The Culture Corner: R&B in the '90s
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The Culture Corner on World Cafe
American R&B group TLC poses at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles, circa 1995. From left to right: Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas, Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins and Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes. Archive Photos/Getty Images hide caption
American R&B group TLC poses at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles, circa 1995. From left to right: Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas, Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins and Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes.
Archive Photos/Getty ImagesSet List
- Soul For Real, "Candy Rain"
- Mary J. Blige, "You Remind Me"
- TLC, "Waterfalls"
- D'Angelo, "Cruisin' "
February is Black History Month, and each week, all month, World Cafe correspondent John Morrison will be taking you on a journey of R&B through the decades. In this session, we dig into the '90s, when groups like TLC were offering a modern take on styles that had taken root decades before.
"Vocal groups are a tradition in Black music, whether we are talking about the doo-wop era, Motown, the girl groups of the '60s," Morrison says. "It's like a key, defining characteristic of Black music."
Morrison also talks about the continued influence of hip-hop on R&B and the one R&B subgenre that nobody liked being labeled as.