Personally, more often than not, I find R&B and Contemporary R&B to be confused quite a lot in today's world. Yes, you are correct, R&B is the mother genre to Contemporary R&B, but you're probably wondering how they're different. Contemporary R&B is a mixture of R&B, pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music (Wikipedia). One may see that definition, and find it almost impossible to identify a song as Contemporary R&B because of the multiple genres it includes. However, I promise you that it's not as hard as you may think. Contemporary R&B has become more mainstream today because its rhythm commonly borrows from the technical advancements and cultural movements that are made within our society as time progresses.
The best example of Contemporary R&B is Broken Clocks by SZA. Broken Clocks remains consistent with the classic themes of R&B, which would be the lyrics about lost love and economic struggles, and a slowed down tempo to match the solemn tone conveyed throughout the piece. However, what makes this song Contemporary R&B rather than regular R&B is the BPM and rhythm. The beats per minute is 113 (Tunebat), which is very different from its R&B counterpart, whose common BPM range is from 60-80 (Musical U). Additionally, the rhythm is quite different to its R&B roots. The rhythm is still 4/4, but there are no traditional instruments used to create it like the piano, guitar, bass, drums, and a saxophone. It's almost entirely a trap beat infused with a continuous loop of machine-made sounds and autotune, which makes it contemporary because of the advanced technology of today. It really creates an artificial rhythm unique to the song.
Despite the difficulties in identifying Contemporary R&B, once one examines its rhythmic components, it's not too hard to distinguish. Contemporary R&B is an ever changing genre that clings onto the popularity of rhythmic components in its present.
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