Jermaine Dupri Says New R&B Is Missing “Church Band” Training

Jermaine Dupri has weighed in on what he thinks today’s R&B music is missing. He recently went live on social media to chat about the topic.

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Here’s What The Super Producer-Writer Thinks

Social media has been abuzz with a debate about whether the genre needs that oomph from the 90s. Oomph here means a dedication to love, depth, and soul.

Meanwhile, the Grammy winner suggests that new-age R&B singers aren’t getting their vocal tips from church performances anymore.

“Young Black youth of today don’t go to church and they don’t have that church band grooming. Like B. Cox came from the church. Jodeci comes from church. So when you listen to that soul, that soul that you think is soul, it’s an added piece of information that….it’s hard to beat Jodeci when you don’t have that element,” Dupri said.

Also, Dupri used Anthony Hamilton as an example, citing a recent collab track. He said Hamilton’s voice is touched by doing music at church, and that element isn’t going to come “from the internet.” Ultimately, Dupri’s stance is that the “church band grooming” is the element that R&B today is missing. Watch him explain below.

Jermaine Dupri Says R. Kelly Is A Pillar Of R&B

In another clip from the live, Jermaine Dupri gave R. Kelly his props for his contributions to R&B. He asserted that the genre wouldn’t be what it is without him.

“R. Kelly is the R in R&B. We gotta stop playing around. I get it, listen I’m not here to talk about none of that,” the producer said, referencing Kelly’s sexually-based offenses. “He is the R in R&B, like, hands down.”

As previously reported, R. Kelly is serving a 20-year prison term for producing child sexual abuse images and enticement of minors for sex. Kelly lost an appeal in August and continues to serve sentences for the Chicago conviction and racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York.

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