Urban Contemporary: Making the Case for Black Music To Cross Back into the Mainstream BP061220-126

Long Time critics have felt the label urban contemporary “is seemingly designed to compartmentalize black artists, undermining the culture’s contributions to and influences on music even as it tries to celebrate it.”Republic Records — home to top artists including Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift — on Friday vowed to ban the word “urban” as a generalization for hip-hop and R&B. Many see it as an antiquated umbrella term — it is still used to describe many awards at the Grammys — that ignorantly lumps all music by black artists into the same grab-bag. The label, a division of Universal, said it would remove “urban” from department names, employee titles and music genres. Use of “urban” in music jargon dates back to the mid-1970s, according to Billboard, which says the black WBLS New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker used the phrase “urban contemporary.”KOP looks into the history of the Urban Contemporary Era and explains his long standing argument how this is a signal for the change of mainstream music.References:Music Industry Rethinks ‘Urban’ as a Genre for Black Artists https://www.bloombergquint.com/pursuits/music-industry-rethinks-using-urban-to-market-black-artists1991: The Most Important Year in Pop-Music History https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/a…The very white ways of the top 40 https://theoutline.com/post/1148/the-…This Is Why The Urban Contemporary Grammy Exists https://www.thefader.com/2015/02/02/this-is-why-the-urban-contemporary-grammy-existsShould the Urban Contemporary Grammy Category Be Abolished? https://www.spin.com/2017/02/urban-contemporary-grammy-abolished/History of Urban Contemporary Music https://www1.udel.edu/nero/Radio/readings/urban.htmlThe Urban Contemporary Dilemma https://melismamagazine.com/2017/06/19/the-urban-contemporary-dilemma/The Racist Undertones Of The ‘Urban Contemporary’ Grammys Category https://medium.com/the-establishment/the-racist-undertones-of-the-urban-contemporary-grammys-category-e2559aeefe60Support the Broadcasters Podcast by:Sending a PayPal donation by going to https://www.paypal.me/kingofpodcastsSupporting KOP’s sponsors at King of Amazon (it’s really Amazon) http://www.kingofamazon.comContact KOP for professional podcast production, imaging, and web design services at http://www.kingofpodcasts.com/productionFollow KOP on Twitter or Facebook @kingofpodcastsListen to KOP’s other programs, When I’m Not Podcasting… and the Wrestling is Real Wrestling Podcast.Do you want to be a guest on the Broadcaster’s Podcast or know someone who would make a great guest, please email [email protected] .Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-broadcasters-podcast--3684131/support.Contact KOP for professional podcast production, imaging, and web design services at http://www.kingofpodcasts.comSupport KOP by subscribing to his YouTube channel and search for King Of PodcastsFollow KOP on X and TikTok @kingofpodcasts (F Meta!)Listen to KOP’s other programs, Podcasters Row… and the Wrestling is Real Wrestling Podcast and The Broadcasters Podcast.Buy KOP a Coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/kingofpodcastsDrop KOP a PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=3TAB983ZQPNVLDrop KOP a Venmo https://account.venmo.com/u/kingofpodcastsDrop KOP a CashApp https://cash.app/$kingofallpodcasts