00:01The most great R&B songs are about love,
00:03and it's whether you lost it, you're getting it.
00:05We all essentially want love as humans,
00:07and that is at the core of R&B.
00:09R&B, for me, is soulful.
00:12It's soulful, it's positive, it's stimulating,
00:15it's sexy, it's cool.
00:16A beautiful expression of blackness.
00:18I fell in love to Cupid by 112.
00:20Love at first sight.
00:22R. Kelly.
00:24I was on a road trip visiting the woman who would become my wife,
00:28and she was playing the Beyoncé 4 album.
00:31My Life.
00:32That album was the first time I'd ever been in love,
00:35like really in love, or so I thought.
00:37And then he broke my heart, and then that album healed me.
00:41It was so good.
00:42No Ordinary Love by Sade.
00:44It just made me think that this is what love should be.
00:47Always Be My Baby by Mariah Carey.
00:49Listening to that song made me feel like I could hold on
00:52to that special person forever.
00:55It's Michael Jackson's Rock With You.
00:57Classic.
00:59Always In Favorite by Heat Wave.
01:01R&B is power.
01:02R&B is honest.
01:03It's vibing.
01:04It's a mood.
01:05It's spiritual.
01:06R&B is dope.
01:07Watching my parents, listening to Luther and Marvin Gaye,
01:11really watching their love blossom and grow.
01:14Tell Me Something Good by Rufus and Chaka Khan.
01:16R&B is sex.
01:18Gritty.
01:19It's seductive.
01:20Sexy.
01:21Sexy.
01:22And more sex.
01:23R&B is just that cool, slow jam music.
01:25It was that kind you just wanted to hug up on somebody
01:28in the corner and just dance.
01:30I grew up back when you bought the CD and you took the CD
01:33booklet out and you read the lyrics.
01:35You were reading it like poetry in your bed, you know,
01:39under the covers, flashlight, over and over again.
01:42And it was like reading a love letter on the beat.
01:44I will say that it was O.J.'s love train.
01:47On Saturday nights, my parents would put on that album.
01:49We'd all be in the living room like people all over the world.
01:52Being a hip hop head first.
01:54I think really that bridge between the two genres,
01:56between hip hop and R&B.
01:57Mary J. Blige was the one that really connected that
02:00dots for me and really made that love for R&B.
02:02There was so much good R&B music in the 90s from TLC,
02:06Crazy, Sexy, Cool to Brandy, Never Say Never.
02:09It was just the best time for R&B music.
02:11R&B is relevant.
02:12Emotional.
02:13Heartbreak.
02:14Pain.
02:15Pain.
02:16Forgiveness.
02:17Joyful.
02:18R&B can be very healing.
02:19The first R&B cassette tape that I purchased was Lionel Richie.
02:23All Night Long.
02:24Hello.
02:26Pebbles.
02:27Girlfriend.
02:29Superwoman.
02:31Oh, everybody knows.
02:32Look, she's moving her head.
02:34Come on.
02:35That's it.
02:37Aaliyah, If Your Girl Only Knew,
02:38and I actually stole it from my cousin,
02:40but she didn't know that until right now.
02:43Kung Fu Fighting.
02:45It is the soundtrack of our lives.
02:57It's our legacy,
02:58and we should definitely continue celebrating it.
03:00And I can't think of a better place to do that
03:02than at Essence Festival July 4th weekend in New Orleans.
03:06There's just nothing else like it.
Comments