Welcome to The State of R&B, ESSENCE’s look at the past, present and future of rhythm and blues. In this piece, ESSENCE editor Rivéa Ruff reports on the blending of hip-hop and R&B. Since the ...

Host Erykah Badu attends the 2016 Soul Train Music Awards at the Orleans Arena on November 6, 2016 in Las Vegas. The combination of rhythm and blues spurred the development of the culture and genre ...

For many decades, going as far back as the 1940s, artists from the world of R&B couldn’t really claim mainstream success until they’d crossed over to Top 40 radio and the pop charts. This century, it ...

The Listening: New Music From Coco Jones, Future, Ne-Yo, DJ Premier and Alchemist, Bryson Tiller, Kelela, J. Cole and More This week’s new music Friday also features Tank, Ciara, The-Dream, Snoop Dogg ...

Billboard celebrates Black Music Month with list of the genre's legendary acts. What does it take to be considered one of the greatest R&B groups of all time? That’s the question at the heart of this ...

A group of young singer-songwriters have transformed the genre by looking backward, without getting stuck in the past. Here and below are seven of the many contemporary artists who are redefining and ...

This week, Jacquees anointed himself the undisputed ruler of R&B— and all hell broke loose. “I just wanna let everybody know that I’m the king of R&B right now, for this generation,” said the ...

Fresh off his first Grammy win, the virtuoso vocalist returns with a time capsule of the sounds that raised him. Read the full Billboard interview. By Kyle Denis The last time Durand Bernarr spoke ...

The newspaper, which started in 1966 with a focus on R&B, funk and disco, shut down in 1982. But one of its founders’ grandsons is devoted to finding it a new online audience. By Christopher Petkanas ...

In 2015, the Weeknd went pop, the Internet went big and Janet Jackson went back to the duo that helped her explode in the Eighties. Leon Bridges and Kali Uchis breathed new life into vintage sounds ...