it is no secret that there is quicker
money to be made in hip-hop, where
SoundCloud rappers can become
Hot 100 success stories practically
overnight. R&B’s traditional emphasis
on classic vocal performances and
musicianship — H.E.R., for instance,
plays guitar, bass, drums and pia-
no — means its artists often need
longer (and sometimes more costly)
development to achieve their full
potential. Hip-hop budgets typically
“exceed that of an R&B artist because
the perceived ceiling for success for
the hip-hop artist is higher,” says Live
Nation Urban president Shawn Gee.
“You’re going to put more money into
an investment that has the potential
to yield a higher ROI.”
“Most labels give you a song and
dance about being 100% behind an
R&B project with a marketing cam-
paign,” Robinson elaborates. “Maybe
that goes on through the project’s
release weekend and the next week.
Then the following week, you’re
not hearing much about the record
anymore. I have always said that out of
$10, a pop artist will get $8 to market
and promote [a project], while the
R&B artist will get the $2. So whom
are you going to hear about more?”
Coupled with the fact that many
radio programmers still doubt R&B’s
crossover potential, the prospects
for these artists can feel extremely
limited. “Being told that Summer
or 6LACK aren’t pop is tough,” says
LVRN co-founder and president
Tunde Balogun. “Pop music is popular
music. And if Summer is overindex-
ing in the R&B space time and again,
she deserves to be crossed over.”
Says Baiden: “Just like streaming is
breaking through [traditional] genre
boundaries to address what people
are listening to, radio also has to take
more risks on R&B records. That the
Ella Mai record would do so well is no
surprise. We don’t need to have only
one golden child every two years.”
To cut through to the mainstream,
label executives and managers have
realized they need to get creative. In
H.E.R.’s case, Robinson studied how
rappers rolled out their projects and
adopted a similar free-flowing release
model to build buzz, helping H.E.R.
put out five EPs between 2016 and
2018 (which were ultimately compiled
into two different full-lengths). He
also borrowed a page from Keys’ play-
book and kept the attention on H.E.R.’s
music by embracing mystery: In the
early years of her career, she kept her
identity anonymous and to this day
is rarely seen without her signature
oversize sunglasses.
“When we were serviced with Ali-
cia’s ‘Fallin’ ’ single [in 2001], there was
no picture,” recalls iHeartMedia exec-
utive vp programing Thea Mitchem. “J
[Records, which was folded into RCA
in 2011] serviced it with just a white
label. So you had to make a decision to
play it or not based on how it moved
you. With H.E.R., it was a mystery as
well. It created a momentum that took
a little longer. But I would argue that
H.E.R. is going to have a much longer
career than other artists who may be
hitting now but two years later [will
make you think], ‘Who is that?’ ”
Building a live touring presence
early on is also crucial. As H.E.R.
introduced her music, she was criss-
crossing the country playing theaters
both as an opener for Tiller and a
headliner. On Oct. 20, Walker will kick
off her 38-market The First and Last
Tour in London, where she has sold
out three shows. “Live always tells
you the temperature of where things
are going,” says LVRN’s Balogun, who
signed Walker in 2018. “If a brand-new
R&B artist can go to London and do
6,000 tickets the first time, that means
the future is very bright.”
Still, the live-music space has its
own challenges. Gee, who started Live
Nation Urban in 2017 with the express
goal of developing more opportunities
for R&B and hip-hop artists, notes that
there needs to be more infrastructure
for R&B acts to tour at the club level so
they “can build their fan bases organ-
ically and learn how to perform,” he
says. “And there are still only a handful
of slots on major festivals and few
supporting roles on big tours.”
Streaming remains an important
tool, even if it hasn’t provided R&B
with the same gains as rap. Spotify’s
main playlist for the genre, Are & Be,
recently crossed the 5 million fol-
lowers mark, though it’s still behind
the platform’s influential RapCaviar
playlist, which boasts over 12 million.
But Interscope Geffen A&M executive
vp urban operations Nicole Wyskoar-
ko notes that streaming platforms
have played a crucial role in breaking
R&B names in other ways: Walker
and 6LACK are recent stars of Apple
Music’s Up Next program, a monthly
new-artist spotlight that has included
partner performances on The Late
Late Show With James Corden and
Jimmy Kimmel Live! “There’s really a
growing appetite for R&B right now,”
says Wyskoarko.
The same industry forces benefit-
ing artists across genres are having a
positive effect in R&B as well. “Kids
no longer need to depend on the
traditional gatekeepers — radio pro-
grammers, label executives, concert
promoters — to determine what music
they like and which artists are impact-
ful,” says Gee. “Now the gatekeepers
are chasing consumers’ preferences.
Streaming isn’t a guarantee of success
— artists still need to work their asses
off to market their music and connect
with fans. But streaming has given
these artists a fairer starting point.”
Despite their overall frustrations,
those interviewed for this story say
they’re encouraged by the momentum
today’s rising R&B stars are building,
and they think the genre could return
to — and perhaps even exceed — the
commercial heights it reached in the
past over the next two or three years.
“It’s history finally repeating itself,”
says Robinson. “When hip-hop
started, no one wanted to hear or play
it. Then it became a dominant force.
Now with R&B coming back, we’re
determined that it won’t go quietly
back into the night. Some artists will
break through, and soon there will be
a flood.”
And with discussions about another
Lights On Festival in 2020 underway
as H.E.R. finishes her official debut
studio album, that tipping point could
arrive sooner rather than later. “R&B’s
reach is bigger than the cage the in-
dustry tries to put us in,” adds Robin-
son. “We’re going to continue to bend
and bust through those bars. I like the
place R&B is in right now. From here,
the only way is up.”
Clockwise from top left: LVRN creative director
Carlon Ramong and senior marketing director
Malia Murray, Walker, Baiden and Tunde Balogun
(from left) in Los Angeles in March; Edge (left) with
Normani and Khalid in Beverly Hills in February;
Lizzo (right) and Mitchem in L.A. in February;
Chambers, Fantasia and manager Steven Greener
(from left) in New York in September.
OCTOBER 19, 2019 • WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 7 3
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