GENRE RESEARCH (R&B)Chloe Mullahy

History R&B stands for rhythm and blues and it is most popular with

African-Americans . It was first introduced in the 1940s and was predominantly

aimed at African-Americans as it was during a time when a more urban jazz music was becoming more popular.

The lyrics that were found within the songs usually described the pain and the thoughts of freedom and joy. The lyrics were heavily revolved around their triumphs and failures and their future aspirations.

Throughout the decades the style of R&B has changed electric blues to gospel to soul music. All of these are still used today.

In the 1980s, R&B developed into the more contempory sound that we hear today with music artists such as Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston being the most influential of the 20th century.

Iconography When thinking of music magazines that relate to R&B, the

most popular are Vibe, XXL and Billboard magazine. All have very different approaches to their style but they all have typical R&B conventions.

As the R&B genre is currently dominating the music industry, I am apart of the target audience and so I can see and gather what conventions are consistently repeated. I have noticed that both men and women follow the typical clothing and accessories guide which allows an audience to relate back to the genre.

Men and Women Within the R&B genre, women appear very

sexualised with women wearing revealing clothing. This is done so that they attract the attention of the male audience.

By them wearing revealing and figure hugging clothing, it typically pleases the male reader and ultimately attracts them to their music and magazines which they are featured in.

However, there are more female R&B artists now that break that stereotypical rule of being sexualised in music videos etc as they now tend to cover up more and sing/rap about being an independent woman rather than sexualising themselves.

Men and Women Similarly to women, men are also sexualised

in the media within this genre as they tend to be seen topless whilst wearing chains and watches etc. This is done to simply show off their wealth as well as their toned bodies and tattoos attracting the female audiences attention

Men are seen to have a big influence on many people and so the things that they sing/rap about are glamorised by these artists.

Expensive brands tend to be put onto these artists which gives them the extra look of authority within the industry which again makes them appear more glamorous

My Own Magazine

After researching the R&B genre, I know how men and women are portrayed within magazines and so I want to include more women in my magazine, however they will be seen as more independent music artists rather than being sexualised to attract the male audience.

I understand that iconography is important as it helps the audience relate the artist to the genre. For example, chains and other jewellery as well as clothing brands makes the artist look like they have a glamorous and luxury lifestyle.