Rhythm and blues--also known as R&B or RnB--is a popular music genre combining jazz, gospel, and blues influences and was first performed by African-American artists. In the 2000s, the initialism R&B is almost always used instead of the full rhythm and blues, and mainstream use of the term usually refers to contemporary R&B, which is a modern version of soul and funk-influenced pop music that originated as disco faded from popularity.
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In the United Kingdom, R&B found its way into the UK garage subgenre of 2-step, typified by R&B-style singing accompanied by breakbeat/drum and bass rhythms. Among the most notable 2-step acts are Mario, B2K, Immature Mis-Teeq, Lisa Maffia and Craig David, who crossed over to American R&B audiences in the early 2000s.
By the 2000s, the cross-pollination between R&B and hip hop had increased. Mainstream modern R&B has a sound more based on rhythm than hip hop soul had, and lacks the hardcore and soulful urban "grinding" feel on which hip-hop soul relied. That rhythmic element descends from new jack swing. R&B began to focus more on solo artists rather than groups as the 2000s progressed. Some of the most prominent R&B musicians today include artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Ashanti, Ciara, Beyoncé, Usher, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, Rihanna, T-Pain, Akon and Trey Songz.
Soulful R&B continues to be popular, with artists such as Alicia Keys, Mario, Anthony Hamilton, and John Legend showcasing classic influences in their work. Some R&B singers have also used elements of Caribbean music in their work, especially dancehall and reggaeton.
Located below you will find a list of some of the best R&B songs of the 1970s. For your convenience, we have included links to the sheet music on Sheetmusicplus.com as well as the CD on Amazon.com whenever available. If you are looking to purchase the mp3 or would like to listen to a sample, then click on either the Amazon, Rhapsody, or iTunes links.
Rhapsody provides both music subscriptions as well as individual mp3s for sale in WMA format and iTunes only provides MPEG-4 audio files for sale. However, Amazon does offer mp3s that are compatible with both Windows Media Player and iTunes. For more information about where to purchase music online, we provide it on our Music Downloads page or our Music Subscriptions page.
These singles are considered among the best R&B songs to hit the charts in the 2000s.
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