Usher talks the value of R&B

Usher recently spoke out about how he feels about the R&B label being thrown and how he feels it impacts R&B as a whole. Usher can be a douche a lot of the time, and I can't help but feel there was some egotism in his words. But he spoke real talk on this issue...

There's a very fine line between what's R&B and Pop these days. Just because it's sung by a male minority doesn't mean you're urban or R&B. Those artists are pop. The true value of R&B has been brought down.

I co-sign this. So much of 'mainstream R&B' is barely R&B at all, but it gets classed as such. The ethnicity of the artist (and often the producer) tends to dictate whether a song gets labelled as R&B more than the actual music itself. I remember when folk were trying to file Santigold under R&B when her music is anything but. It's just easier to label her as such because she's black. On the flip side you also have artists such as Lady Gaga and even f**king Ke$ha who get roped into the R&B category. I damn near choked when I saw an R&B essentials CD in the shop and saw Ke$ha's "Tik tok" and Britney's "3" were on it. Them songs is as much R&B as Tiger Woods is faithful.

Initially I thought Usher was a pot calling the kettle an R&B ankle draggin' n***a. Especially in lieu of his song "OMG" being filed under R&B and being a huge hit - something I wonder if he'd have the same concerns about where the value of R&B is concerned. But he saved that ass by stating he is a "worldwide pop star". Mo' ego? Possibly. But again, it's real talk.

UK artists are bringing down the value of R&B @ Toya's world