this is a list post tangentially related to my previous series on the decline of R&B in popular culture and cultural relevance (related but distinct things). one of the key notions, that i contested, but to which there's some undeniable merit, was that R&B was swallowed by hip-hop.

i think that, ultimately, i disagree with that *partially*. i'd amend it to say that FAST R&B music -- that is, R&B music you can dance to -- has been almost entirely swallowed by hip-hop. it's almost impossible to conceive of POPULAR R&B songs that you can dance to that don't have rappers heavily featured, or that don't involve R&B singers singing over and/or re-intepreting popular hip-hop songs (see: "bag lady" or, slightly more creatively, "buddy" by musiq).

this was highlighted to me by the string of dreary, slow songs on my pandora contemporary R&B station. ultimately i ran out of skips because of their license limits and came here.

(in my opinion) obviously the most enduring and popular example for this post is "love like this" by faith evans:
http://youtu.be/wZ8Of19Ef70

this is one of the very few post-'95 R&B songs that spawned a hip-hop version, instead of the creativity flowing in the opposite direction. and yes, "love like this" is more enduring than "family affair" by MJB, which, along with "ignition (remix)," are the 2 other most obvious examples. what's more, "love like this" does it without sacrificing almost any core R&B feature, e.g., soulful singing as opposed to "tinging" (c) fire, strong song structure & melody as opposed to being driven mainly by rhythm.

so, what are some examples of this? seriously, fast R&B songs where the MAIN version does not feature a rapper (as including a rapper on some form of remix is almost inevitable). and why do you think those songs hit? and what does it say about current R&B?

Go Smack yourself and then apologize to your hand for looking stupid - Case_One

http://i54.tinypic.com/nxros2.jpg