From the heartstring pulling, soul dredging sounds of Sam Cooke to the powerful, demanding voice of Aretha Franklin, Rhythm and Blues has been a staple of American music and the true channel of the Black Experience’s expression for nearly 80 years. Before the term was used or coined, the artistry that Black people created in song was considered race music. It was a way to label the music that Black people created regardless of the genre or sound that it was created in outside of classical or religious music. In the 1940’s, the term ‘rhythm and blues’ had begun to...