By As I was making my Valentine’s Day playlist, I found that nearly every song sung by a male artist added was made prior to the new millenia, which posed the question: did men stop singing about love?
Looking to male artists who are at the forefront of R&B right now, since that is a genre known for its romantic quality, I came to the realization that we may be facing a lack of yearning in R&B as a whole.
PARTYNEXTDOOR and The Weeknd recently released R&B albums, one of which coming out on Valentine’s Day titled $ome $exy $ongs 4 U. However, I did not feel sexy or romantic while listening to either project.
A take online that many conservative-leaning people side with is that since fourth-wave feminism and the sexual liberation of women moved to the forefront of pop culture in the late 2000s through the 2010s, men no longer feel a push to desire women, marriage and relationships in the way they did in prior decades.
I challenge this argument, as I feel since many of the men in R&B of the past such as Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye or Donny Hathaway were either queer, part of radical political movements of their time that correlated with feminism or both, thus they were inclined to and comfortable with their femininity and celebrated the femininity of women in a loving way through their music.
As studies and surveys have shown, young men have become increasingly conservative in recent years, and dating for young adults in the U.S. overall has been impacted by a growing struggle with anxiety for younger people, which combined has turned many young men, creative or not, away from boldly pursuing romance.
The days of men in white tank tops singing longingly in the rain may be over for now, but social change can hopefully end the nonchalant epidemic that has plagued the male R&B genre.
