Rolling R&B Thread 2010

totally get the criticisms of that song but if you're gonna have a boring beat like that i'm cool with all the focus being put on kells voice singing MAD LOUD for 5 mins

"lay it down" is good, but a little too saccharine for my tastes, if he went back to his vocal style on "you" instead of belting out the whole song it would be much less overpowering. the-dream's new album along w/ "holding you down" & "already taken" are prob my favorite r&b offerings for 2010

yeah the yodeling in 'lay it down' is a little too ott

^^^^hates r&b

I think you're being dishonest deej

i really enjoyed the kellz album on one listen - his duet with k michelle is O_O in particular.

also was really feeling the keri hilson album, much to my surprise.

Quite keen to hear the new Kandi album. I remember being a bit underwhelmed by her first but (a) woman deserves mad props 4 ever regardless and (b) that was 10 years ago or something! and (c) the aggregate of the first two points makes me quite arbitrarily feel like this is gonna be some ace teedra mature woman sexy time biz.

Andy K review is promising: http://www.allmusic.com/album/kandi-koated-r2067037

Very rushed, based on one listen -- but yeah, the album's definitely solid.

Cole's OK. Not digging Hilson at all.

Keri Hilson just comes across to me like she wants to be Kelis, only she is a lot more boring and doesn't have as interesting a voice.

in what sense? she's always seemed to me like more traditionalist R&B/girl next door with sex appeal type than Kelis, so i have a hard time getting my head around that comparison.

I think you're being dishonest deej

― dayo, Wednesday, December 15, 2010 3:20 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

if a man hates lloyd how can he post in ilx's rolling R&B thread?

pretty sure you followed me into here to begin with

lol, yes I know I am weird

It's more... they both were pushed by their labels as solo artists, Kelis got a moderate amt of success and Keri... didn't. Then both started popping up on the hooks of hip-hop singles, and then came back with more solo joints that were better accepted, only Kelis was more successful... and both definitely used hypersexuality as a hook.

So it's not really so much that they are the same type of artist as I see similar career trajectories, only Kelis is interesting and Keri is boring.

Keri's first album went gold and had two big top 20 hits and Kelis's debut didn't, and both did hooks on hit songs before properly launching their solo careers, so i don't really follow.

i mean really Keri's first album sold about as well in 2009 as Kelis's biggest album did in 2003, which given the sales slump means she's been more successful overall, even if she's probably not as famous and definitely doesn't have a song entrenched in pop culture like "Milkshake"

looking at the dates, it looks like "Caught Out There" was 6 weeks after "Got Your Money" and I thought it was the other way around

None of which changes my core point, which is Keri Hilson bores me

yeah "boring" is not at all an outlandish thing to tag her with. that's kinda why the Kelis comparison confused me.

unfortunately "Keri Hilson = Ashanti" doesn't work either, but probably makes more sense

Keri Hilson = Kelly Rowland

lol, the boring Kelly Rowland

And I LIKE Kelly!

I'm in the un-vocal minority that thinks "Lay It Down" is kind of silly and overblown; though it's grown on me a bit since it's been receiving crazy radio play here for months. Still think "Don't Stop" is the much better 2010 Lloyd song.

so i can work it, work it
WORK IT, WORK IT

i also don't get the bfd about "lay it down" -- i don't think lloyd's verse works on that at all

^^^^hates r&b

― *plop*ism rules (deej), Wednesday, December 15, 2010 4:18 AM (9 hours ago)

what do you mean his "verse"

sorry, i'm pretty hungover -- i meant his voice

haha how do you drunkenly slur your words while typing

ha i was just saying that 33 mins ago i wasn't necessarily "all there" idk

also i never proofread short posts (not on policy, just never think of it) which is why like 5% of all my posts are me correcting shit that i mistyped

ship do you dig "lay it down"?

i love lay it down -- chorus is irresistable -- i can understand why lloyd fans would want something more lloyd-y but its sort of 'lloyd takes off his sunglasses' in song form

it's weirding me out that Lloyd's "Lay It Down" has been in the top 10 of the R&B chart for weeks and iirc has been talked about here as a popular song, but i haven't heard it on the radio once yet

Al, about how many of your Top 50 singles songs got decent radio play in Baltimore? So many of the one's you've listed so far I've barely heard on Milwaukee radio. It makes me wonder how big the regional differences are in radio play.

also jeez jordan how are you hung over at 130 pm - don't you have finals?

well i have a short paper to write by tomorrow -- i never party on the weekdays but my best bro was up here so we got wasted & played video games

it's weirding me out that Lloyd's "Lay It Down" has been in the top 10 of the R&B chart for weeks and iirc has been talked about here as a popular song, but i haven't heard it on the radio once yet

Al, about how many of your Top 50 singles songs got decent radio play in Baltimore? So many of the one's you've listed so far I've barely heard on Milwaukee radio. It makes me wonder how big the regional differences are in radio play.

― Evan R, Wednesday, December 15, 2010 2:39 PM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'd say about 40 of them are things i heard on the radio regularly or at least more than a couple times...the rest are either not in a radio format i listen to regularly and/or i was exposed to from seeing the video a lot on MTV Jams or VH1 or something.

or kevin k annoyed you about it enough until you came around to it

lol "breaking point" is one of the handful that i've heard like a handful of times and all but one where when i pulled it up on youtube.

Holy crap! This Keri Hilson album is awful!

pretty girl rock is pretty good

mostly for that always building never resolving piano line

Holy crap! This Keri Hilson album is awful!

not really

i'm not sure what more anyone would think a keri hilson would be like, but it really exceeded my expectations - obv not a masterpiece or anything, this is k.hilson after all, but several tracks that surprised me, in a good way. "pretty girl rock" and "the way you love me" are great singles, this was probably my favourite cut though - just v pretty and emotional:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ejbUMRY2t4

http://thequietus.com/articles/05494-cassie-the-dream-janelle-monae-jazmine-sullivan-ciara

Great work, Lex.

yah agreed reblarged that on tumblr

Thanks for that article Andy K. I have only recently come to RnB after a year of listening to The Dream's discography. I've just been tapping the genre for its inherent beauty that has all but eluded me in prior years. I really like this article, it kind of gives validation to my love, because none of my friends want to move beyond The Dream, and some of these songs might sway them.

I wish I could convey the weight of my sudden infatuation with RnB. Like I would absolutely love to be in The Dream or Stargate's shoes, making radio hits and producing dope shit for pretty black girls and boys to sing.

Also, has Chris Brown's child-like voice been discussed? After listening to Deuces and Yo Excuse Me Miss, it sounds like he never lost the boyish effects in his voice. For example, on Deuces, he sings, "Better, better, better," with a soft, almost imperceptible 'L' at the end of the word, "Betterl"... Ha, maybe not, but does anyone else hear it? I feel like it's the main reason I keep coming back to him. I love it.

thx guys! felt dissatisfied when i filed but only cuz it inevitably felt incomplete, also i couldn't think of a single way to actually tie the kelis paragraph (originally written in august) into the rest of it before passing out.

merry xmas r&bros, here's kellz singing the actual words "this is a christmas remix" - secretly one of the highlights of his new one for me - this song has been admitted to the elite membership of "xmas songs lex loves", which previously consisted entirely of "all i want for xmas is you" and "8 days of xmas"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXQnRhUDJ3c

in the album version he sings "i'm just a snowman / lookin for a snowgirl" <3

Awesome article Lex. It's so important that we have critics who make R&B their aesthetic centre (if you'll forgive me for simplifying your tastes a bit) - and that those critics can do it justice!

Lex, you are KILLING it.

yeah great piece lex, props for that!

so many albums came out recently that I haven't gotten to really listen to seriously - jamie foxx, keyshia cole, keri (I did listen to this once and I liked the faux-reggae tune a lot)- plus catching up on stuff that I kind of slept on (bilal, jose james, k. michele mixtape, etc.) and Diddy, R. Kelly & Ciara's albums have been monopolizing my listening time - wish they wouldn't have all come out so late in the year. Love Letter reads to me like a pure exhibition of his talents - like, for those that have complained about his output over last few years/him not making "grown music" - he just tossed this album out to shut them up. He can do this kind of classicism in his sleep. The whole thing sounds effortless - I'm quite excited to hear Zodiac now.

overall, I think 2010 was a transition period for R&B - I don't think it was an amazing year, but there's definitely something interesting brewing

Tbh I probably cared less about r&b this year than any time in the past 5 years at least. Most stuff just wasn't doing it for me, at least not in large quantities. I listen to a bunch of the stuff you guys are gushing over and I'm just like ehhhhh.