Portal:R&B and Soul Music
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 Culture · Geography · Health · History · Mathematics · Nature · Philosophy · Religion · Society · Technology Showcasing the finer articles and information on Wikipedia's R&B, soul music, and funk music singers, musicians, bands, songs, and record labels. Rhythm and blues (also known as R&B or RnB) is a popular music genre combining jazz, gospel, and blues influences, first performed by African American artists. Writer/producer Robert Palmer defines "rhythm & blues as a catchall term referring to any music that was made by and for black Americans." He has used the term R&B as a synonym for jump blues.[1] Lawrence Cohn, author of Nothing but the Blues, writes that rhythm and blues was an umbrella term invented for industry convenience. According to him, the term embraced all black music except classical music and religious music, unless a gospel song sold enough to break into the charts. Soul music is a music genre that combines rhythm and blues and gospel music, originating in the United States. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying." Funk is an American musical style that originated in the mid- to late-1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony, and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground. Unlike R&B and soul songs, which had many chord changes, funk songs are often based on an extended vamp on a single chord. Like much of African inspired music, funk typically consists of a complex groove with rhythm instruments such as electric guitar, electric bass, Hammond organ, and drums playing interlocking rhythms. Funk bands also usually have a horn section of several saxophones, trumpets, and in some cases, a trombone, which plays rhythmic "hits". "Don't Forget About Us" is a pop/R&B song co-written by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Johnta Austin and Bryan-Michael Cox, and recorded by Carey for the re-release of her tenth studio album The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). It was co-produced by Carey, Dupri and Austin and released as the album's fifth single (fourth in North America) in late 2005 (see 2005 in music). The song reached number one in Brazil, Finland and the U.S., and the top forty elsewhere. It was nominated for two awards at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. The song is a midtempo jam that harkens back to 1990s-styled R&B, and its protagonist regrets a failed relationship that never had a proper conclusion. Unlike "We Belong Together", another song from The Emancipation of Mimi, she is not very despondent, and has accepted that her ex-lover is now seeing someone else. However, she does not want him to forget what they had when they were together: "Nothing can compare to your first true love, so I hope this will remind you, when it's for real it's forever, so don't forget about us". She also reminds her ex-lover that no matter who his new girl is, "I bet she can't do like me, she'll never be MC". Carey has been accused of repeating formulas for her singles if they are successful. For instance, in the past, she was called out for making songs such as "Heartbreaker" (1999) and "Loverboy" (2001) too similar to other up-tempos like "Dreamlover" (1993) and "Fantasy" (1995). Several music critics have drawn parallels between "Don't Forget About Us" and "We Belong Together", the second and most successful single from The Emancipation of Mimi. Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine called the song "little more than a continuation of the previous hit ... On its own, "Forget" is a soulful, satisfying track, but it suggests that Carey has hit a creative wall".[2] Bill Lamb of About.com, in a more positive summary of the song, wrote "It doesn't mess with the brilliant formula of "We Belong Together" ... [but] those wanting variety from Mariah Carey need to look elsewhere".[3] "Don't Forget About Us" was nominated at the 2006 BET Awards in the BET.com "Viewers' Choice" category. It was nominated for the 2007 Grammy Awards for "Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" and "Best R&B Song". 
 Featured articles: "Baby Boy" · "Irreplaceable" · The Supremes · A articles: "Don't Forget About Us" · James Brown Good articles: "Burn" · "Caught Up" · Dreamgirls · "Déjà Vu" · "Get Me Bodied" · "Green Light" · LeToya Luckett · "Lose My Breath" · "My Boo" · "Naughty Girl" · Nina Simone · "Ring the Alarm" · "We Belong Together" · "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" · "Yeah!" · Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known by her stage name Nina Simone (IPA: ninɐ sʌmɞnɑ) (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), was a Grammy Award-nominated American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist. Although she disliked being categorized, Simone is generally classified as a jazz musician. She preferred the term "Black Classical Music" herself. Simone originally aspired to become a classical pianist, but her work covers an eclectic variety of musical styles besides her classical basis, such as jazz, soul, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop music. Her vocal style (with a rich alto vocal range[4]) is characterized by intense passion, breathiness, and tremolo. Sometimes known as the High Priestess of Soul, she paid great attention to the musical expression of emotions. Within one album or concert she could fluctuate between exuberant happiness or tragic melancholy. These fluctuations also characterized her own personality and personal life, worsened by a bipolar disorder with which she was diagnosed in the mid-sixties, but was kept secret until 2004.[5] Simone recorded over 40 live and studio albums, the biggest body of her work being released between 1958 (when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue) and 1974. Songs she is best known for include "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "I Put a Spell on You", "I Loves You Porgy", "Feeling Good", "Sinner Man", "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", "Strange Fruit", "Ain't Got No-I Got Life" and "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl". Her music and message made a strong and lasting impact on African-American culture[6], illustrated by the numerous contemporary artists who cite her as an important influence (among them Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys, Jeff Buckley, and Lauryn Hill), as well as the extensive use of her music on soundtracks and in remixes. Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina, one of eight children. She began playing piano at her local church and showed prodigious talent on this instrument. Her concert debut, a classical piano recital, was made at the age of ten. During her performance, her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone refused to play until her parents were moved back.[7][8] This incident contributed to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.
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