What exactly is the genre of R&B

R&B is a musical genre that combines jazz, gospel, and electronic blues.

Early R&B artists came from the Big-Band and Swing-Jazz fields. Jazz was far more popular before World War II than it is today, when it was music played for dancing, but there were usually singers in the band.

During World War II, many important jazz artists began to develop Be Bop and Cool Jazz, less danceable jazz. Jazz with fewer danceable elements. However, due to the economic and military constraints of wartime, the "big band" began to dwindle.

But listeners, especially those in the African-American communities that were growing rapidly in large cities, still wanted music to dance to. So musicians adapted by making boogie music that was louder, used more electro-acoustic instruments, and featured riffs.

Expanded:

History

In the late 1940s, more cities began to have their own "jump blues" stars. Los Angeles-based independent record labels Specialty and Aladdin filled the gap between the major labels and the jump blues scene by releasing "jump blues" records. the gap left by the major labels in this field, but also made a success of their own.

Beginning in the '50s, "Race" music was used by Billboard's Jerry Wexler to rename R&B. As Atlantic's A&B, the label's A&B, was a major player in the music industry. "As the A&R of Atlantic Records, Jerry promoted "jump blues" to pop music listeners and teenagers.

In the early to mid-1950s, rock 'n' roll came into its own. A number of genres, distinctly different from R&B, came into their own, exerting varying degrees of influence on popular music culture.

For R&B, the monumental significance and belated applause it receives today doesn't change the dilemma it faced in the beginning -- early R&B records were hard to accept by a whole new audience.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Rhythm and Blues