I.

Introduction

Rhythm-and-Blues Music or R&B, variety of different, but related, types of popular music produced and supported primarily by black Americans beginning in the early 1940s (see African American Music). Rhythm-and-blues music, also known simply as R&B, embraces such genres as jump blues, club blues, black rock and roll, doo wop, soul, Motown, funk, disco, and rap. First coined in 1949 by Jerry Wexler, who would become prominent with Atlantic Records, the term rhythm and blues was used as a synonym for black rock and roll (rock-and-roll music done by black musicians) in the early and mid-1950s. Until white rock-and-roll performers such as Bill Haley and Elvis Presley achieved mass popularity in the mid-1950s, what was commonly referred to as rock and roll by white disc jockeys and fans was referred to as the latest style of R&B by black disc jockeys and fans.

As a tradition, R&B provided the single greatest influence on popular music worldwide for much of the second half of the 20th century. This influence can be traced in forms of rock music, country and western, gospel music, and jazz as well as in a variety of non-Western forms of music (see Worldbeat), including Nigerian juju, a style of popular dance music, and Algerian rai, another popular style distinguished by its rebellious lyrics. As the influence of various styles of R&B has grown, black urban values have also permeated a wide variety of other cultures, most notably that of contemporary Euro-American youth.