Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular. In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, saxophone, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, and sex.

The term rhythm and blues has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. In the 1960s, several British rock bands such as the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Animals were referred to and promoted as being RnB bands; posters for The Who's residency at the Marquee Club in 1964 contained the slogan "The Who - Maximum RnB". This tangent of RnB is now known as "British rhythm and blues". By the 1970s, the term rhythm and blues changed again and was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a newer style of R&B developed, becoming known as "Contemporary R&B". It combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance. Popular R&B vocalists at the end of the 20th century included Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder,Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.

Ty Dolla Sign

Tyrone William Griffin, Jr. (born April 13, 1985), better known by his stage name Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American hip hop and R&B recording artist from Los Angeles, California. He first gained major recognition in 2010, through his appearance on YG's "Toot It and Boot It," which Ty Dolla Sign wrote and produced for Def Jam Recordings. In the summer of 2013, he signed a record deal with Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang Records and subsequently released the successful Beach House 2 mixtape. He originates from Inglewood, California.

Musical career

2007–11: Career beginnings

The son of musician Tyrone Griffin, a member of Lakeside, Ty Dolla Sign began his music career by learning how to play the bass guitar. Since then, he also learned to play drums, guitar, keyboards and the MPC. Later, he and his partner Kory, signed a record deal with Venus Brown and Buddah Brown Ent, and released a mixtape, titled Raw & Bangin Mixtape Vol 2. The duo also made guest appearances on albums by other artists such as Sa-Ra Creative Partners and Black Milk, where they sang on the song "U" on the latter's 2007 recording Popular Demand. However, that deal began to fall through, causing Dolla Sign and Kory to call it quits with each other.