Republic Records has announced its decision to ban the use of the term "urban" within the music label's verbiage.
The company — which represents artists like Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift and more — shared their statement on Instagram over the weekend.
"Effective immediately, Republic Records will remove 'URBAN' from our verbiage in describing departments, employee titles and music genres," they wrote.
The term was first coined by black New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid-1970s, Billboardreports. It didn't carry any negative connotations at the time, however, the term later evolved into a way for the music industry to lump black artists into one generalized category, marginalizing them.
Republic Records then urged 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industry to "follow suit as it is important to shape the future of what we want it to look like, and not adhere to the outdated structures of the past."