Rolling R&B Thread 2012

i always forget that i actually liked "make your move". idk whenever i remember teyana taylor exists i just get that na'tee line "teyana taylor got your girl doing sit-ups" in my head

i should probably check out that mixtape though

people have been sleeping on the estelle album too, it's really v strong and perfect for this weather

^^ forgot about that too (damn you dawn richard for being so incredible!), tho i've never been that hooked on her in the first place. will check that.

(in portugal it's raining, so 'armor on' is a perfect fit - if a setting was ever needed)

the first single from the Estelle album was on the radio so long ago that i didn't even realize that the album itself only just dropped last month

Still sorting out my feelings about this guy, but I'm really into the new Bei Maejor mixtape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMA40d0C904

he has a new one out again?

i always feel like this guy's stuff is a lot more slight than it should be, but the tape sounds pretty good

it sounds pretty radio ready

he shouldn't be rapping this much tho

There's a disconnect between his voice, which is the definition of slight, and his songs, which can be super bold ("The Truth" is really chilling). His rapping is just dreadful, but his storytelling is really vivid.

Goapele 'Tears On My Pillow' got visuals (from 2011). I love the last minute of this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eOBNiYDuPY

New Monica album seems like a mixed bag—Rico Love seems off his game on a lot of these ballads. But I'm listening to the album preview stream of the new SWV album and everything sounds absolutely incredible. Can't wait to hear the real thing.

I'm ready to write the Monica album off as a total disappointment.

Someone on twitter called it the aural equivalent of a Tyler Perry movie.

Ha, that's kind of spot on, sadly. One of the non-Madea ones where you actually kind of begin to miss Madea.

Yeah, I had to sit through The Family That Preys once and I know exactly what you mean.

damn i saw that Monica's album was out and was looking forward to listening to it this morning before i looked at this thread. will still check it out and see if there are any standout songs, because i love that woman's voice.

The new Brandy single is beyond awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uHCVaVZfQ4

love it!

That is brilliant, even with Chris Brown.

either this thread or You forgot how incredible SWV were... needs more people talking about the great new SWV album

New Jessie Ware is very pretty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eblGD5yuid8&feature=player_embedded

Produced by Julio Bashmore too! Didn't really see that coming but it makes perfect sense.

really feeling the new usher single - between this and "climax" it's boding v well for his album

http://soundcloud.com/usher-raymond-music/lemme-see-feat-rick-ross

sparse and minimal blah blah but it sounds HUGE too

ha for a sec i thoguht you were going to say you were feeling the max martin-produced "scream"

oh no i didn't know about that :(

i take back my positive prediction

oh dear i just noticed the trayvon martin reference o_0

I hope this post-F.A.M.E. bifurcation of R&B album singles into "pop" and "urban" subsets isn't a lasting trend; it's just so shameless

it's here to stay, at least for the artists who are big enough to shoot for the pop market

I'm just gonna dream of the early 2000s, when a great song could play in both formats without pandering to either. Better times.

oh dear i just noticed the trayvon martin reference o_0

Yeah, it's really tasteless, but still better than Childish Gambino's Trayvonsploitation hashtag from hell

ha for a sec i thoguht you were going to say you were feeling the max martin-produced "scream"

― some dude, Monday, April 30, 2012 1:43 PM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark

lol me 2

I hope this post-F.A.M.E. bifurcation of R&B album singles into "pop" and "urban" subsets isn't a lasting trend; it's just so shameless

― Evan R, Monday, April 30, 2012 10:55 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

pre-dates FAME but for sure this is the worst thing to happen to pop in the past five years, even worse than everything sounding like gay club tourism music or rap songs with white people singing

Part of the magic of "Climax," I think, is that it bucks this trend. It sounds amazing on both pop and urban stations, and that hasn't been true of an Usher single in ages

"gay club tourism music" is my favourite descriptor ever.

less gay club tourism music, more gay 90s house music is my new mantra.

rap songs with white people singing

ha, never really thought about it, but this is another great example of the marginalization of R&B. Scabs like Skylar Grey and Matthew Santos are stealing all the prime guest spots

can we count bruno mars as white for this exercise?

he's not white?

wait, Bruno Mars and Matthew Santos aren't the same person?

which one was in Coldplay then?

bruno maris is puerto rican/fillipino

i'm well aware of that.

Part of the magic of "Climax," I think, is that it bucks this trend. It sounds amazing on both pop and urban stations, and that hasn't been true of an Usher single in ages

― Evan R, Monday, April 30, 2012 8:30 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

it's barely on pop stations, in america anyway

Part of the magic of "Climax," I think, is that it bucks this trend. It sounds amazing on both pop and urban stations, and that hasn't been true of an Usher single in ages

― Evan R, Monday, April 30, 2012 8:30 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

it's barely on pop stations, in america anyway

― some dude, Tuesday, May 1, 2012 1:45 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

Yeah, I've not once heard this on my pop station, though I've never heard it on my hip-hop/R&B station either. I've heard "Without You" and "Scream" on the latter, but it plays so much pop that they don't stand out.

"Climax" is on r&b stations a ton. i will challop and say i prefer "Without You" though (or for that matter, "Papers").

"without you" is one of the biggest shitsacks ever

there are plenty of usher singles that are better than "climax" but none of them have been released post-confessions era

yeah srsly man that is a remarkably horrible opinion even for you

climax is mad wack idgi

and so is this new song

there's better shit on both here i stand and raymond v. raymond

"IMO"

i like "climax" but ursh had put out plenty of singles post-confessions that are its equal, at least