Around this time for African Americans, the 1950s and 1960s, the North was steadily advancing even though discrimination had yet to disappear. R&B proved to help the steadily increasing status of the Africa American as many whites loved the sound of R&B directly from the mouth of an African American artist. More and more African American artist, in the North, started to gain fame during this time period due to the popularity/demand of their music. This caused many record labels to open in the North, especially in Chicago on a street named South Michigan Avenue.