As the disco phenomenon ran its course by the dawn of the 1980s, mainstream R&B gradually came to be known as 'urban contemporary.' 'Urban' then became a catch-all for popular music slanted toward the African-American community, in the mid-'80s enveloping quiet storm artists such as Anita Baker and Teddy Pendergrass as well as more pop-crossover-oriented singers such as Whitney Houston and Billy Ocean. Soon enough, a sassier crowd of R&B singers began elbowing their way onto urban radio playlists--chief among them, dance-pop vixen Janet Jackson and new-jack-swing pioneer Bobby Brown. New jack swing continued into the '90s as the prevalent urban production style, as a generation of singers raised on the jittery energy of Jackson and Brown began sharing chart domination with their forbearers. The most successful of these artists--TLC, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and En Vogue--one-upped new jack swing by increasingly incorporating hip-hop production trends such as scratching, sampling, and looping into their slick, established urban sound. The result was the highly varied 'hip-hop soul' style, which dominated urban music throughout the '90s and into the 21st century. As a virtual rule, urban music has always been a hyperproduced affair, its sleek sound and technologically manipulated vocals miles from the organically smooth, early-'70s Philly/Memphis soul that was originally its most powerful influence.

Notable Artists: Janet Jackson; Boyz II Men; Sade; Mary J. Blige; Beyonce