As its new, diverse, and endlessly exciting sounds drew inspiration from across the musical spectrum, R&B came to define American mainstream music in the '90s. Here are the key tracks from R&B's most vital decade.
Despite the prominence of malaise-infused genres like grunge, the '90s yielded a glut of shamelessly fun-loving, crowd-pleasing hits. Here's our salute to the '90s songs that made us feel so good.
Many of the solo artists that emerged in the 1970s became widely referred to as "singer-songwriters." These artists wrote and performed songs that were personal, sincere, introspective, and, most importantly, timeless.
Building upon the wealth of '90s R&B artists who perfected the modern slow jam, R&B artists in the '00s added their own synthetic flourishes to rhythms that bluntly force you to get down.