Pop and R&B singers, including Mariah Carey and Destiny’s Child, appropriated hip-hop in order to relate to young, urban listeners s, thus creating a sub type of coined “”hip-hop Soul”". This type of features hip-hop backbeats, superimposed with vocals that were sung in the style of soul music; the lyrics, however, integrated street lingo and adult themes.

Impudence characterizes the styling of hip-hop soul. The hitherto conventional singers sported tattoos, wore leather, and wore a defiant look in the vein of hip-hop musicians. Pop singers, who were reluctant to differ their images, began collaborating with a rapper to remix one of their tracks, and in company d the remix in their albums. The remixes were pegged as singles, and allowed the singers to retain their signature styles.

The remixed tracks soon became all the rage, and hip-hop soul crossed racial divides, earning its artists mainstream recognition. Veteran Rythm & Blues artists additionally generated interest among young, contemporary listenerss through their association with hip-hop. Patti LaBelle has performed with Outkast; Chaka Khan granted permission to Kanye West to re-mix her tracks. By joining forces with hip-hop artists, Rythm & Blues singers thus reached out to a new age group.

Hip-hop soul is considered more mature than contemporary R&B, and targets an adult audiences. This is primarily due to the type of’s focus on the seamier facets of life; hip-hop soul singers furthermore use adult language and themes, which has drawn censure from individuals who feel the genre of music, similar to hip-hop, glorifies negative stereotypes.

Although hip-hop soul witnessed a dull period with the emergence of Neo Soul, another R&B sub type of in the late 90s, it is now experiencing a surge in popularity due to singers like Jaheim, Amerie, Keyshia Cole, and Anthony Hamilton.