The Music That Shaped Me (part 4 of 4)

September 4, 2016 No Comment

R&B and Hip Hop

OK, I must admit I probably know more about jazz and rock than I do about R&B and Hip Hop. I believe the reasons for that are geographical and demo graphical. You see, I grew up in an area where there weren’t many people of colour. In my high school for example, I was the only black person in the entire school for the first two years. So I didn’t get the influences of the music my culture was listening to.

That’s not to say I didn’t listen. Even back then you couldn’t possibly avoid the lure of 70’s and 80’s R&B or emerging Hip Hop. For me, another reason I didn’t latch on to those types of music is that I’m not really a vocal music person. I love instrumental music (why I love jazz and classical so much). If you asked me the words to a popular song I’m sure I would stumble. A song may be popular and I may like it but I just don’t pay attention to the words. I’m all about the instruments and the interaction between them.

That said, there were some influences that were significant to me and for varying reasons (again most likely having to do with the music behind the vocalist) but really in this category it’s hard to miss the sound of a good singer or the power of a good rhyme. Here are the R&B and Hip Hop artists that shaped my musical me. Of course there were many, but these are the big one. (again the videos are just examples of their music).