The term “rhythm and blues,” often called “R&B,” originated in the 1940s when it replaced “race music” as a general marketing term for all African American music, though it usually referred only to secular, not religious music. The term first appeared in commercial recording in 1948, when RCA Victor records began using “blues and rhythm” music as a descriptor for African American secular songs. The migration of African Americans to urban centers in the Northeast and Midwest during the early twentieth century helped to bring various regional styles of African American music together to influence one another. The migration also created new markets for these styles of music. Early on the term “rhythm and blues” was used for boogie woogie, African American swing, jazz, and blues. All of these styles influenced the development of what is called rhythm and blues today.

The meaning of the term continued to change over time, and today it is still used as an umbrella term for many different African-American musical forms. Historically speaking, though, “rhythm and blues” as we understand it today most often describes a style of music that developed after World War II that combines elements of pop, gospel, blues and jazz with a strong back beat. The African American styles that emerged in those years were often played by small groups that emphasized rhythmic drive over the instrumental and harmonic complexity of the swing orchestras. Their vocalists often sang in an uninhibited and emotionally direct style. In major cities, teenaged vocal groups with little or no instrumental accompaniment were a growing presence. They took their inspiration from both gospel singers and successful African American pop stylists such as the Ink Spots. The term “doo-wop” is well known now, but it was not applied to these groups until much later, and it refers to the vocables and nonsense syllables these group sang to compensate for their lack of instruments. All of these styles were significant to the development of rock and roll a few years later.