The Style & Vibes Podcast
The Style & Vibes Podcast
Exploring R&B and Reggae's Connection with Always on Key
On this episode of Style and Vibes we explore the connection between R&B and Reggae with Kea and Ashley, the dynamic duo behind the "Always on Key" podcast. We kick things off with fun filled trivia challenge that will test our knowledge of song lyrics explore the rich tapestry of R&B and reggae music, tracing their evolution and current trends.
We delve into the diverse subgenres of R&B, the artistic freedom that today's musicians enjoy, and the critical role of collaborations in shaping the music industry. Our discussion pays special attention to reggae's historical influences and its global resonance, all while highlighting the fusion of genres made possible by the internet. We also spotlight some areas for growth within the R&B genre, particularly around artist development and stage performance.
Finally, we address the uphill battle faced by reggae and dancehall artists in breaking into mainstream markets, particularly in the U.S. Through the stories of artists like Lila Ike and Shenseea, we examine the delicate balance between cultural authenticity and mainstream appeal.
We also discuss the role of social media in music discovery, including the resurgence of classic tracks through platforms like TikTok. Wrapping up, we celebrate the magic of iconic R&B and reggae collaborations, reflecting on how these powerhouse partnerships have influenced the music scene and live performances alike. Tune in for a blend of humor, insight, and musical nostalgia that will leave you humming long after the episode ends.
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Produced by Breadfruit Media
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the Style and Vibes podcast with yours truly Makayla. If you are new to the family, welcome, welcome, family. And if you're returning, welcome back family. Today I am welcoming new members into the family. Kia and Ashley both have their own podcast and I think the connection between the two of us is we have the same editor, producer for our shows. So Kia and Ashley discuss, you know, musical legends, particularly when it comes to soul R&B.
Speaker 2:but a lot of music lover.
Speaker 1:I think they throw in a little hip-hop here and there, but I think all things black music uh is what I like to call it on their podcast always on key. So make sure you guys check that out. I have invited them to the family today because, um, I think there are so many different similarities, especially when it comes to the growth of different industries and genres. Particularly Black music has transformed the way people consume music in what trends on a very regular basis, and so I thought this would be a really great conversation across collaboration, if you will. So I'm going to let them introduce themselves. I introduced them as the dynamic duo.
Speaker 2:All right, I guess I'll go first. What's up y'all? My name is Kia Renee and it's your homegirl.
Speaker 3:Ash the the vet.
Speaker 1:They give you guys that late night vibes of the intro you are tuned into, always on key, just like that. Exactly, I love it, I love. So. You guys normally start off your podcast with trivia, so I wanted to do the same. We don't know the questions we're going to ask each other and y'all got some questions for me, so I'm gonna let you guys start and I hope I can answer these questions All right.
Speaker 2:Well, the way that Ash and I usually open up the show is um, we do a little guess the lyrics, and so, instead of a regular trivia, that's what I'm gonna have you do a little guess the lyrics so you can give me the artist or the song title.
Speaker 1:All right, I am going to say the words um, not in the same melody.
Speaker 2:I'm just going to say the words, not in the same melody. I'm just going to say the words, speak them poetically and you are going to guess from there. All right, let me know when you're ready. All right, don't stop moving. You're making me hot From head to toe. I feel your flow. Vibes get stronger. Party seems longer. Makes me really want you. Don't stop moving. Youibes get stronger. Party seems longer. Makes me really want you. Don't stop moving. You're making me hot. Any thoughts, any thoughts, any thoughts.
Speaker 1:If you were to sing it for me, I still. The first person that came to mind was Tony Braxton, but I don't think that that's correct. But that's gonna be my final answer you want to help out Ash um, it's not Rihanna.
Speaker 3:It's not okay. This always happens to me on our show. When we do trivia, I'm usually the one that's just like, and then afterward I'd be like duh.
Speaker 2:All right, I'll give y'all the answer. Go ahead, move your Body by Nina Sky. Move your Body.
Speaker 3:I just saw them at Red Bull Culture Clash. This is why I thought Caribbean.
Speaker 1:Okay, now I think I know where you guys are going with this. Okay, the rest of them is the lyrics challenge. Oh gosh, all right.
Speaker 2:One of them is very easy and one of them is maybe the hardest.
Speaker 1:Give me the easy one, give me the easy one. If I don't even get the easy one, you might just switch it up.
Speaker 2:All right. It was back in 99, watching movies all the time. Oh, when I went away for doing my first crime and I never thought we was going to see each other.
Speaker 1:This is the easy one Repeat it.
Speaker 2:It was back in 99, watching movies all the time, or when I went away for doing my first crime, I never thought that we was going to see each other.
Speaker 3:Not Keisha Connell.
Speaker 2:I'll give y'all a hint. Ooh, no, a male artist.
Speaker 1:Well, he said 99, so it's got to be a certain age. That's still like a long time span, jesus.
Speaker 3:How you do this one going to make y'all mad.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure it always makes me mad 99, 99, and it's a singer and it's a male singer.
Speaker 2:You said he is singing. I wouldn't call him a singer.
Speaker 1:Oh okay, no, I can't say that close, but but LL Cool, j, ll Cool, j ain't do a bit.
Speaker 2:I'ma just tell y'all Beautiful girls, Sean Kingston.
Speaker 1:Oh, I wouldn't have got that one at all At all. No, no, I wouldn't have got that one, not in, no, he just got arrested. He about to do do another bid and his mom got arrested too, and his mom well, I mean allegedly you know, the case got to play out, but you know what song is that? Beautiful girls, the one he debuted with why don't we start with the lyrics, like the the chorus, that wasn't easy. Kia, that was hard.
Speaker 2:See, that was not easy okay, I'm definitely not gonna get this next one then I just lost hope.
Speaker 3:Let me give you a question. Let me give you a question, alright, this Jamaican born musician and singer is known for his way around a saxophone, but what was the first instrument he was drawn to first? He's an R&B singer. He's an R&B, he's an rb singer. You got it. I got the artist. Yeah, however, I didn't play a trombone I think so he first was drawn to the drums but he was trying to artist yes, he was trying to impress a girl.
Speaker 3:like most of the things that brings inspiration to him, he was trying to impress a girl which made him drawn to the saxophone.
Speaker 2:Love that.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God, and here I am with my little easy question Alright, finish this lyric. This is how you set it up, Kia. Don't be giving people hard ones okay my bad, I'm just the guest.
Speaker 1:You got redemption redemption song alright, here we go, here we go, ting-a-ling-a-ling, sing it out, sing it out, beautiful, beautiful, sing it out, sing it out. You see, this is you giving me all these hard ones and I got all these easy stuff for you. Okay, now I got a hard one. It's not a lyrics challenge, but let me see if you guys know this who was the first reggae grammy awarded to?
Speaker 3:ooh reggae, that's actually really good damn.
Speaker 2:Can I google it?
Speaker 3:grammy, oh boy reggae it a woman it's a group a group. I'm at a loss. I'm thinking of a duo but that's not gonna work.
Speaker 1:I mean, I think I know a duo you're probably thinking about it's probably not them, it's older it's definitely older.
Speaker 3:Older group. I'm stumped. I ain't even going to try and embarrass myself.
Speaker 1:The name of the group is called Black Uhuru.
Speaker 3:They were the first reggae Grammy winners.
Speaker 2:Interesting.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, alright.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, yes, interesting, yes, yes all right, okay, okay.
Speaker 1:So this is an easy one too. Right, okay, okay, since I gave the shabba away um. This famous singer collaborated with dance hall artist Shava Rains. Name the singer Singer. Yes, this one y'all shouldn't know.
Speaker 3:See, when you say this one, we should it brings more pressure.
Speaker 2:I don't want to say the wrong.
Speaker 1:That's alright. That's alright. I I mean, I didn't get none of y'all say it go ahead go ahead go ahead go ahead, just throw it out there nah exactly.
Speaker 3:I'm thinking of a rapper. My rapper said singer. I'm thinking of a rapper, not rapper. I said singer, I'm lost, and then I'm going to be mad. Yeah, oh, my goodness, I'm trying to think Male or female.
Speaker 2:Male, male. Okay, I ain't got that I was thinking women.
Speaker 3:No, it's not bobby brown, because bobby oh, it's a reggae singer. It's a reggae singer, shabba. Nope, can't be bearish. Nope, go ahead, michaela, lay it on us please come on.
Speaker 2:I know you guys know that one see, he's like yeah see, yeah, I'm so glad I didn't say what I thought, what were you thinking oh man, you got me back, alright well, I had fun, even though you know the trivia was kind of hard.
Speaker 1:I guess this is why I really don't do trivia for real, for real, because I would probably suck. You know, the trivia was kind of hard, like. I guess that's why I really don't do trivia for real, for real, because I would probably suck at it, but I love to.
Speaker 1:Google and I love to research things that I do love about. You know this industry that I can actually speaking of, like industry and kind of genres. There are definitely, I think, a lot of similarities, especially when it comes to R&B and reggae. In terms of its trajectory, r&b came before hip-hop. Reggae was the same. There are a lot of similarities in terms of the amount of time that the genres have been around and how much it has changed and grown over the years. So I'm curious to hear from you guys, like what do you like about where the industry is going, either from a musical perspective or a business perspective?
Speaker 3:I will say, for me, I just I love the diversity in the genre. Now we have so many different subsects of what R&B is. It's still at its core of just soul, the rhythm and blues, but there's, you got the trap, so you got the R&B and house fusion. You have, you know, your typical just vibey, hippie type of R&B. And I love that diversity as much, as sometimes we get stuck on just a decade, an era of music, and say this is what it should be a decade, an era of music, and say this is what it should be and this is what it should continue us to be with the genre, with art and with music. It needs to grow, it's going to change. So I like that. Now you have this variety of R&B that you can listen to. So that for me, is kind of the big thing of what I like currently, you know, in the industry. What about you, kia?
Speaker 2:Similar to that. I kind of like that artists have a little bit more freedom when it comes to how they grow themselves. They don't really need the big machine behind them, the labels behind them, the way they used to. But I also like that it's also more collaborative now. I think there was a time where artists weren't really doing duets and things like that. Now we're kind of getting back to that. You can see certain faces on certain people's songs and you know it's, it's, you know, becoming that, that collaborative environment again, which is cool yeah, I do think, even from a reggae perspective, I think that that is what is happening now too.
Speaker 1:There is the sound, in terms of its variety has such a a huge range, and if you think about reggae in terms of where it started, a lot of it was like if you think of like that lovers rock era, it was like covers of soul music, um, and then kind of transitioned into this message music driven by Rastafarian culture, religion in Jamaica, and so that really kind of changed what people knew of reggae music and by that time it developed the name itself and so the message has definitely transpired, but it definitely appears a lot differently than it did in the 70s and in the 80s and 90s, and I think that that progression has changed a lot in terms of like sound and you can hear more of the international influences now, I feel.
Speaker 1:Like music and the internet, especially from like LimeWire days to now, it became so accessible to everyone that it allowed for new sounds to permeate from genre to genre, and that's why you can get an R&B sound out of a reggae artist or you can get a hip-hop or trap sound out of an R&B artist is just we're. We're just exposed to way more genres than we ever have been before, and so the lines are kind of starting to get blurred and crossed where there was essentially like a dignified like, if you think about like Mary J Blige, she's, she's the queen of hip hop, so like that wasn't even really a thing. But now you say that and you kind of understand exactly what that means, right. So I think that that's really interesting. What do you think are some opportunities from an improvement perspective with, with the r&b genre?
Speaker 3:oh man, like that's a loaded question yeah, no, I personally um development overall in an artist's career, as well as stage presence when they're performing I think that is big for me. When I see artists performing you know, I think Summer Walker had a big for a long time was like, oh, she's born, all she's doing is just on the stage. She's born, all she's doing is just on this stage. Right, you know singing and it's not you know giving us something. Right, to be like you know capturing us, and I think that's the biggest opportunity for a lot of R&B artists now. Um is to work on that development of just overall being a star. We see a lot of artists, they make music, but we don't see too many just superstars anymore. That's just like they got it. Unless you're Victoria B May, okay, because she is a star, all right. But just giving everything choral, vocals, stage presence, you know, audience engagement, those those things I think those are the biggest opportunities for artists in our genre today.
Speaker 2:I think I agree with that. But then I would also say subject matter of songs. There used to be seduction. There used to be. You know less pride in a lot of the music and you know a little bit begging and there's not too much of that. You know that seduction element is out. People aren't dating anymore. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:You mean you want somebody singing in the rain? You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:The desert you know, the desert, the rain.
Speaker 2:Listen, the bad boy R&B artist is good, but that's every now and then. That's not how you settle down with you know what I'm saying? You need the boyfriend R&B, okay. And then I would also say I would throw in these very short songs to where artists can't really show their vocal ability anymore. People don't have the attention span for it, so you're not really hearing. You know, just you're not hearing that same effort. So yeah, a 230 song is not yeah, you know like how was your whole album 30 minutes.
Speaker 3:I need a maxwell seven minute. You know I need to build that.
Speaker 1:That is interesting, I see. I see that coming out a lot more. I was just listening to tyla's album and I listened to the whole thing in about an hour, um, but I wasn't mad at it because essentially, like, honestly, I don't know that I have the time span to really listen to like, and when I look at the track listings and it's more than like 15 songs, I'm like, oh, there's some people who are like releasing like 30. I'm like there's some people who are like releasing like 30. I'm like I don't love you that much to listen. I mean, 30 is a lot, unless you're performing, yeah, but, like you know, I I find that very interesting because I I do think that the songs are shorter. There are no bridges, they're just kind of like a lot or they, they. I miss the bridge. Like where's the big?
Speaker 1:bridge yeah, there's no build up in like you know, um, and kind of leveling it off. So I think that's really what's missing in in a lot of these shorter songs. Yeah, particular to r&b is like there's no bridge between the second verse and and and the end of the song or the third verse at the end of the song.
Speaker 1:I think, similar to you, ash, I think a lot of reggae artists we don't get to see them in person, especially if they're popular in the region. They don't come here and really do intimate shows and intimate settings and they used to, I think, do like small club venues and they would really travel and get to perform in front of audiences. I think that, particularly because there are so many different reggae artists that are coming out now. So I think you and I we were all talking about the Her and Lila Ike collaboration and I hear Lila Ike, I'm like Lila should be on tour opening for her right, like that would be her opening audience too, because essentially you can understand what she's saying, because she's singing.
Speaker 1:She has such a rich vocal tone and similarly she plays the guitar like she stands there and she sings, and so for me, I think that that ability to cross over into, like that R&B space is really missing from a lot of our artists because they don't take the time to actually travel here, do smaller venue shows here, do smaller venue shows and really hone in on building an audience. They will no doubt do festivals and get booked for festivals, like if you're only familiar with their name or one or two songs, that's not necessarily the place to really build an audience, in my opinion, and I think we've gotten away from that a lot, particularly when it comes to reggae so, michaela, let me ask you because I know, probably similar to us, how we feel in R&B.
Speaker 3:Maybe it's the same in reggae dance hall, but there's always like a battle between the preservation of the culture and allowing certain artists, you know, when they go mainstream, of maybe changing kind of their style, aesthetic and what you're you know so fond of their art and their work.
Speaker 3:Like we find R&B artists and we're like, oh yes, they're so great, you know they're not on the radio and big yet, but then as soon as they go mainstream you see kind of a difference in the art that they create and you're like, oh, I miss this version in a sense. Do you have that same feeling.
Speaker 1:I think the biggest current situation like that is probably Shensia, and I think because she's what we call a sing-jay right, she can sing and she can what we say DJ or is rhyme right, and so she can do both pretty well. And if I could, you know, compare her to other sing-jay, like Sean Paul is kind of you can kind of carry a note but she actually can sing, sing. So I think she's displaying her DJ skills and singing skills at the same time. But I think her first project here based in the States.
Speaker 1:So what happens when you kind of sign to a label here there's just a different working and there's always this constant well, how do we break through with this artist? We know that they're talented, they signed them for a particular reason, but there's always this idea of how do you break them into the market? Additionally, she is from Jamaica. I mean, let's put it all out there. She's from Jamaica, she sings, she DJs, she looks culturally ambiguous.
Speaker 1:And then I think record labels really want to be able to package something in a simplified format. But I think when people distinctly think of Jamaica and sounds that come from Jamaica, they kind of have made this idea up in their head and so what tends to happen when artists are assigned to a label and this kind of goes across genres is it really depends on who is A&Ring the project and how much time they are willing to invest in you, and it also depends on the artists themselves and the ability to one take direction very well and adjust to whatever it is. So it's this balance right, and I think what happened with Shensia from my perspective, I think what happened with her is she was extremely flexible and in being flexible and trying new sounds, she alienated her core audience.
Speaker 1:And it took her a while to kind of find her footing. She just released her second album, which I think is doing significantly better in terms of tapping into her older audience but also really driving the needle for her for her newer audience. Cause Alpha was released here. So this is her second full length album and I think it's what they did differently, that they like they they over-sexualized her in the first project. I think. I mean, this was like right after like a WAP with Megan.
Speaker 3:I mean this is like right after, like WAP with Megan and.
Speaker 1:Cardi and they did like a very WAP-esque vibe with her and it wasn't really well received by anyone really the culture, the crossover market, to be honest. She had a really great collaboration with Tyga, with Blessed um. She had a really great uh collaboration with taiga, with blessed, and I think that that was kind of what gave her like a good boost for that first album. But as the visuals and the singles started to release, people weren't, and I think she had some really good songs on that album. Um.
Speaker 1:I think what she's doing differently this time around is um. It's a shorter project, um. She tapped more um production from the region so that you know her old producer. She kind of has a couple songs with him. Um that she originally gained popularity with um and then visually she came out at a right time, so it's like right before caribbean heritage month hits. So she had the album she had. There was already a lot going on and it's for the summer, it's festival season here in the states where she can tour and right, right do shows yeah yeah, I think for a long time, and even still, um, reggae and dancehall is really looked at as summertime music.
Speaker 1:right, it brings the vibe, it adds a little. In terms of like rotation so it's easier to promote during that time and I think her album the first time I think it released in the fall, if I'm not mistaken. But, I'd have to fact check that, but there are some differences, so that, to me, is the example that sticks out.
Speaker 1:It doesn't happen with every artist. Um, so like PopCon was signed to Drake's OVO label and I'm still kind of like really waiting to see, like, what that has produced for him. I think what it has done is I think he's done a lot of writing for Drake and it has allowed him to do more writing and getting publishing credits, but I don't know that it's necessarily moved the needle for his, his actual career.
Speaker 1:Um, you know he he hasn't been able to perform here in the States, but he has gone to Canada, he has gone to Europe and has grown significantly over the last few years. But I can't say that the collaboration or him signing with them elevated his career in the sense that he's seen as like this superstar that I think he wanted and I don't know what he wanted, to be honest but I would position him a little bit higher than where he is, you know. And then, if you think about like newer artists that have come out, like TJ, he's in that same Sing J camp with Drift. You know the dance really took over on TikTok, so that made a really good impact there for him. And then he released an EP, I believe. So it wasn't a full-length project. I know his name, I am Chippy, but that's all that I know. So there are good examples that it has happened still, but I think that that has yet to be defined.
Speaker 1:I would love to see the music move beyond being like a summertime vibe and just having like an always on rotation of songs coming from the region that are intertwined with what is happening here in the States.
Speaker 3:That makes sense. That makes sense. That makes sense because when I think about just dancehall and reggae, what I find is usually like block party, you know, house party, those type of things, which is and if that is going to be our lane, like let's, let's amplify that right.
Speaker 1:Like I feel like there's hasn't been a consistent summer hit for the last 10 years. It's like every two years. We get a good, a good buzz, and then we can't carry. We can't follow it up. So, as a genre, if that's, if that's the space and place that we're gonna play in, let's play there and have like a slew of hits for the summer and have it carry for, because it can truly carry over oh yeah, do y'all listen to the radio at all, like, are y'all still into the radio like that?
Speaker 1:um, I would say, like every other, I think it's shrinking holistically. I think that there are still a lot of people who still listen to radio, but I think it is. I think radio as a whole is in a different trajectory in a different space.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I would have thought that, coming from like I have like a former radio background, I would have thought that the whole playlist thing would have changed a bit, but it's still really the same. It's the same 20 songs so I don't know that it's really driving like I don't know how they're driving audiences under the same format that's what I'll touch on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because yeah, so I I don't truly know. Radio, I think, is still popular with older generations, but I think, across the board, most young people, they'll listen to the radio because they have to. Other than that, their pair-sharing playlists, their pair-sharing mixtapes on SoundCloud or sharing their own playlist, whether they have it on like AudioMax, Spotify, whatever it is. That's how that is really happening.
Speaker 2:And I think, similarly to R&B, it's now become an environment where you have to find the music. It doesn't really come to you. And then back in the days when you had radio, that was kind of pushing new music to you, pushing new artists. You had DJs breaking artists and things like that. It's a very different hustle.
Speaker 1:It's definitely a very different vibe. I think I was talking to Carrie the other day and I still listen to Pandora.
Speaker 1:A lot of people don't listen to Pandora, but I think algorithmically they have had the longest catalog because they were the first to really do streaming, um, and so they they algorithmically can insert a new song every now. So I'm an older audience, right, if I want to new, hear new music, I say spotify is where you discover new music and it's where you can just like put in a mood or a vibe and you can kind of get something and let the algorithm feed you. But that's also what younger audiences like. They like to just I want to the mood, the vibe, to be there, um, whereas I grew up and and I have a like I would say it's as a consumer, not as someone who just listens to new music on a regular basis and try to incorporate it into my platform, but as a user I have like 60 to 70 percent of my catalog favorites and that's where pandora kind of gets it right when I put it on autopilot and from a reggae and dancehall perspective, they definitely have a lot of the older stuff in the catalog, and so I think Spotify I actually listen to between Pandora and actually Apple Music.
Speaker 1:I think Apple Music I really like their ability to create playlists. I love that. You can see the lyrics, you can see the credits, you can see videos and it's all incorporated. I just never got on the Spotify bandwagon and I like it and I appreciate it for what it is. It's just not where I listen to most of my my music, if I'm just listening. The thing about it is, too, is like sometimes there are songs that's on Spotify that's not on Apple Music that's true, yeah and that really has to do with like their distribution to be.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we went way off, but it was good conversation. Um, in terms of like you guys talked a little bit about, like the sound, what are you liking in terms of the sound, discovering new music and performances I think you both kind of touched on that, but expand on that for me.
Speaker 3:For me, um, for me, sometimes at night I'm going down rabbit holes, right. So if I'm listening to an artist or I have a plethora of different playlists for different moods, sometimes I put on like a discovery station on apple music and I'm just listening and I'm like, oh okay, who's this? And then once I click on this artist and then I see similar artists and then I check them out um, it's also Kia and I exchanging hey, this artist.
Speaker 3:I just heard this artist. They're from the UK check them out and vice versa. Um, that's typically how it goes for me. Or maybe I am on social media and someone has a reel or video with the song in the background. I'm like this, this kind of go hard like for instance, the. What's the guy's name? The Tommy, the.
Speaker 2:Nala yes.
Speaker 3:And I'm like who is this? I just heard so many people using the music that it's just like okay, let me go check it out, which is totally different like how we talked about earlier about how we're discovering music. Usually, like Kia said, it's through the radio or some push, but that's for me. Usually, like Kia said, it's through the radio or some push, but that's for me. Usually, kia and I are exchanging things that we've heard, so I don't know if it's any different for you, Kia.
Speaker 2:For me it's all of those. But also I let the artists find my next artist, and that goes back to what I said earlier about it being now so collaborative. So if I hear artists I like in this, they're featuring someone that I don't know. Now I'm going to research that artist.
Speaker 3:I'm going to just keep going like that so that's one of my favorite ways to find artists.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, do you think that the social media has? I think it has helped in certain ways, but do you think that it has hindered in other ways? Like, what are your thoughts about the integration of music and social platforms?
Speaker 2:so, okay, I think it did money long very well, right? So hours and hours was a song. That god damn it I mean it had to have played for like a full, I mean yeah that song wouldn't stop.
Speaker 2:You get what I'm saying? And that's such a contemporary r&b song, um, and it just had a sound and you know it was about love and just things we hadn't heard before that it was just so easy for people to kind of grasp onto that and, plus, I think it was locked down so people were lonely and you know whatever.
Speaker 3:So you know social media.
Speaker 2:It also played in when it came to that time, um, but then I don't know the negative side. I think sometimes people just either don't know how to use their platform or sometimes they get caught up in being a personality and not being an artist. Yeah, um, but yeah, I think, think those probably the two things that I noticed.
Speaker 3:Yeah, social media with artists sometimes it's hard, you know of why are you following? Am I following you because of your lifestyle or am I following you because of your art? Like you said, you know the money longs. You know sometimes they call it tiktok music, but it's helped a lot of artists get out there, um, and get their music heard. It's just how that artist then keep that momentum going once they have that exposure, um, some of them just leave it at that and it's just, you know, social media, real music in a sense, versus actually having invested in their career.
Speaker 2:And it's also not always new artists too Like. Sometimes it'll be old R&B songs that pop up again. Like you know, I don't ever want to hit Can we Talk Again? But like Timmy Campbell's like, Can we Talk, like it's just like you know want to hit, can we talk again?
Speaker 3:but like, can we talk? Like it's just like you know, like Miguel's you know, dorn had a reversion on social media at one point and we're like this is old, why are these kids? Yeah?
Speaker 1:yeah, I think it's interesting to there's. There's so many things there when it comes to social media. I think it's interesting. I love how, you know, the younger generations are rediscovering some of our favorites that we have heard in a different way. I enjoy that, particularly because, you know, I have a daughter who is at that age where she's discovering new music. So now we can kind of exchange notes a little bit, um, and I can kind of put her on, like you know she likes Aaliyah, you know she, and I'm like, oh well, if you like, if you like SZA, you should listen to Lauryn Hill's album because like she was our version of SZA for you guys and I do like SZA and so she, you know it opens the ears a little bit, um, I think sometimes the the song once, once it goes like viral and everybody is attaching their their daily life or songs or dances to it.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it gets played and I'm like, can you just pick a different part of that? Yeah, so like every time beyonce drops an album, it's like I can't even listen to it right away because it's overplayed for at least a month and I can't really give it its proper energy because it's been overwhelmingly played and they're like I don't even know. I haven't listened to the album in its totality, but I know at least 20 songs from Cowboy Carter. But before I have even I was like, oh okay, well, this is the snippet, but it doesn't. It doesn't do, like the catalog and the albums, as much justice as, but it's a snippet, right so it.
Speaker 1:I think the days of just being fed music by one or two sources, it was radio and DJs and parties. Now it's radios, djs and parties, it's playlists, it's curators, it's your friend. It's been so decentralized through digital and not just social, that I think it's kind of a fragmented space to kind of do discovery. And I think it makes it harder for artists to really find that longevity because essentially you feel you can only do that once.
Speaker 1:And that's not necessarily the case, and if that's the benchmark that they're measuring their success against, it could be damaging to the art form. Yeah, that's true In particular of just because, essentially, they're like you know, well, this got a million views in one week and it's just like, well, what if I got 500,000? Is that not good enough? You know what I mean. And I think it's much tougher in this environment because, yeah, it's like fast fashion.
Speaker 1:If you're here tomorrow and a trend can literally be like a couple of weeks and that's it, and there's no longevity around it so you can't really build, you know.
Speaker 1:So I applaud them for incorporating their personalities because I mean, even like a Cardi B, I don't necessarily care for all of her music, but I tolerate it more because I enjoy her personality a bit and I probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for social. Yeah, yeah, that's fair. The personality makes me like you more, like oh gosh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I and I'm trying to think I'm like who has turned me off on social media where I don't want to, but I think, like reggae artists and Caribbean artists in general, they're not doing a good I. I think other genres are doing a really, really good job. I think there's only a handful of artists that are doing a really good job at social media and bringing people along for the journey. Shinsu is one of them. Spice is one of them. I would say Black Hero. He's one of my newer favorites in my catalog. He does a really good job of like storytelling and having really good visuals, but it's hard for them to be consistent and content creators in social first. I think Jada Kingdom does a really.
Speaker 1:The women just do a really good job at social yeah, that's, true I think the men just have have a little bit more ways to go, like it's not necessarily so, um, but I've seen it work really well for for a lot of artists to kind of incorporate their personalities and and incorporating their music, like you like. Now I see artists they like just drop their song and like all of a sudden, like link is in my bio and it's like one post, and I'm like, oh, I completely missed that. You even dropped a project exactly. Yeah, you never posted it again. You posted a million things that don't have nothing to do with the music and you didn't even use your own music as the soundtrack, like oh gosh, that was very specific.
Speaker 1:Shade yep, put your put your music up there, so somebody can hear you like exactly, that's funny no but that's a fact, yeah, you would. I mean, I mean, but those are like the simple things of you know being able to incorporate it, like you don't have to become this full on content creator, but there are simple ways, like people are already interested in you because you're a celebrity.
Speaker 1:Um, like, give us something to work with. Like they got to work for it just like every and I think that that's the frustration too Right, like they got to work for it just like everybody else on this algorithm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think they necessarily enjoy that part of of promoting their music. They just want to do the art and it's become so much more about the business yeah, I get them, I understand yeah.
Speaker 3:I understand very much business very much so.
Speaker 1:Alright, so let's get into some fun stuff. I know we kind of started off with trivia, talking about R&B and reggae and dancehall. Share with me some of your favorite collaborations, if you have any, like what comes to mind for you guys oh my goodness, this is easy.
Speaker 3:you can't, this is not, you know, you can't you can't.
Speaker 1:This is not trivia, that's why, you cannot think about.
Speaker 3:R&B and reggae, without talking about the Beanie man and the Mayas right. Janet Jackson, you know like for real the his big one on production of that. But just you know when those records came out. You know grow some sugar and feel it. Boy like you can tell me I wasn't. You know caribbean myself, you know I was like, I was like yes in the video whining yes learning it, you know.
Speaker 3:So you know those are some of my favorites. Who else I think it was a standard, like you got the Beyonce Sean Paul's yeah, sean Paul I threw on mine Alicia Keys and Baby Sham.
Speaker 2:Yes, I also threw on here Victoria Monet and Bougie Bantan, party Girl there's a song on his album with her.
Speaker 1:I'm about to look it up. I like, I love, I play it. It's my actually my favorite track on his last album let me tell you Party Girl that record.
Speaker 3:This is why Victoria Monet is the star. I don't know why so many people have just overlooked her, and she's been in this business for a very long time.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Body touching body. That's a song Body. Touching body, that's even better than Party Girl. You're going to like that one.
Speaker 2:You're going to like that one. Listen to that one.
Speaker 3:Listen to that one.
Speaker 1:I love Party Girls. Yeah, that Victoria Monet, I was just like where have I been on Victoria Monet because I like her. Honestly, I had to go back and listen to her old albums oh yeah life after love, life after love, yeah, life after love yes oh, I like this song, I like, oh, my mama, yes, back and listen to her and then, uh, when I, when I, when I was reading the credits of her album and saw that she worked with, was it Maurice of Earth Wind?
Speaker 3:Fire. I was just like damn.
Speaker 1:This is why I love this album because I'm a 70s soul baby to the core. That's my favorite.
Speaker 3:Ariana Grande, if I could go back to the 70s.
Speaker 1:That would be my era.
Speaker 2:And they tried to sync on her, but that was nominated for a Grammy.
Speaker 1:Yes, I do, yeah. And speaking of the young people things, I recently went to a Bryson Tiller concert with my daughter. How was that. It wasn't too bad. It was interesting. It was interesting. Who else was there? It was different. It was different.
Speaker 3:I'm wondering who else was there.
Speaker 1:It was different. It was different, wondering what else who else was on his lineup? There was nobody, it was just him. It was just him. Okay, and this is where I knew the kids was gonna be all right. Right, because it was um. It was a good variety of young adults in there. There were a few um younger in my daughter's age rage and they had a dj and just him. All right, so just dj and just him. So the dj played nothing but r&b. He played classics and he played new stuff and they were were rocking. I was like, okay, the kids is going to be all right, the kids is going to be all right. They was out here singing Tamra Campbell.
Speaker 3:That's like them. Babies singing Keisha Cole.
Speaker 1:They were singing Keisha Cole. They were singing Keisha Cole. Yes, yes, yes, oh, my God, but he also. We've been some new songs that I had never heard and I even think maybe my daughter had it heard. Um, and for me, I think, like it was, it was really interesting to see Bryson Tiller, because it was just him on the stage and it was basically like this light show. The entire time. There were no screens like showing his fate, so I didn't even know what I at that point I was just like I don't know what he looks like. If you don't like, look for him on the internet or you follow him.
Speaker 1:I'm like I wouldn't walk away from this concert knowing what he looks like. It was just like he had on like light vest. He was basically like Tron, mixed with that everywhere, and I'm just like I'm glad I'm not, like you know, having birth today. Um, and it was, it was just him and he was he. He describes his music as like a trap, trap, trap trap soul and it was very indicative of of how he described it. So it's a perfect way for him to describe it.
Speaker 1:Um, I think my only gripe I and I don't know that it was, it was probably a snobbish gripe is that he was singing over tracks and the thing about it is is his tone is so monotone that I'm like why do you need a track to sing your song like? I feel like it shouldn't have been there. I didn't mind it, I just observed it and you know I'm just like, but I did like it because it's almost like a light show performance featuring Bryson Tiller. It wasn't. I don't really know that. I got to know more about him because he didn't really tell any stories or talk between the the songs or talk about the inspiration. I thought it was really cute. He brought out his um, oldest daughter to sing with him and I still didn't know what he looked like, but like, look, he must be making all the money because he had one dj, yeah, two dancers and nothing but a light show.
Speaker 3:Make your money price and make your money take listen that's something that keita and I talk about with artists and just vocals and performance right like you don't get the jasmine sullivans and the aria lennox that can literally, you know, sing A lot of just. You hear the track more than you hear the artist sometimes. So it's like what am I paying my money for? I want to hear you Paying for the vibe. Listen Exactly, the light show is what you're paying for, the light show.
Speaker 2:And not to be a snob, but I need to see you perform in a band. That's how I know it's real. Yeah, if you could do it with a live band.
Speaker 1:He didn't have a band. I thought that was just me being old. Okay, I mean, I enjoy a good band too, that's how you know, but even a lot of hip-hop artists. I'm like why are hip-hop artists performing with tracks behind them? Like no. No, if you're not going to write your own rap, at least perform them.
Speaker 2:Too much drugs? No, for real. No breath control. No breath control.
Speaker 3:We saw that in the verses with the locks and dipset.
Speaker 2:How you winded.
Speaker 1:They go nowhere exactly. Yeah, I think. Yeah. That's probably one of my biggest gripes with performers today and I'm already like a sound snob, like I won't go to particular venues. Usher is gonna be at barclays. I hate the sound, I hate I'm not going yeah, not going like I don't care no, I'm going, but I'm with you, it's gonna sound the same.
Speaker 2:Can you stand?
Speaker 1:outside yeah, you know what it is. Is that they? Well, I went to see him in Vegas, so I'm alright. I was just going to see him for a second. What I liked about Vegas it was a smaller venue. You could see him from everywhere. When you can hear and really feel and get goosebumps. That's what I want to. That's what I want to to experience, yeah.
Speaker 2:Intimate shows. Yeah, yeah, intimate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it can be intimate in a big space, cause I I've seen Beyonce. I think it was MetLife stadium and that that girl, she put all her money in in in the stage presence. Okay, she is not playing, she is going to give you a show from the time that you walk through that door the time you are about to leave and she gives you a full almost three hours. I was tired. Is she done yet?
Speaker 3:Because she is like what.
Speaker 2:Flowing up on a horse, exactly. I'm like girl, we know you can sing let's go I appreciate
Speaker 1:it though. Yeah, I do, I do. She was not gonna let you go home and not have your money, so I do, I do. I appreciate everything that she puts into a huge show like that. So, yeah, um, yeah, I like that. There's just so much variety in the music and there's so, like you would, I think it really brings it back to what you said, ashley. Like there's variety and we're seeing that kind of transpire. I'm I'm curious to see how it'll transpire in the near future, but I'm enjoying it for now. Yeah, all right, we are approaching almost an hour, guys. Yes, this is such a great conversation.
Speaker 1:I love talking music with you guys. I cannot wait till you guys get back. But if you guys get back to podcasting, I'm sure you guys are just taking a mini break and coming back very, very soon. But the people that can listen to you guys on your podcast always on key um, but tell the people how else to kind of keep up with you and what you got coming up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're on the social media. You can find us on instagram, facebook, at always on key podcast um. We got a lot of stuff coming up here you know, we, we get into, you know, the fusions of gospel and r&b more trivia we do a lot more trivia and game nights. We got coming.
Speaker 1:Listen, I'm, I'm praying for you in the dream.
Speaker 3:You did good, she did good, yeah, so we got a lot of stuff you know coming up in the pipeline. So you know we'll appreciate your audience for having us. And check us out if you're a lover of R&B, just like Kia and I.
Speaker 1:Yes them love the sores. That's what.
Speaker 3:I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:Sores Not with an S but a Z. We them love. The sores Not with an S but a Z, we love y'all so much we do. All right. Thank you, kia and Ash. I appreciate you guys on the podcast today. Looking forward to all that you guys have coming up, make sure you guys check out Kia and Ash on Always On Key Podcast and until next time, leah Tomepeeps.
Speaker 3:Thank you, bye, y'all.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the latest episode of the Style Vibes podcast. If you like what you hear and I know you do share it with your friends and family. If you want more, make sure you you visit stylingvibescom and follow us on our social channels, twitter and instagram. At styling vibes. Until next time, leah tummy peeps.
