The 1990s and 2000s
African-American rapper 2Pac had huge success in 1995 with his album Me Against The World, which was released while he was imprisoned for sexual assault. He had further success after being released from prison, with his albums All Eyez on Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, and after his fatal shooting and death in Las Vegas in 1996, his politically charged lyrics influenced many hip-hop artists and a big part of the African-American community. His East Coast rival the Notorious B.I.G., was murdered the following year, mere weeks before the release of Life After Death. Life After Death would go on to become one of the best selling rap albums of all time, receiving Diamond RIAA certification for sales of over 10 million copies. His smooth, intricate lyricism helped influence and inspire many future emcees and many emcees today see 2Pac and the Notorious BIG as being the most talented and influential emcees in the history of hip-hop despite their being on opposite ends of the spectrum in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry. The killers of both rappers have still yet to be found.
Contemporary R&B, as the post-disco version of soul music came to be known as, remained popular throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Male vocal groups in the style of soul groups such as The Temptations and The O'Jays were particularly popular, including New Edition, Boyz II Men, Jodeci, Dru Hill, Blackstreet, and Jagged Edge. Girl groups, including TLC, Destiny's Child, and SWV, were also highly successful. TLC would go on to hold the title of the highest girl group with the highest selling female group album ever, with their 1994 album CrazySexyCool influencing creativity in many young women around the world.
Singer-songwriters such as R. Kelly, Mariah Carey, Montell Jordan, D'Angelo, and Raphael Saadiq of Tony! Toni! Toné! were also significantly popular during the 1990s, and artists such as Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, and BLACKstreet popularized a fusion blend known as hip-hop soul. The neo soul movement of the 1990s looked back on more classical soul influences and was popularized in the late 1990s/early 2000s by artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, Lauryn Hill, India.Arie, Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, Bilal and Musiq Soulchild. According to one music writer, D'Angelo's critically acclaimed album Voodoo (2000) "represents African American music at a crossroads To simply call neo-classical soul would be ignore the elements of vaudeville jazz, Memphis horns, ragtime blues, funk and bass grooves, not to mention hip-hop, that slip out of every pore of these haunted songs."
By the first decade of the 21st century, R&B had shifted towards an emphasis on solo artists with pop appeal, with Usher and Beyoncé being the most prominent examples. The line between hip-hop and R&B and pop became significantly blurred by producers such as Timbaland and Lil Jon and artists such as Missy Elliott, Frank Ocean and OutKast.
"Urban music" and "urban radio" are largely race-neutral today, terms which are synonymous with hip hop and R&B and the associated hip hop culture which originated in New York City. The term also reflects the fact that they are popular in urban areas, both within black population centers and among the general population (especially younger audiences).
The hip-hop movement has become increasingly mainstream as the music industry has taken control of it. Essentially, "from the moment 'Rapper's Delight' went platinum, hiphop the folk culture became hiphop the American entertainment-industry sideshow." As a result, the music that is popularized by the music industry is becoming increasingly different from what hip hop was meant to be, and in the process makes people wonder who is responsible for this unappreciated shift.
Plans for a Smithsonian-affiliated Museum of African-American music to be built in Newark, New Jersey, and an R&B museum/hall of fame have been discussed within the last several years.
Read more about this topic: African American Music, History