Tyrese is at the top of the mountain, he has a voice, but mainstream radio isn’t listening. Five years ago,
when he dropped, “Open Invitation,” the song “Stay” was only played on Urban Adult Contemporary
and many Urban Mainstream stations, but mainly living on Urban AC. This is one real example of how
R&B is dying. Mainstream doesn’t want to play R&B music, unless a singer is collaborating with rappers.
Without radio, the state of R&B alone has no power. Radio is a vehicle used to bring awareness to the
messages in music, but R&B artists can’t reach the masses to get their messages across the mainstream
airwaves. We all know it’s not a problem for singers, such as Justin Timberlake, Sam Smith and Robin
Thicke to be heard on Top 40, Rhythmic, Crossover Pop and Urban Radio stations when they sing R&B
Soul, on the flip side, mainstream radio doesn’t give R&B artists of color airplay when it’s all great music.
Tyrese wants to know, “Why doesn’t it work both ways?”