So Into You: Black Women in Rhythm & Blues

You've spoken love into existence. Written your pain in stone halls that reverberate in the hearts of lesser men. Woven phrases into cloaks that cover the body and reveals the soul. Transforming us, your voices cause the listener to long for your loving touch.

But what’s love got to do with it anyway? Are your prayers for us here to raise a man? For feelin’ good? Are your songs even for man at all?

No…and maybe. At the birth of human creation, women have always possessed the ability to take what is given and transform it into its fully realized form. What that means for the recipient relies entirely upon the resource provided. This isn’t the narrative that a woman’s role is to wait to be given, it is to highlight how they give.

From the early 1900’s to now, one of the greatest gifts we have been graced with experiencing is the influence of a woman’s touch in R&B. Often men in R&B make music to place women on a pedestal, yet women aren’t objects to be placed in pre determined spaces for occasional observation. It’s notedly short sighted to wholly paint the hetero male as being bent on ownership. It’s more apt to describe their path as one that intends to question the ebb & flow of a relationship. That question, women fearlessly and confidently answer in meticulously arranged structured measures.

Anyone that’s been fortunate enough to have a collection of experiences with their mother in their childhood probably have several stories of watching them listen to music. And during those experiences, can you recall what mood they were in and what kind of song was accompanying that mood? I can hear “Love Will Save The Day” throughout my parents slowly crumbling marriage. Letting the words take us to a reality where everything worked out. Yet soon as the song ended, so did the daydream. Details aside, the essence of that memory is felt by millions, I’m sure.

Titans like Whitney, Aretha, Toni to supporting acts like Jade or Sade, this catalog of brilliant songwriters, multi-instrumentalists, and performers have been sanctuaries that persist throughout the strongest storms. Warm dens that soothe battered souls, injections of passion that revitalize even the most far gone of hearts. Whenever you’ve felt lost at sea, their ever reaching sound have guided us back to calmer bays. Chronicling the history of black women in R&B is an endless mission, but a necessary one.

It’s more than love, many emotions are strengthened with every choice that flowed from their bodies. When Aretha would only accept cash as payment for live acts and made the conscious choice to keep her bag with her on stage—a lesson on getting your money right, and keeping it safe. Nina performing Ne Me Quitte Pas—a statement about expanding out of the box that a fearful minority create for a capably brave majority. Hell, even Rihanna’s Love On The Brain, is more about confronting you need in the middle of an abusive relationship, than being in love.

Seemingly effortless talent represents a lifetime of highs and lows. We, the listener, get to enjoy the end product of the 10,000 hours. We are simply witnessing what it is to ‘be’, but without “trying to”. You can say that black women in music are “trying to be X” or “attempting to say Y”. But there hasn’t been a single lyric written or performed with intent of 'attempting to’ during the expansive history of black women in music. Black women, when we put your records on, we will forever feel just like a star.