they would drop the use of the word in relation to music of a black origin.That same month, theNational Academy for Recording Arts and Sciencesrenamed and redefined theGrammy Awardfor Best Urban Contemporary Album withBest Progressive R&B Album,"to appropriately categorize and describe this subgenre. This change includes a more accurate definition to describe the merit or characteristics of music compositions or performances themselves within the genre of R&B".They also renamed the Best Latin Pop or Urban Album toBest Latin Pop Album,while changing the name of the Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album toBest Latin Rock or Alternative Album.

See also

• Urban adult contemporary