Rolling R&B Thread 2018

it's really nice! the production is spacy with a gentle bounce that works surprisingly well w/ his voice

not surprised but a little disappointed that khalid's obviously concerted effort to cross over to the mainstream pop sphere had a pretty muted payoff. i didn't really like much of his pop-oriented material ("silence" excepted -- also the only marshmello track i've liked), but overall i believe in him musically and as a personality. maybe it'll happen for him eventually. but in the meantime i don't mind if he pivots back to the r&b side of things for a bit, esp if it gives rise to tracks like "otw".

wait dvsn has nothing to do w/ this song haha. nineteen85 is an established genius anyway

^^ found the littlebabyangel download on their website

yo nice

new internet song is nice as hell

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

what a bass line

Agreed on both counts.

new tamia! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PgPyXtGn9w

^ it's no "stuck with me" but it could grow on me

this song that has been out for ages but which only recently started zooming up your local station's playlist now has a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YNZlXfW6Ho

it's got a catchy tune and is pleasantly sung but for me it's also missing a certain je ne sais quoi to reallynevoke the sort of feeling that the song's about

* really evoke obv

i can’t find this new raheem devaughn song on youtube but it’s v good

https://open.spotify.com/track/6gx8YAvoqFT93HRwMqBOM5?si=iU5IelnKS76ktsivX_RYZA

Also this week on STAR luke james covered “dance with my father”

just caught saint jhn live, pretty fun show, the hot model dj twins were kind of corny schtick but

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUcrA3nRcPE

Don't know why I assumed he'd be terrible live.

I'm not as dazzled by Jorja Smith's Amy Winehouse inflected r'n''b vocals as many. She's ok, good even, but I read so much hype in advance of her DC gig last night that I thought I would be blown away. I didn't go, just listened to her online.

shes totally not good lol

jorja smith's best song is the preditah collaboration "on my mind" which isn't going to be on her album

Come back R T C

on a BBC thread in 2016:

jorja smith is industry bingo full house, hard to assess srsly. 'blue lights' some amy traphouse honking geese dirge

shes totally not good lol

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Tuesday, May 15, 2018 12:37 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh i feel vindicated, i did NOT get it at all

maybe I live in a bubble but I feel that the whole Jorja Smith project isn't gaining any traction anywhere, and rightly so

i find it odd that by far her best and most popular song is "on my mind" yet when it came out she was like "this is just a one off i won't be making any more music like this." that song w stormzy was terrible

only heard ‘on my mind’ but that song is great

but seriously where is RTC

gone clear

This Washington Post freelancer thinks everyone he reviews is the greatest including Jorja Smith

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/jorja-smiths-star-power-on-full-display-at-howard-theatre/2018/05/14/6963a9b6-5791-11e8-9889-07bcc1327f4b_story.html?utm_term=.207be53e3084

British singer Jorja Smith has the voice, presence and following to fill a venue — bigger ones by the day....
At the concluding concert of her U.S. tour Sunday, Smith projected a star quality as radiant as the timbre of her voice. It was a statement performance: She’s ready for the spotlight

...Her covers were notable because they weren’t of the karaoke variety. Smith’s take on TLC’s “No Scrubs” removed the original’s late-1990s quirks without stripping away the contempt. Her rendition of Frank Ocean’s “Lost” began quietly, but picked up a more vigorous shuffle as Smith rose from her seat on the stage for the falsetto-inflected chorus. These moments showcased Smith’s versatility as much as ballads such as “Let Me Down” or the subtle boom-bap of “Blue Lights,” which underlined her status as a genreless wonder.

i wish the star season 2 music would be collected on an album
because it would definitely make my top 10

https://open.spotify.com/track/5CloWXHDzMrR4AJxttXR4s?si=vAYEUV9-QkWa1uy8RVFn4w

the new Kadhja Bonet record is just ridiculous. those harmonies!

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/31/614967412/first-listen-kadhja-bonet-childqueen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk3qdcgjCgE

that is gorgeous and affecting

beautiful

how is the jacquees record

jacquees might be my fav rnb album since solange

that’s what i wanna heat hell yeah

hear*

yeah there's some really good stuff on it... "house or hotel" is awesome

Jacquees has a great voice and a dirty mouth. “Girl I wanna f you in the studio”

At the red light too

I love his voice just wish he had more tunes

Been really digging this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3y51fkjLEI

this could be a lot lot lot worse

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

(produced by nineteen85)

the production is good... doesn’t surprise me it’s nineteen85. songwriting is really lacking tho

i've been enjoying mary j blige's first choice-sampling "only love" lately. not sure if it's going to be on an album but i've heard it on the radio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-JGswDpiUI

i was going to say it's a bit unexpected for mjb to be doing what's basically a disco tune but then i remembered "you bring me joy"!

r.lum.r was one of my bonnaroo highlights. he just put out two new tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMkTB6hKHCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_wbn3rI0rs

also... !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od7ktfF-fcU

new ro james too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_ybPXb3E7s

new lloyd album! i really like the duet with sevyn streeter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l2WFbLvJGc

wow this is his first album in seven years!

i mean, i knew that it had been a while. 'seven years' just sounds like a lot of time

Caramel is good too.

i like a lot of the album's tracks better than "caramel"! his voice works well over some contemporary-sounding trap percussion for sure, but i'm glad he gets to showcase it over something more classic-sounding like "excited", too, guitar solos + 808 cowbells and all. he splits the difference well on songs like "porcelain" too. the run from that track to the end ("tru", still one of my fav singles from 2016) is great, gets so personal and affecting.

voices with a similar timbre to his have been all over radio for idk the past decade? and yet at his best there is a warmth to his voice that is not often touched by those of e.g. chris brown, august alsina and jeremih

unfortunately the lil wayne collab is one of the weaker points!

finally got around to the Starchild & the New Romantic album and uh wow this rules so much, one of the best things I've heard this year. drawing from everything great about 80's R&B and so effervescent. highlight at the moment for me is Only If U Knew which just builds and builds fantastically

The 6lack album is much better than I thought it would be. Songwriting, vocal production, the guests... everything works.