- How does contemporary R&B differ from classic R&B?
- Production method. Classic R&B works with a live band, powerful vocals and emotion worn openly. Contemporary R&B frames everything around programmed drums and 808s, with more restrained vocals, tighter tuning and more space than fill. One runs hot; the other runs cool.
- How do I stop it turning into a pop song?
- Insist on three things: tempo under 90 BPM, syncopated drums with a laid-back snare, and harmony built on sevenths and ninths. Pop's square rhythms and plain triads erase R&B's looseness and its expensive finish the moment they appear.
- What should I specify for the vocal?
- Write "forward vocal alternating breath and falsetto, stacked multi-track harmony in the chorus, ad-libs after the final chorus." The expressive weight of the style lives in vocal detail, and without naming it systems tend to return a flat pop delivery.