The Culture Corner: R&B in the ’90s

February is Black History Month, and each week, all month, World Cafe correspondent John Morrison will be taking you on a journey of R&B through the decades. In this session, we dig into the ’90s, when groups like TLC were offering a modern take on styles that had taken root decades before.

“Vocal groups are a tradition in Black music, whether we are talking about the doo-wop era, Motown, the girl groups of the ’60s,” Morrison says. “It’s like a key, defining characteristic of Black music.”

Morrison also talks about the continued influence of hip-hop on R&B and the one R&B subgenre that nobody liked being labeled as.