about a lot of things...

>But maybe you're on to something here... is this post neo-soul
>fallout?

Not really... I think it actually started with the second wave of New Jack Swing--Jodeci, Mary J., etc. Even though there was a strain of good writing that persisted through the 1990s, it was slowly overshadowed by the school of thinking that held that flashy "sangin" made up for anemic songs.

Then neosoul came about hoping to right the wrongs and restore depth to Black pop music but I feel that they too missed the boat by subscribing to the idea that if you're Black and you are playing an instrument, then whatever material you are performing is automatically "deep."

Add to that the creeping epidemic of rapper-envy among singers and Beyonce-inspired "tinging" (c) fireOK (which was itself inspired in some ways by Timbaland's mid-90s R&B beats) you have R&B songwriting dying a slow, undignified death over the past 20 years.