Key features of the music genre I'll be focusing on

The music genre I’ll be focusing on is pop and R&B as these are the two main music genres that Rihanna’s music falls into.
 

Pop music is a very popular genre of music and it has been for a very long time which developed from rock and roll in the 1950’s. Pop music is very diverse and can borrow elements from other styles of music. Pop is listened to all of the time and various worldwide artists are in the genre of pop music.

 

Musicologists often identify the following characteristics as typical of the pop music genre:

• an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology
• an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities
• an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, over live performance
• a tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments
• much pop music is intended to encourage dancing, or it uses dance-oriented beats or rhythms

R&B is also a very popular genre of music and is listened to by many people all over the world. The term R&B was traditionally from rhythm and blues music but today the term R&B music describes the style of African-American music originating after the decline of disco in the 1980’s.

Contemporary R&B has a polished record production style, drum machine-backed rhythms, an occasional saxophone-laced beat to give a jazz feel (mostly common in contemporary R&B songs prior to the year 1995), and a smooth, lush style of vocal arrangement. Electronic influences are becoming an increasing trend, and the use of hip hop or dance-inspired beats are typical, although the roughness and grit inherent in hip hop may be reduced and smoothed out. Contemporary R&B vocalists are often known for their use of melisma, popularized by vocalists such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.