contemporary R&B

Contemporary R&B is a popular music genre, originating from African-American musicians in the 1970s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of disco, funk, soul, jazz, blues, electronic, and hip-hop. The incorporation of disco and electronic textures and production styles, which came to prominence since the 2010s decade, brought forth a style called electro-R&B.

The genre features a distinctive record production style and a smooth, lush style of vocal arrangement. Electronic influences and the use of hip-hop or dance-inspired beats are typical, although the roughness and grit inherent in hip-hop may be reduced and smoothed out. Contemporary R&B vocalists often use melisma, and since the mid-1980s, R&B rhythms have been combined with elements of hip-hop culture and music, soul culture and soul music.