The Song Planner

Bedroom Soul

tagStarted 1990Peak 1995-2005Last big hit still active

Located in 2 routes

R&B / Soul → Quiet Storm / Smooth R&BEasy Listening / Standards / Lounge → Quiet Storm / Smooth Soul Easy Listening

Intimate, sensual slow R&B made for private listening: hushed multi-tracked vocals, breathy ad-libs, deep sub-bass, finger-snap or soft-trap drums, and warm minor-key keys with plenty of space. The mood is candid and bedroom-private, vocals close-mic'd and tender, production atmospheric and dimly lit.

History

Crystallizing in the 1990s as smooth R&B grew more explicitly sensual, bedroom soul drew on quiet-storm intimacy and hip-hop's low-end. Maxwell, Jodeci's slower cuts, and later Jaheim and Tank refined a candid, sex-and-tenderness register that carried the intimate ballad tradition into modern production.

Defining artists

Essential listening

← Explore R&B / Soul

Sources

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_(musician)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaheim
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_storm