I get that music has no race and anyone can make great art plenty of white artists have done solid R&B/soul over the decades but the tweet hits on something. like yes, music has no race at the end of the day anybody can make whatever they want and should. talent is talent. but when it comes to genres that literally came from black culture like r&b it do feel like black artists get slept on a lil bit while a white artist jumps in the same lane and everybody loses their mind calling them geniuses and versatile and “this is the new wave/they are unique”

i have been thinking about this a lot and i kind of have to agree with it to some degree. yes, music has no race and anybody should be able to make whatever they want. talent is talent. but when it comes to genres like r&b that originally came from black artists and black culture, it does feel like black artists get underappreciated. their music does not always blow up as fast or get the same level of mainstream praise.a black artist can release really strong r&b records for years, stay consistent, and still only get solid but not explosive recognition. then a white artist comes in with a similar sound same kind of vocals, melodies, production, emotion  and suddenly everyone calls them versatile, groundbreaking, soulful, and the future of the genre. they get heavy media coverage, late night performances, big features, and people act like they invented singing with feeling. 

it is the double standard that bothers me the exact same style and quality gets treated as normal or expected when a black artist does it, but refreshing and special when a white artist does it. r&b feels underappreciated in its original form sometimes the industry and audiences seem quicker to celebrate it when it is coming from a different face, even if the black artists built the foundation of the entire genre. i am not saying white artists should stop making r&b. that would be ridiculous. people should create whatever they like. but the way the praise and attention is handed out feels very uneven. 

maybe it is marketing, radio appeal, or how labels push certain artists. maybe some of it really is subconscious bias like the tweet says. either way it is noticeable and it is frustrating if you pay attention to it. we should support the artists who have been doing this music authentically instead of only hyping up the crossover versions. music has no race but with the deep rooted history of rnb itself and the way it is received definitely seems to have a certain weight. what do you all think? have you noticed the same thing or am i overthinking it? especially people who listen to a lot of r&b like me.

Do you find yourself agreeing with this take or not?