Essence left Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Sam Cooke off their "Top 50 R&B Songs of All Time" list. Which classic snub bothered you most?
We talked about Essence's recent 50 Greatest R&B Songs of All Time list and pointed out the obvious flaw: it heavily prioritized the 2000s through the 2020s while completely ignoring the 1960s pioneers who built the genre.
Leaving out Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and Motown powerhouses like The Temptations makes the "all-time" label inaccurate. It should have simply been marketed as the best R&B of the modern era. While putting Stevie Wonder’s "As" at number one was the correct call, omitting the foundation of Black music just to manufacture viral outrage is lazy curation.
What classic track's absence bothered you the most when looking through the list?
u/Dependent_Studio1986 — 20 hours ago