Republic Records has dropped the term “urban” to describe music

Republic Records has made a decision to drop the term “urban” from use within the company structures.

The label, home to releases from artists such as Ariana Grande, Drake, and SG Lewis, released a statement on Twitter last week, detailing the change in the way Republic Records would categorise different branches of the company moving forward.

"Effective immediately, Republic Records will remove 'URBAN' from our verbiage in describing departments, employee titles, and music genres," the statement from RR reads, alongside the hashtag #WeUseOurVoice. "We encourage the rest of the music industry to follow suit as it is important to shape the future of what we want it to look like, and not to adhere to the outdated structures of the past."

The music industry has mobilised to support black communities and initiatives in the fight for social justice and racial equality, as well as to aid protestors around the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man from Minnesota who was killed by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, on Monday 25th May. Footage of the arrest shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, ignoring him as he repeatedly pleads, “I can’t breathe”.

See the full statement from Republic Records below. 

#WeUseOurVoices, Use Yours. pic.twitter.com/dQFoMMj0h1

— Republic Records (@RepublicRecords) June 5, 2020