Longtime R&B singer and songwriter, #EricBenet, recently appeared on Van Lathan’s “The Red Pill” podcast where he broke down the current state of his genre. The “Georgy Porgy” singer considers himself somewhere in the middle between elders that appreciate today’s R&B and elders that don’t.
“When I listen to the stuff that’s really being glorified I don’t get it,“ Benet said as he explained his reaction to today’s R&B selections. ⠀⠀⠀
“A lot of it is using technology as a crutch, you can hear the vocal isn’t really organic it’s been auto-tuned to hell,” he continued.
However, the 90’s singer admitted he can relate to this generation’s rhythm and blues when he spends time with his 26-year-old daughter.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
During the podcast, Lathan posed the question: Is R&B dying?
“The art form that I fell in love with is not dying, but it’s like they want to hear it [R&B] but not from black people,” Benet answered, “It’s always how the music industry has been dating back to Elvis,” he continued as he addressed the history of bias in the music biz repeating itself.
While Sam Smith and Adele get the “genius” label, Eric says established black singers, like Kenny Lattimore, don’t get nearly as much attention.
Since both white artists Benet mentioned are European, Lathan questioned the possibility of British fans appreciating true R&B more than Americans.
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“From my travels to Europe, there is a greater appreciation for authentic, real R&B…. over here the emphasis and attraction seems to be more in the personality, life drama, bravado in the lyrics, as opposed to really outstanding musical props,” the platinum recording artist concluded.
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Do we agree with the points #EricBenet made about today’s R&B status? Comment below!
