90s R&B

There were several groups that were similar to Boyz II Men, like Soul for Real, Shai, All-4-One, Az Yet, and Dru Hill that followed right in their footsteps. Several of Boy II Men’s competitors as well as the group themselves benefited from all of the producers like Jimmy Jam, Babyface, and Terry Lewis.

In comparison to Boyz II Men’s work, Babyface as well as similar artists, there were other rhythm and blues artists from the same exact period that started adding even more of a hip hop/rap sound to all of their work. Rhythm tracks that were synthesizer heavy which accompanied the new jack swing were replaced by the backing tracks that were inspired by hip hop on the East Coast which resulted in a hip hop soul music genre by the producer known as Sean Combs. R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige, Ginuwine, Monica, Aaliyah, Usher and Brandy were all artists of hip hop soul music that brought a lot more of the attitude, style and slang of hip hop to rhythm and blues music.

In terms of vocal sounds and inflections, this subgenre includes influence from the heavy gospel music genre. By the end of the nineties, this style became a little less popular, only to experience resurgence later. During the middle of the nineties, girl groups like SWV and TLC, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men brought the contemporary rhythm and blues music genre to the mainstream. Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men recorded several different number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 which included “One Sweet Day” which was a collaboration between both of the acts which went on to become the number one hit that was longest running in the history of the Hot 100.

Recording Artists in the Nineties:
In ’94 and ’95, Boyz II Men, Mariah Cary and TLC all released albums, respectively “CrazySexyCool” and “Daydream II”, which sold over ten million copies that earned them a diamond RIAA certification. From this era, there were several other top-selling recording artists of rhythm and blues music like Toni Braxton, Vanessa L. Williams, Mary J. Blige, Ginuwine, Usher, Monica, R Kelly and several groups like Salt-N-Pepper, BLACKstreet, En Vogue, Jodeci/K-Ci & JoJo, and Destiny’s Child.

During the latter part of the nineties, the neo-soul music genre had arisen and was led by artists like Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Maxwell and Lauryn Hill. Missy Elliott was the artist that was able to further blur the fine line between rhythm and blues and hip hop by recording both of the different styles. In the latter part of the nineties and even later, rhythm and blues influence on dance was able to be heard in several artists work like 98 Degrees, Jennifer Lopez and NSYNC. Some of the stars that performed pop music that was heavily influenced by rhythm and blues included Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Pink, Fergie, Nelly Furtado and Nicole Scherzinger.