A slow jam is music with

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

or downtempo songs, and are mostly soft-sounding with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. The earliest known use of the term is the 1983 Midnight Star recording "Slow Jam" on their album ''

No Parking on the Dance Floor ''No Parking on the Dance Floor'' is an album by American vocal band Midnight Star, released on June 6, 1983. The album contains the singles "Freak-A-Zoid", "Wet My Whistle", "Electricity" and " No Parking (On the Dance Floor)", as well as the s ...

''. ''Essence'' magazine compiled a list of the "25 Best Slow Jams of All Time", containing songs of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and '' Complex'' compiled a list of 100 slow jams in "The Best Songs to Get You in the Mood".

In radio

In 1983, Kevin "Slow Jammin'" James created the

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

''Slow Jam'' on WKYS, named after the Midnight Star song, then later the ''Weekend Slow Jam'' show. In 1994, R Dub! created the radio show ''Sunday Nite Slow Jams'' on Power 1490 KJYK in Tucson, AZ. Today ''Sunday Night Slow Jams'' is heard on over 200 radio stations in 17 countries.

References

Song forms Soul music genres Contemporary R&B genres {{R&Bsoul-stub

In radio

See also

References