Soul music took off in America in the 1950s when Motown marketed the artists through records and TV appearances. At that time, the artists were discriminated against as much as the 'ordinary' black population. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, persistent inequality, poverty and racism hardened the music style. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a new kind of soul emerged, slow jams and sexual healing.