A slow jam is music with rhythm and blues and soul influences. Slow jams are commonly R&B ballads or downtempo songs, and are mostly soft-sounding with heavily emotional or romantic lyrical content. The earliest known use of the term is from a July 1, 1961 article in The Chicago Defender.[1] The earliest song to use the term as its title is the 1983 Midnight Star recording "Slow Jam" on their album No Parking on the Dance Floor.
Essence magazine compiled a list of the "25 Best Slow Jams of All Time", containing songs of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s,[2] and Complex compiled a list of 100 slow jams in "The Best Songs to Get You in the Mood".[3] [4]
In 1983, Kevin "Slow Jammin'" James created the radio show Slow Jam on WKYS, named after the Midnight Star song, then later the Weekend Slow Jam show.[5]
In 1994, R Dub! created the radio show Sunday Night Slow Jams on Power 1490 KJYK in Tucson, AZ.[6] Today, Sunday Night Slow Jams can be heard on over 200 radio stations in 17 countries.[7]
In 2024, the mayors of San Diego, California and Tucson, Arizona proclaimed the date of June 21 to be "Slow Jams Day", honoring the debut broadcast of Sunday Night Slow Jams with R Dub!.[8] [9]
