×
App Icon
The Standard e-Paper
Home To Bold Columnists
★★★★ - on Play Store
Download Now

Why is RnB music more explicit than ever?

Singer Beyonce.

Tank was nervous after sending his manager a preview of "When We" - he'd never released a song that explicit. "He's like, 'You're crazy, but it's jammin'!'" the R&B singer recalled. "It ended up being my biggest record ever."

Released in 2017, the seductive chorus of "when we (expletive)" was obviously too explicit for radio, so a "clean" version used the phrase "when we touch." Despite releasing his first album in 2001 and crafting hits like "Maybe I Deserve" and "Please Don't Go," it was "When We" that's been Tank's most successful, finishing No. 1 on Billboard's 2018 year-end adult R&B airplay chart.

Get Full Access for Ksh299/Week
Uncover the stories others won’t tell. Subscribe now for exclusive access
  • Unlimited access to all premium content
  • Uninterrupted ad-free browsing experience
  • Mobile-optimized reading experience
  • Weekly Newsletters
  • MPesa, Airtel Money and Cards accepted
Already a subscriber? Log in