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 within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or downtempo songs, and are mostly soft-sounding with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. The earliest known use of the term is from a July 1, 1961 article in ''

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

''. The earliest song to use the term as its title is the 1983 Midnight Star recording "Slow Jam" on their album '' No Parking on the Dance Floor''. ''Essence'' magazine compiled a list of the "25 Best Slow Jams of All Time", containing songs of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' 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 ''Slow Jam'' on WKYS, named after the Midnight Star song, then later the ''Weekend Slow Jam'' show. In 1994,

R Dub! Randy Williams, better known by the stage name R Dub!, is an American DJ and radio host. He is best known as the host and creator of ''Sunday Night Slow Jams'', which he created on 24 July 1994. A program director of XHRM-FM and XHITZ-FM, '' ...

created the radio show ''

Sunday Night Slow Jams ''Sunday Night Slow Jams'' is an American weekly syndicated radio program dedicated to slow jams music. Created on 24 July 1994, it is directed and presented by creator R Dub!, and broadcast on more than 200 radio stations in 17 countries as ...

'' on Power 1490 KJYK in Tucson, AZ. Today, ''Sunday Night Slow Jams'' can be heard on over 200 radio stations in 17 countries. In 2024, the mayors of San Diego, California and Tucson, Arizona proclaimed the date of June 21 to be "Slow Jams Day", honoring the debut broadcast of ''Sunday Night Slow Jams'' with R Dub!.

References

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

In radio

See also

References