Stylistic origins Rhythm and blues, gospel Cultural origins 1940s–1950s, United States Typical instruments Drum kit, bass guitar, saxophone, horns, piano, organ, electric guitar, vocals, background vocals | ||
Christian R&B (also known as Gospel R&B, Rhythm & Praise music, and R&P) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music consisting of Christian-based lyrics or of musicians typically known for writing such songs, with the purpose to uplift, entertain, or to simply give a Christian perspective of any topic. Some people may view Christian R&B as a subgenre of gospel music, or a cross-genre under both gospel and R&B.
Contents
Origin and musical style
It should be noted that gospel music is one of the roots or influences of R&B music. Therefore, it is almost inappropriate to categorize Christian R&B as a subgenre under R&B. While it might seem as if R&B should be the subgenre of gospel music, R&B is rooted in several music genres and have matured and evolved over decades, making its musical characteristics audibly different from the musical nuances of gospel music. It is ironic, but still conceivable, for modern musicians to mix R&B elements with gospel music elements.
R&B originated between the 1940s and 1950s, and Christian R&B followed behind. Christian rhythm and blues have the same musical characteristics heard in regular or secular R&B music, and the only major difference between the two are the lyrics. Some Christians who perform R&B may not explicitly mention God, Jesus Christ, or other overt religious terms, but their lyrics may still fit the standards of “righteousness” or may be ethically neutral.
A few early gospel R&B musicians can be pointed out as far back as the 1950s. One R&B vocal group, for example, known as the Orioles, sung “gospel-styled reworkings of songs that had been popular country, blues, or R&B songs.” In 1953, the Orioles recorded a gospel song called Crying in the Chapel, yet, the band was considered as R&B.
A strong influence merging gospel and R&B came from Sam Cooke. He started out as the lead singer for the gospel group Soul Stirrers, but had always loved blues and jazz. He would incorporate elements from these two music styles into his gospel recordings. Even though he was making a nice living, he wanted to venture into secular music. In 1956, for fear he would upset his fans, band mates, and his record label, he released his first R&B single (called Lovable) under the assumed name Dale Cooke. Because his voice is distinctive, people weren't fooled by the name Dale Cooke.
Soon, other singers followed Cooke's footsteps, crossing over from gospel to R&B/soul and merging the two. Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and James Brown are other important figures who combined gospel and R&B.
In the early ages of R&B, the musicality distinguishing gospel from R&B was blurred. There was little or no way to tell whether a person was listening to gospel music or R&B music, unless they paid close attention to the lyrics.
Public reaction and acceptance
The success of a person’s Christian music is partly based on how the songs are composed and who is performing those songs. Even secular R&B artists are known to record Christian music. There are Christian singers with a balanced R&B and contemporary gospel blend whereas other singers fuse hip-hop with R&B, a combination that’s been in existence since the 1980s. Singers in the former will mainly attract those who prefer gospel music, and singers in the latter appeal to those who favor hip-hop and contemporary R&B. Some artists, like Canton Jones, tend to alternate between both combinations, which may have garnered him a relatively larger audience than those who fuse gospel sounds only or hip-hop sounds only.
Religious reaction
Many people continuously listen to their favorite style of music after professing their Christian faith. They begin to find sacred music of the same genre. This would mean that those who listen to R&B music could still do so after their religious conversion, imbracing artists like J. Moss, Canton Jones, Mary Mary, One Nation Crew, 21:03, Mali Music, Cynthia Jones, and Debra Killings.
Some Christian circles believe certain musical styles are inherently evil, even if positive lyrics are being sung over the music. They say genres like rap, rock, blues, and R&B shouldn’t mix with Christian music and that music should never veer away from the topic of Jesus, praise, or worship. (Ironically, the beginnings of gospel music are heavily influenced by ragtime, blues, jazz, and R&B.) In light of this info, it is no surprise that secular artists are backlashed after releasing gospel records. Several R&B artists like Dave Hollister, Michelle Williams, Shei Atkins, Kelly Price, Coko, Shirley Murdock, James Ingram, Al Green, Montell Jordan, and Aretha Franklin are said to have straddled the fence.
In 2012, gospel singer Johnny Mo appeared on Christian television program Atlanta Live singing a spiritualized cleaned-up version of R. Kelly’s 1994 hit Bump n' Grind. The song is entitled I Don’t See Nothing Wrong with Living for Jesus. Some of the comments on Madame Noir supported this song while others rejected it. One of the issues that some Christian music listeners may have with listening to Christianized versions of secular music is that the newer Christian version may cause the listener to have a flashback, tempting that listener to commit behaviors they no longer wish to enact.
Secular reaction
Devout Christians are not the only ones enjoying Christian/gospel music. As one blogger who claims to be a Black atheist said, "It’s not about the message. It’s about the sound and the feeling." He goes on to say that although he doesn't believe in a god nor in the testimonies of gospel artists, he accepts gospel music because it is rooted in his African heritage.
It is generally known that people listen to music that they can relate to. In this case, non-Christians and those who aren't serious about the faith may sometimes come across Christian music that affects them emotionally (giving them hope) or entertainment-wise (loving the style of music without necessarily caring for the lyrics).
Mary Mary, the R&B/Gospel singing duo, released their God In Me single in 2008, featuring Kierra "KiKi" Sheard. On the Billboard charts, the song peaked at #68 on the Hot 100 chart, reached the top 5 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart during their 43rd week, and went #1 on both the Dance Club Song and Hot Gospel Songs charts. Mary Mary had another popular song, Shackles (Praise You), released between 1999 and 2000, peaking at #9 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and #28 on the Hot 100 chart.
Yolanda Adams is another popular R&B/Gospel singer, whose successes include four albums that reached the top 10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Billboard chart. Her album Mountain High, Valley Low was on the chart for 94 weeks and peaked at #5. Her album Believe remained on the chart for 67 weeks and peaked at #7. Day By Day charted for 58 weeks and peaked at #4, and The Best of Me peaked at #9 while being on the chart for 18 weeks.
Without going into further chart performances for other R&B/Gospel musicians, the two examples above reveal that these songs/albums were not only played on gospel channels, and that they were received by secular audiences. Other musicians whose music charted among the top 10 or close to the top 10 R&B/Hip-Hop songs and the top 10 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums are Oleta Adams, J. Moss, Trin-i-tee 5:7, BeBe Winans, and CeCe Winans.
List of Christian musicians and singers
This list is non-exhaustive, and may not reflect recent changes.