How Adult R&B Became a Young Person’s Game On the Airwaves
In March, the singer Maeta hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart after a dogged 35-week climb — the second-longest in the history of the format. “Through the Night” is a ballad modeled after seductive soul classics. But Maeta is 23, far younger than the veterans who often reign supreme in the world of adult R&B — singers like Charlie Wilson, with 10 No. 1 singles in the format, and Kem (8).
Maeta is not the only younger artist venturing into this territory, however. The last week of March, for example, just three adult R&B staples were in the top ten on the chart. They were vying for position with a younger generation represented by Victoria Monet, Muni Long, Tyla, Mahalia, and SZA.
Historically, adult R&B is “where you would go to hear the music of legacy acts,” says Mike Street, Audacy’s format VP of mainstream hip-hop and R&B. “Then you would sprinkle in some newer acts. You’re starting to have to put more of these newer, talented artists in the same space as the staples and let them slug it out.”
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And “post-pandemic, the younger R&B is now dominating,” according to Colby Tyner, svp of programming for Radio One. “It’s tougher for some of the core adult R&B artists to break through today because they’re competing with SZA and Muni Long.”
Many believe this competition has re-energized this space on the airwaves. “It feels like the younger artists are reviving the format,” says George “Geo” Cook, head of content and audience for Service Broadcasting Group, which includes Smooth R&B 105.7 in Dallas. “It got a little stagnant just focusing on the staples.”
“We think the format should be for all R&B artists,” adds J Valentine, who manages Tank (seven No. 1s on Adult R&B Airplay). “It shouldn’t sound old.”
But as adult R&B’s priorities shift, some artists may be left out in the cold. At this point, “the chart is named wrong,” says Michael Paran, founder of P Music Group, which manages Wilson, Babyface, and Jodeci, among others. “Let’s call it what it is: It’s just R&B. The sad thing for me is the name [‘adult R&B’] was probably the only thing that was giving any kind of leverage to my acts like Charlie and Babyface. And there aren’t a lot of acts doing it at that age and actually winning.”
The adult R&B format has been around for more than three decades. Tony Gray, president of Gray Communications Inc., helped launch three of these stations: V103 in Chicago in 1988, WALR in Atlanta in 1989, and WYLD in New Orleans in 1990. At the time, a younger generation of listeners was becoming increasingly enamored with hip-hop or punchy fusions like New Jack Swing. The new format “would appeal more directly to the adult audience,” Gray says.
Billboard launched its Adult R&B Airplay chart in the fall of 1993. The ranking “is expected to benefit such artists as vocalist Phyllis Hyman and instrumentalists Grover Washington Jr. and Najee,” the magazine reported. “Record companies will now be able to build a story that can be used to gain acceptance at R&B mainstream stations, and hopefully for general market AC stations,” Terri Rossi, Billboard’s director of operations, said at the time.
During the streaming era, the format has served as a haven for golden-voiced singers like Leela James and Ledisi. But it has not often functioned as a springboard for artists “to gain acceptance” at either mainstream R&B/hip-hop stations, which typically focus on hip-hop, or Adult Contemporary outlets, which tend to ignore R&B altogether. Adult R&B was often “reserved for people who didn’t have a shot on the mainstream side,” says Rex Rideout, a longtime producer and songwriter and management partner at Benchmark Entertainment.
“There was a time when there were some barriers,” Valentine acknowledges.
Because of the perception that adult R&B could be receptive but also potentially confining for those with mainstream ambitions, younger singers could be wary of it. “Artists were like, ‘I don’t want to be on the adult chart, that makes me old,’” Rideout explains.
And the major labels weren’t always enthusiastic about the format either. “What I’ve been told by many people on the label side is they don’t really like the R&B format because it didn’t generate revenue on streaming like the mainstream side,” Tyner says. Labels typically make money from artist’s streams; it’s not always easy to justify paying for radio promotion with little return.
But as hip-hop became the dominant form of contemporary music, adult R&B’s unwavering commitment to an underserved genre started to work in its favor. “When hip-hop became so prevalent, it pushed a lot of the R&B records to the side at the mainstream format,” says Jeff Robinson, who co-manages Maeta along with Jeanine McLean. “A lot of great records were not getting airplay over there. Younger R&B artists needed a home.” And some of them — like Daniel Caesar and H.E.R. — were welcomed at adult R&B.
It also helps that adult R&B stations are now enjoying excellent ratings relative to their mainstream counterparts. Radio listening is down overall, but for those who believe the airwaves still have influence, Nielsen’s top 10 stations — ranked according to the percentage of radio listeners tuned into a particular station in a given market — included four different adult R&B outlets in February. By way of comparison, there was just a single mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop station in the top 50.
In this environment, it’s becoming common to see more interplay between the two formats. “There’s a lot of sharing going on in both directions, “ says Chris Malone, program director of KJLH, the Los Angeles R&B station owned by Stevie Wonder.
And importantly for adult R&B, some artists are finding that they can use it as a launching pad to reach a wider audience on the airwaves. Lionel Ridenour, president of Anchor Promotions, used this strategy last year when promoting October London, whose “Back to Your Place” was a pitch-perfect homage to 1970s Marvin Gaye. (Maeta is now testing mainstream stations as well.)
In other words, now that more young artists are fighting for airplay at adult R&B stations, the format has regained some of the power that Rossi hoped it would have when it launched. Adult R&B “is now a place to incubate records; it’s become more of an active participant in terms of breaking these acts,” Ridenour says. “When the mainstream side is so hip-hop heavy, it takes a while to get an R&B record going. Adult R&B airplay gives you an opportunity to get audience and seed the market for mainstream.”
One effect of the sharing between formats is that adult R&B becomes less distinct — increasingly, it’s no longer the case that the format mainly offers a space for artists that aren’t played elsewhere. It’s a no-brainer to play Muni Long’s “Made for Me” on these stations; it has the gloss and bounce of vintage hits from Brian McKnight and Mariah Carey, and a sterling vocal from Long, steely but tender. At the same time, “Made for Me” is also on mainstream radio, on prominent streaming service playlists, and all over TikTok.
Paran welcomes the newcomers — they prove that “the adult R&B vibe is resonating with a broad audience” — but he knows that radio playlist space is limited. “The last couple years have been the hardest ever when it comes to radio promotion,” he says. And veteran R&B singers aren’t welcomed at other formats; while artists soaring on the Hot 100 can waltz over to adult R&B if they choose to, that’s often a one-way street.
“I can see why it could be a concern to some of the older artists as the charts are being dominated now by younger-leaning folks,” Robinson says. But he remains hopeful that there’s “room for everyone.”
