However, R&B or RnB as far as a name didn’t exist on music charts or records released until the 1940s.
Before Black music, OKeh Records focused on European folk tunes and vaudeville recordings.
When the label released Black music it was as “race music.”
Mamie Smith was the first performer to be associated with race music in promotional material with OKeh Records calling her “Our Race Artist.”
The R&B charts would undergo a number of name changes while still being a catch-all term for Black music depending on what was popular at the time.
