page_title: Alternative R&B
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Alternative R&B / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: Frank Ocean holds out his microphone to the crowd while performing at Coachella 2012.
context_page_description: Alternative R&B is a term used by music journalists to describe a stylistic alternative to contemporary R&B.
context_section_description: Barry Walters of Spin characterizes the unconventional style as an "exchange between EDM, rock, hip hop and R&B's commercial avant-garde", and cites Frank Ocean's Nostalgia, Ultra and Channel Orange, The Weeknd's House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, Drake's Take Care, Miguel's Kaleidoscope Dream, Holy Other's Held and How to Dress Well's Total Loss as works associated with alternative R&B.  AllMusic's Andy Kellman cites the early albums of Bilal – 1st Born Second and Love for Sale – as antecedents to the "left-field R&B" that developed in the late 2000s. According to Jim Farber of the NY Daily News, the Soulquarians collective of the late 1990s and early 2000s, which Bilal was a part of, "corral[ed] leaders of the alternative R&B movement like the Roots and D'Angelo".
  Brandon Neasman of The Grio observes a "changing of the guard in R&B, from the smooth, cool heartthrobs to these vulnerable, off-kilter personalities" amid the prevalence of social media in society. Neasman finds the subject matter of "these new-wave artists" to be more "relatable" and writes of alternative R&B's characteristics:
  [A] lot of the production is echo-laden and lofty, often using many synthesizers and filtered drums—sonically giving a nod to Prince's vintage '80s sound. Additionally, for the most part, it doesn't feel as if these artists are selling sex as their main entrée. Granted, they still sing about the topic, and in explicit detail, but it's in equal proportion to drugs, spirituality and personal philosophies. You don't get that same diversity in subject matter from the majority of modern R&B singers.
  Hermione Hoby of The Guardian writes that "the music is quietly radical" and observes "an ongoing, mutually enriching dialogue between indie and electronic musicians and R&B artists." Gerrick D. Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times feels that "the new movement feels like the most significant stylistic change in R&B since neo soul rolled around in the 1990s." Janet Jackson's sixth studio album The Velvet Rope (1997) is cited as one of the genre's stylistic origins.
caption: Alternative R&B artist Frank Ocean performing at the Coachella Festival in 2012
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