What counts as urban music?

I’m all about the ones with the first white one. Honestly, I don't even take those types seriously.

Gross.

ari peka nikkola said:The specific instrument isn't the point here; I only used it as an example of how certain values are forced upon us. Look, I have nothing against folk music—I recognize it as part of our cultural heritage—but frankly, I find it tedious and can't stand listening to it, though that's a separate issue entirely. And regarding Cher, she was huge back then too, but she wasn't blaring out of every dive bar in New York City, nor were people blasting her from modified cars idling at red lights. Back when I was a kid in a middle school classroom in the mid-eighties, the idea of someone my age actually listening to that stuff was unthinkable; we would just mock them for it. But today? It has nothing to do with being "intellectual." I mentioned that term was useless, but I was merely trying to explain its origin. A few years back, some local columnists in a small town were screaming that Western pop music was corrupting the youth, acting as if things were worse than they were in the Soviet Union during the fifties. As for the accordion... it’s never about the instrument itself, but rather how it is utilized. I am well aware of brilliant classical compositions, not to mention instances where the accordion has been masterfully integrated into rock music...

Hmm... well, I don't know if anyone was actually forced to listen to that specific folk instrument, especially since remote controls were already becoming the standard by then, wouldn't you agree?😛

Perhaps an analogy involving ice cream would fit here... if you are stranded in the middle of the Mojave Desert, you would crave it desperately, but once you finally get your hands on it, you overindulge until your stomach starts aching...
There are certain things that were either forbidden or simply unavailable to people throughout the nineties; once those restrictions vanished, everyone started forcing those things on one another until the novelty eventually wore off. Some people were just mindless zealots for the new thing...

Besides, you could hear Cher anywhere back then (just like you can today), even in cars... it's just that back then, a standard car battery couldn't power the 3000W amplifiers you need to turn a stoplight into a nightclub😁 (not to mention that gas vouchers weren't exactly easy to come by)

I guess the term "urban music" probably only made its way into our local vocabulary because someone twisted the actual concept of "urban contemporary music."

The whole idea of "urban contemporary music" actually kicked off right here in the USA back in the mid-1970s—it started when a bunch of radio stations began playing a specific vibe dominated by African American artists. So, when people say "urban contemporary music," they’re really talking about a mix of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, reggae, reggaeton, gospel, and dance...

Based on that, it seems like the term isn't really about who the audience is or where they live—or even their education level—but is strictly about the genre, the sound, and the rhythm itself...
So, if we were trying to find an American equivalent for that kind of categorization, maybe something like high-energy country or certain pop subgenres would be closer than, say, a classic rock band like Lynyrd Skynyrd or some old-school punk stuff.