R&B
R&B, short for rhythm and blues, is a broad family of Black American popular music built on strong grooves, soulful singing and blues, gospel and jazz roots.
The name was first used in the late 1940s for the jump blues and vocal group records made by and for Black Americans, which fed directly into rock and roll and soul. Today it usually means contemporary R&B: smooth, melodic singing over programmed drums, deep bass and keyboards, often mixed with hip hop. Compared with pop it leans harder on groove and vocal feeling, and compared with hip hop it is sung more than rapped.
Artists it is known for: Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé.
- Family
- R&B & Soul
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A broad heading
- From
- United States, 1940s
- Also called
- rhythm and blues, rnb
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 41%
About 34,000 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have r&b among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
R&B artists
Michael Jackson
Malcolm Todd
Daniel Caesar
SZA
PARTYNEXTDOOR
Brent Faiyaz
Miguel
Tory Lanez
Beyoncé
Bryson Tiller
The r&b artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.