Republic Records, who’s list of signees includes Drake, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, have announced that they will stop using the term "urban" to describe "departments, employee titles and music genres."
The term, which has been commonly used to describe music produced by black artists, has been branded “outdated” by the label, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, who encouraged other labels and companies within music industry to “follow suit.”
For many, “urban” has become of an umbrella-term for all music produced by black artists; a broad reaching generalisation which pigeonholes and marginalises black artists and the music they create. The term generally encompasses hip-hop, soul and R&B.
Pressure had been mounting on the music industry to distance itself from the word, with Sam Taylor, then Senior Vice President of Kobalt Music, claiming to “hate and despise the word” in an interview in 2018.
Tyler, The Creator launched perhaps the most public and visceral attacks on the use of the term at the 62nd Grammy Awards in January 2020. After picking up the award for Best Rap Album for the ground-breaking, genre-warping IGOR, the LA rapper admitted that he felt his win in the ‘rap’ category was a “backhanded compliment.”
He said: "It sucks that whenever we - and I mean guys that look like me - do anything that's g enre-bending or that's anything, they always put it in a rap or urban category. I don't like that 'urban' word — it's just a politically correct way to say the n-word to me."
The Grammy’s have drawn criticism in their past for their failure to respect black artists, with Kanye West and Frank Ocean both boycotting the event in recent years.
The killing of George Floyd by members of the Minneapolis Police Department has prompted outcry across the globe, and hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in the US and abroad to march for racial justice and equality.
Republic Records have joined in calls for people and businesses to educate themselves and make changes to begin deconstructing structures which systematically disadvantage black people.
In social media posts, Republic Records set out its goals to provide education on, take action against, and support opposers of systematic racism. A statement from the label reasoned that “the meanings and connotations of ‘urban’ have shifted” and is now symbolic of “outdated structures of the past.”
LA-based management company, Milk & Honey, who look after the likes of Khalid and Dua Lipa, followed Republic’s move, vowing to “formally eliminate” "urban," as a term that "has no place in 2020 onwards.”
Following some criticism that the renouncement of the term was only dealing with problems at surface level, Universal Music Group, the parent company of Republic Records, are to put together a “task force to accelerate our efforts in areas such as inclusion and social justice."
Another of the largest music groups, Sony, have created a $100 million Global Social Justice Fund to support social and racial justice initiatives, but as the Black Lives Matter movement gains increasing momentum, the following weeks may well see more music companies distancing themselves from "urban" as a lazy generalisation of black art.