20. "Cats don't know MUSIC well enough to produce R&B" In response to In response to 0
What I mean by that is, when you're dealing with a singer, you have to be able to produce music in their key or in the key of the song. When you produce for rappers, all you have to do is make a hot beat. It takes some musical knowledge and prowess to produce for a singer in a way that takes the overall song to the next level. For instance, let's say the singer writes a song in the key of some beat you'd previously made. Now they wanna add a bridge in a different key. You have to identify that new key and make music AROUND the melody and in the key. If all you do is "make hot beats", you stuck now. If it was rap, you could just throw in a bridge and a key wouldn't matter. I'm saying all this from practical studio experience lol. Ever heard one of those remixes of an R&B song where the beat isn't in the same key as the song? Friend of mine shared some 9th Wonder remix with me of an R&B song, and I was like 'how are you listening to this? the music's in a completely different key than the song." Her reply? "old technical ass nigga!" lol. I can't tho. Know your music.
All that said tho, you kinda got it when you said...
>Or did R&B suffer from the fact that it cost too much to produce? >
It suffered when "beat makers" who don't identify keys and key-changes started producing it. Speaking of New Jack Swing, Teddy Riley knows what the fuck he's doing on them keys. As did Babyface, Jimmy Jam, and Terry. They're all musicians though. It really began to suffer when it stopped being produced by MUSICIANS.