A-Side
Over the past few years, the claim “R&B is dead” has circled at every level of the music industry, from fans and music executives to artists themselves. There have been a few valid critiques, like the rise and commercial success of “whisper” singers, but the assertion “R&B is dead” is a grave exaggeration. Today’s R&B is different, but different is not inherently bad, and R&B is far from dead. A close look at song structure reveals just one of the reasons why modern R&B is different.
While a song’s chorus summarizes its essence and usually is the catchiest part of a song, the bridge is the most exciting part. A song’s bridge, typically arriving after the second verse and chorus, serves as the departure. It offers the chance to depart from the lyrical and melodic norms established in the verses and chorus, allowing musical elements like new rhythms, chords, and notes to take form. Bridges are challenging to execute, but they elevate a song to the next level when done successfully.
R&B artists of the past used the bridge to illustrate their mastery of both singing and songwriting. They were vocal powerhouses, and the bridge of a song was just another way to prove this. Even if they weren’t penning their bridges on their own, they grasped the importance of choosing strong songwriters (like Babyface). R&B artists knew how to take it to the bridge.
Fans miss bridges in R&B so much that they’ve launched informal campaigns to bring them back.
But if we love(d) them so much, what happened to the bridge?
For starters, bridges are incredibly difficult to write and execute. They can elevate a song, but if done mediocrely, they can also ruin it. A bad bridge can torch an entire song, so it’s better to burn it and not include it at all. On a larger scale, we’ve witnessed the length of songs shrink over time, impacting song structure across genres. Quartz reported on the “economics of streaming” last year.
From 2013 to 2018, the average song on the Billboard Hot 100 fell from 3 minutes and 50 seconds to about 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Six percent of hit songs were 2 minutes 30 seconds or shorter in 2018, up from just 1% five years before.
Short songs reign supreme in the streaming era because they can rack up streams quickly. Every second counts, and in a traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus song structure, the bridge is the first to be burned. Although bridges offer that special something, they aren’t required in songs. It doesn’t matter how much we miss bridges because the current industry incentivizes diminutive songs and rewards brevity.
Like many things in the world, nuance is important. It is possible to lament the burning of bridges in R&B without forsaking the entire genre. With artists like Lucky Daye, Ari Lennox, Gallant, SiR, Kiana Ledé, and more, it should be clear that R&B is not dead. The industry is changing, and the genre is too. So, instead of bashing modern R&B as a whole genre, let’s celebrate artists from the past who took it to the bridge.
Flip over to the B-Side to listen to a few of my favorite bridges in R&B.
B-Side
What’s the 411?
July 28, 2020, marked the 28th anniversary of Mary J. Blige’s debut album, What’s the 411? In the words of Jimmy Smith (sampled and edited on Drake’s “Pound Cake / Paris Morton Music 2”), “Only real music is gonna last. All the other bullsh*t is here today and gone tomorrow...” This section of A-Side/B-Side is dedicated to this classic.
Happy 47th Birthday, Hip-Hop! On August 11, 1973, Cindy Campbell and DJ Kool Herc threw a back to school party at 1520 Sedgwick Ave in the Bronx, New York. Hip-hop was born. Kathy Iandoli explores Cindy Campbell’s role as the mastermind behind the party in her book, God Save The Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop. “You never thought that hip-hop would take it this far.” - Notorious B.I.G.
Spotify launched RapCaviar Day1 Club, an initiative where you discover and share the rappers you’ve been listening to the longest. “If you’ve been listening since Day 1, this is your chance to prove it!” I got Megan Thee Stallion, and it was confirmed when one of my college roommates randomly texted me this:
Miss listening to music/playlists/podcasts with your friends? You can start a group session with Spotify’s Group Session Beta and “listen with friends, in real time. Pick what to play and control the music together.” To get started,
Click or tap the Connect menu in the bottom-left corner of the play screen and scroll down to “Start a group session.” Then, share the invite link with your guests or have them scan the Spotify code to join the session.
Take It To The Bridge
Just a few of my favorite bridges…
There are sooooo many more, so don’t drag me if I didn’t get your fav lol. Let me know what they are.
From the Archives
From my personal archives, here is a vintage Yo! MTV Raps De La Soul collector’s card from 1991! I have a whole collection, so y’all will be seeing the rest of the artists, and other physical/digital items I collect or “pull” from the archives, over the course of A-Side/B-Side.
The Credits
Shoutout to you if you made it this far! This newsletter is free, so the best way to support is to let me know what you think and to share A-Side/B-Side with others.